‘We have made people uncomfortable … and we are comfortable with that’

No one saw it coming.

The Bullvine arrived like a speeding freight train.

It also knocked the media outlets off their axes. It challenged everyone. Its early online stories rampaged through the industry like a bull in a china shop. 

It wrote the calls people thought, but never said.

People were shocked, even horrified … and they starting talking.

And that was exactly what founder Andrew Hunt wanted. Conversation and dialogue. Because this dramatic entry almost three years ago was no fly-by-the-seat-of-your pants’ decision. This was a strategic start to a fresh age of media coverage in the dairy industry.

And as everything starts to shake down and settle in, The Bullvine has rapidly become a power player with purpose and 30,000 readers. Its reach and impact is now unquestioned.

The publication is heading into 2015 with big plans that have yet to be revealed, but in an exclusive interview at World Dairy Expo (WDE), Andrew briefly stopped and allowed a tour of the frenetic and clever brain that is poised to dominate this industry’s media…

Andrew Hunt, 37, is a man of many layers. He comes from a powerful, tight well-connected family within the Canadian industry, who all had something to lose when their son/brother made the decision to initiate the outwardly controversial, online media outlet, The Bullvine.

He appeared — to many — to come from nowhere. The opposite is true.

His parents, Murray and Karen, are not only Master Breeders (Huntsdale Holsteins) but also integral industry leaders at the highest levels in the Canadian Holstein industry.

His brother, Paul, is the Chief Operating Officer for Alta Genetics (based in The Netherlands) and his sister, Heather, is a nutritionist for ANC (Agri-Nutrition Consulting, based in Ohio, USA). All are strong personalities with responsible roles. They are also potentially visible targets for any Bullvine detractors.

Strong connections

However, that is not how this close family works. Andrew has his parents’ and siblings’ support. They often disagree, but they are always in each others’ corners. And they were all sitting ringside together at WDE.

Andrew says, “If you know Paul, you know him as Paul Hunt and respect him for who he is. He’s not Andrew, Murray, Karen or Heather Hunt. If you judge any of my family because of what I do on The Bullvine, then you are discrediting yourself, not my family.

“We are all A-type personalities and we have all charted our own courses. But it doesn’t mean we’re not close. We’re family. We just had to learn to separate our work from our family time, and I have to say that kids have been amazing for changing that Christmas dinner-time conversation!”

Andrew’s mother, Karen Hunt, muses, “The first discussions about The Bullvine were colourful. You might say we were as surprised as anybody. However, with a lifetime of experience with Andrew’s somewhat unorthodox approach to technology and communication, we were ready to trust his instincts.”

Dad Murray adds, “And there was only two weeks between the time Andrew first ran the idea of The Bullvine up the flag poll, and the day the first article went up on February 24, 2012.”

Murray and Karen are the only additional official team members working for The Bullvine today, although staff from his two other companies play roles when they’re needed.

Murray says, “We both love it!  Every day brings new ideas, challenges and contacts. It has taken the discussions that we’ve always had around our kitchen table and expanded them more than a little … to around the world.”

Driven back to dairy

Andrew went to the University of Guelph in their Bachelor of Commerce, Agricultural Business and Management programme, and earned his stripes on a six-figure income in the Fortune 500 consulting services world.

He was always a ballsy, driven and restless personality.

So it did not surprise the people who knew him well when he left the security of his former employment with the full support of his new wife, Dr Zosia Hunt (who was still a student then). They also had a two-year-old and a newborn child at the time.

He established his own marketing agency from the ground up, Inbound Sales Network (which would also later include Inbound Accelerator, for tech start-ups). Today it has over 100 team members. The company has been incredibly successful and, for many, that would have been plenty.

Not for Andrew.

“I love the dairy industry. That’s why I left and came back. It’s a drug that I’m hooked on. And it’s what I’m most excited and passionate about,” he says.

The Bullvine is the result of Andrew’s ongoing passion to work within the dairy industry, blended with a skill set and history that brings new dynamics to a sometimes-predictable news medium.

Real and edgy

He did not launch The Bullvine to make money. He launched it to create energy and a strong message for the industry.

