The other day I was talking to a new prospect who’d told me of his amazement in finding that agencies he had spoken with did not understand the meaning of ‘Precision Agriculture’?  And, in view of that, he would not be confident in giving them a brief to design a four page leaflet on the subject.

Whereas, when talking with me (at IBA) he was delighted to hear that I knew all aspects of the terms that farmers and agricultural clients use on an every day basis….such as the meaning of ‘Precision Agriculture’ and ‘Minimum Tillage’, and ‘FlexDraper’ as well of statements like:

“FOR THE TREATMENT OF LEVAMISOLE SENSITIVE GASTRO-INTESTINAL PARASITES AND LUNGWORM IN CATTLE”…and many more.

I’ve gained this knowledge after many years of dealing with a wide variety of rural and agricultural clients, from Machinery needs through to Animal Health and everything in between.

Even talking with the press I find that some of them refer to Hay making and ‘Sill-age’ and NOT the correct term of Silage!

So, if you need a rural expert, come to Ivor Brayley Advertising (IBA) who gets it right the first time.

In the story below, Gina McColl quotes that cows in a Milking Robot are milked up to five times a day…I wish I could find the breed of cows that you can milk that many times…Gina, try approximately three times a day by the robot and the farmer does not need to be home for this to happen.

Also she quotes “and drug regime when they are sick” what she forgets to mention is that the robot knows which cows are on medication and separates their milk from the rest.

Yes in Europe and now China, cows are housed in sheds, this is mainly due to the weather and the sheds keeps them from the harsh winters, plus especially in Europe the land is required for crop production to feed the cows, so they keep them in sheds. It also helps in effluent disposal, keeping the herd in a restricted area.

It should be remembered, cows not in a robot environment are milked twice a day, because this is what the farmer wants, however, when a cow is milked by a robot, that cow can come into the robot (of her own free will) when she starts to get uncomfortable and full of milk. This will happen on average 3 to 3.5 times per day (over a twenty four hour time span) and the milk harvested from the robot will be better for you as the cows are under less stress and are more content and relaxed.

To answer Gina’s question…Yes I would be happy to put Robot harvested milk over my Weet-Bix, because I believe it is better milk and better for you.

Consumers may have a cow over mega-dairies and robot milk

The Age

September 6, 2015

Gina McColl

Senior reporter

“Would you put it on your Weet-Bix? Milk produced by huge herds housed permanently in barns longer than the MCG. Milk extracted by robots up to five times a day (and night) from cows fed an individually tailored diet – and drug regime when they get sick – for optimum production.”

Over the years, I have suggested to all of my clients, the importance of providing a well written Press Release to the Rural Media.

The above example shows two of our Press Releases published in the Country News in the Goulburn Valley on the one page. Both clients had their PR published in 15 to 20 rural publications around Australia… a good result for everyone.

A purpose written Press Release can be used to announce a new product or service, plus we can provide a PR to a publisher for an upcoming feature; i.e. Tillage, Pasture renovation, Hay or Fodder, Machinery features, plus the Field Day previews.

Remember all Press Releases are published free of charge … yes, we will charge for writing the PR, however, this is a small amount compared to the space you gain from 15 to 20 publications.

We will always write a PR as if the newspaper has interviewed the company or person featured in the story, this helps the paper fill space in the newspaper as well as helps my clients gain space within a large number of rural publications.

I have given up counting the number of times feature editors ring me to ask if I have any PR as they need to fill the space in a particular feature.

Press releases are a great way to gain extra coverage for your products and services for a small investment.

Thinking outside the square – 2:

The use of html emails is also a valuable advertising tool for rural and agricultural companies. City folk get sick of the number of emails they receive every day. However, a well timed rural html will gain attention in the country as it is only one of a small number of emails country folk will receive each week.

The thing to remember is ‘Don’t over do it,’ one good email per month or one per season works better than one a week. Also give the reader an offer and also include a closing off date. This will motivate the reader to act quickly.

If your email list is not up to date, give it to us and we will remove all the duplicates and also delete the email addresses that are not active.

Remember, a great way to gain more email addresses is to have a catalogue on your web site and for the farmer to down load the catalogue they must supply their email address.

Get started today and if you need more information give us a call at:

Ivor Brayley Advertising on 0417 51 35 51

Here is another example of country people knowing what is right from wrong.

The Melbourne Age – August 20, 2015

Aldi’s ‘Grass – Fed’ beef claim misleads consumers, say other producers.

This is another example of what is printed on the packaging is not always true and the Government needs to fix or fine the perpetrators.

If the ‘Grass – Fed’ beef cuts are TRUE Grass – Fed of course they will be cheaper and better for you, as they contain less fat and more omega fatty acids that can reduce the risk of heart disease. They contain less fat because the cattle are constantly on the move as they feed and are not eating and then standing still in a feed lot.

To be true ‘Grass- Fed’ they cannot be both grass feeders and also have access to Grain or Grain by – products.

Consumer advocacy group Choice said there is a plethora of ‘confusing claims on beef packaging, such as pasture – fed, bio – dynamic, free – range, and organic.’