The opening salvo on The Bullvine’s webpage remains as a reminder that things were going to be shaken up:

“Let’s start with what we are not. We’re not just an event reporting magazine. We’re not a billboard or promoter of whoever will pay us the most money. We are something different, something real.”

Andrew says, “When we first looked at the publications in the marketplace, we knew we were up against well-established, traditional family-around-the table reads. If we did the same thing, we were never going to be successful. We had to use the power of community and conversation to really drive our growth.

“We also needed to be edgier — especially in the first year. We have made people uncomfortable, and we’re comfortable with that. Over time, some would say we have softened our stance. But I think the industry has also adjusted and there is greater acceptance of what we do. I think the industry has come to us somewhat.”

Shock and relief

There was no question that the opening stories shocked some. Others were relieved someone had finally put a voice to what they were thinking.

In the beginning, 2000 people read The Bullvine’s email and online messages a day.

Today, it reaches that number within an hour of an article being posted. In a week, 30,000 dairy people are reading what The Bullvine shares. In any given day it has between 7000 and 10,000 visitors. It’s a bustling outlet that publishes five feature articles a week and 10 news releases daily on anything from show time and profiles, to genomics, sire breakdowns, politics, innovation and education.

Andrew says it’s not so much the shock value that drives him, as the desire for transparency.

“Yes, we wanted to get people’s attention and knock people off their centre and be as far from the norm as we could be. But we have always been about clarity and transparency. In my industry, those are your staples. In the dairy industry everyone has been too worried about being friends with everyone else. It is a small community, so there is pressure to not offend anyone.

“But because of our monetisation strategy, I don’t depend on income from the typical sources, so I can say what I want to say and take it for what it is. What I don’t think a lot of people understand is that because we had planned our strategy for the first three years, we didn’t take the initial feedback personally.

“We knew it would be coming. The interesting thing for us was because we weren’t connected to the industry as a financial driver, it gave us the freedom to express ourselves honestly.”

Honesty achieves

And honest they have been.

They have called out many people from many parts of the industry, and entertained stories few dare to write. They have tackled taboo topics such as Photoshop and show previews.

The Photoshop editorial prompted Andrew to introduce the Dairy Marketing Code of Conduct, designed to make photographers, AI centres, breeders and graphic designers accountable for any changes to cattle photographs.

“I discovered many new issues with current photography practices. The biggest one is just plain old laziness,” Andrew says. “They are too lazy to do it right. ‘Photoshop saved careers’, they told me. I say, ‘Photoshop has made many photographers lazy.’”

Advertising pressure

Yes, today The Bullvine carries advertising. But that has not changed who or what they write about.

“I’ve always written what I’ve wanted to write. There’s been some people we’ve written about that most would argue that we shouldn’t have because of their backgrounds and/or industry perception.

“But if I think they are interesting and I’d like to know more about them, then we’re going to write about it. And if I’m the only person that reads it, cool. We have done those stories. But I say to the people who challenge me on that, that the decision’s on me since I’m paying for it. So I guess I can have that opinion. If they don’t like it, they don’t have to read it.”

God or data

Andrew has also called opposing media outlets to account for making claims on readership. The most notable and recent being readership demographics.

“You need data to back what you say with regard to that. Here’s my analysis: in God we trust, everyone else better bring data.

“When you have a number of Facebook followers from India and Pakistan — that have an average herd size of three cows — those readers are not showing cattle or selling genetics. The top four cities that register on The Bullvine are Quebec, Madison, Toronto and Montreal. We’re Canadian. It’s self-explanatory who has the most useful readers.”

Hefty research into ringside photography

One of the strongest evolutions of The Bullvine has been the initiation of ringside online show coverage and extensive ring photography.

“When we started I wasn’t going to do it because everyone else was,” Andrew says. “I’d never done photography, but soon realised that I needed photographs, and, being a techno guy, I thought, ‘let’s rock’ n’ roll’.