“These claims tend to carry a premium price tag, so you want to make sure they’re worth the extra money.” said Choice’s Tom Godfrey.

Billboard for Henty Field Days x 7 sites

Thinking outside the square – 1:

Many people think that billboards only work in the metropolitan areas, due to the amount of traffic passing each billboard.

However, at IBA we have proved that a well designed billboard can work better in the country, because there are less distractions driving in the country and the driver and passengers will look at a targeted billboard, because they stand out.

We are also able to place a billboard going into and out off a town, close to the company highlighted on the billboard. And because the billboard is a rural product or service your rural customers are more likely to look at what is offered.

If you want more information about how billboards can work for you, give us a call at:  Ivor Brayley Advertising on 0417 51 35 51

Here are three reasons as to why Ivor Brayley Advertising offers more than the ‘Big City’ counter parts of the industry, who deem themselves as rural agencies:

1. Experience… We have over thirty years experience in Rural Advertising, working with some of the leading agricultural companies both in Australia and New Zealand.
2. Low cost… Our costs are kept to a minimum which ultimately benefits our clients as they only pay for the work they’ve requested, and not the high rate that the city agencies charge in order to cover their high rental costs and their city wages.
3. Country Service…We live in the country, on a property growing organic pasture hay for horses. So we know what good old country service means, so our clients benefit from our knowledge of every thing Rural.

Testimony to our service is our client list, which reflects the fact that we have clients all over Australia who benefit from our country experience.

So, if you want the benefits of ‘Good Old Country Service & Hospitality’ give us a call on 0417 513551.

Ivor Brayley – the story so far:

Experience is everything.

I started in printing, building myself up to Sales Manager of a medium sized printing company in Melbourne. Then I had the urge to start my own business, so I became a Print Broker… A Print Broker looks after ALL the printing requirements of a client, by placing that printing with the best printer for that job, from business cards to catalogues, posters and every thing in between. I had clients like, The National Party of Australia, Koala Shoes, Federal Pacific Hotels and GE Electrics.

After a couple of years of being a print broker a friend of mine invited me to join him in Grafton NSW and I became the Advertising Manager of the local newspaper ‘The Daily Examiner’. I worked on the paper for some 3 or 4 years before a friend invited me to join the Land Newspaper, who had  started the Coastal Extra. This was a great opportunity to join a large Rural newspaper and also stay in Grafton. I had a territory of Taree in the south to Tweed Heads in the north. Also writing a column in the Extra, informing the readers of all that was happening on the coastal strip of northern NSW.

During my time on the Coastal Extra, I called on all the Agricultural companies on the coast plus, write about local shows and horse events and take photographs of same. I remember one day setting up the photograph of the prize winning bull at the Taree show with the then premier placing the grand champion ribbon around the neck of the bull…when I had set up the shot, I took a couple of steps back, only to find 15 other photographers waiting till I had finished, so they could take the same photo that would appear in The Land, such was the reputation of The Land newspaper.

After a couple of years on the coast I was promoted to head office in Sydney to head the Land Extra division and over the next twelve months we had successfully launched  the Southern Extra, the Northern Extra and the Western Extra, with the Extra’s sales staff reporting to me in Sydney.

After a couple of years the Rural Press launched a new month Rural publication called FARM Magazine.

This publication was modelled on a USA publication called Successful Farming and they took some of the stories from that publication and published them in Farm Magazine plus they added stories of successful farmers from around Australia. The manager of FARM wanted me to move back to Melbourne as the Southern Australia sales manager looking after Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. Again after a couple of years, I took over the Sales Managers roll, looking after all the states of Australia.

In the early part of the 1980’s Rural Press started a Magazine division called Publishing and Marketing Australia, or PMA for short and this division had a head office in Melbourne. I was appointed Advertising Manager looking after 10 Advertising Managers of publications like Farm Magazine, National Farmer, Hobby Farmer and other Trade Publications like Electrical World and Coal Miner plus several others.

For what ever reason Rural Press closed this division. So in 1987 I started my own advertising agency (IBA) specialising in Rural and Agricultural advertising and marketing. I started in Rural Advertising because at that time there was only one or two other agencies in Australia specialising in Agricultural advertising.

Between 1987 and the present we have kept our focus on Rural and Agriculture and our client list reflects that experience gained over my time in printing, publishing and advertising.

We stay close to agriculture with our 20 acre farm, growing grass for my daughters many horses and in 2013 we produced 900 small square bales of hay of a small 8 acre paddock… a great result…natural pasture hay with no soil improvements.

Back to the start, when I started with ‘Experience in Everything’. There are very few advertising agencies in Australia that own and operate a farm, let alone know where milk comes from. Speaking of milk, I also have been lucky enough to have travelled overseas with Lely Australia, one of my original clients, on many occasions, looking at Milking Robots and the latest trends in farming and machinery in Europe and at one field day in New Zealand, I was asked to demonstrate the Astronaut Milking Robot as I was one of few people in Australia and NZ, at the time, who knew so much about the workings of Milking Robots and the benefits they offered dairy farmers.

So in-conclusion, if you want or need a rural expert, you can look around until the cows come home…or just contact an agency who knows agriculture…IBA (Ivor Brayley Advertising