“I was a huge fan of Han Hopman [Holstein International photographer] and I used my technical skills to study his photos and assess his camera settings. I have also spent close to $50,000 on camera equipment since we started, and received training from photographers outside the industry and drove everywhere in North America to get better. I also bored my kids senseless picturing them. But we do have some insane family memories because of it.

“I still think Han is the best composition photographer there is in the world and he does an amazing job of telling a story with a photograph. This journey for me has turned out to be very rewarding and helped the growth of the company.”

It has also added to the workload, because, while many outlets have several staff ringside, Andrew is mostly either on his own or accompanied by his parents as back-up. He uses his technical skills to overcome running a smaller team, and makes it look more effortless than it probably is.

Coffee-table book + picturing for free

Picturing led Andrew to producing a coffee-table book of photographs post WDE and he has many showman ask for photographs for their marketing campaigns. It is something he does for free.

“They work so hard to get those animals out there, how can I have the right to charge them and reap the benefit of ‘snapping a photo’ of a cow that looks amazing?

“It’s an honour to have that opportunity and that’s why I put every photograph on Facebook. All I ask of the breeders and owners of the cows I picture is that they don’t remove my logo. Other than that, they can go nuts with them.”

Last year, over 14 photographs taken by The Bullvine were used for industry magazine covers.

Next steps: education and mentoring

Taking on the photography pushed Andrew to embrace the next step — something he likes to do.

“If you stay in your comfort zone, you are not progressing and if you don’t challenge yourself every day by either improving your strengths or working on your weaknesses, then you’re not developing as a person. The day that happens, I will quit.”

The business has evolved from its base as a genetics, show and genomic-based commentary, through to also being an educational tool. It now has as much focus on dairy industry issues as it does on the subjects it began with — genetics and shows.

The Bullvine recently initiated The Milk House — the World Wide Dairy Breeding and Dairy Genetics Group on Facebook. It is a closed chat room for producers from all around the world to share ideas. Already, all manner of things have been covered, connecting the industry in a new way at the grassroots level. There are more than 2000 posts a week.

Andrew has also established a network where dairymen can be part of conference calls with a “board of advisors”. Andrew is not involved, other than to facilitate. It is purely actioned to help dairy farmers. “The quality of discussion on these calls is very informative and helps us understand our industry better and how we can better serve it.”

It’s learning from others that first got Andrew started in the dairy marketing industry.

“When I was in university, I was approached by Albert Cormier and Dave Eastman to do the marketing for their soon-to-be-released sire Champion and their new company GenerVations.  Albert is legendary for his ability to market dairy cattle and David’s one of the smartest guys in the industry and at the forefront of breeding circles.” Andrew says they were a “great breeding ground for what he has become”.

Running a responsible line

Day to day, The Bullvine is growing and Andrew Hunt is growing with it — including his presence in the dairy industry.

With that comes greater responsibility — and that’s something he does not take for granted.

Of his direct approach, Andrew says, “I am more apt to run you over than stab you in the back.”

But helping the industry share ideas and progress is what drives him and makes him happy.

“I’m the luckiest man there is in the world,” he says. “I have a wife who ‘gets me’, who supports me and who is out of my league. She is the biggest stabilising factor in my life outside of my parents, who taught me to always believe in myself.

“When you are doing what you love and you can pay your bills, what else is there? The Bullvine can go on forever if I still have passion for it. How do you get bored with something that at your core is who you believe you are?”

This article first appear in the December 2014-February 2015 Edition of Crazy Cow in Print.  Click here to check out there Facebook group and watch for their new website soon.

Today, a single email can launch a worldwide movement. Three years ago today, a single email started what would become the greatest social change movement in the dairy industry. (Read more: Twice the Bull – Half the S**T)  However, it’s all going to fail without your support. Let us explain.

For years, the media has been censored.  What you read and what you heard and the opinions expressed were those that the powers that be wanted you to hear.  Magazines only published viewpoints that they knew would be popular with advertisers because that is how they made their money.   That model had to be broken, and it took more than just technology to change the world as we know it.

In 2012, the Turkish military jets had bombed and killed 34 Kurdish smugglers near the border region and Turkish media completely censored that news. Editors sat in their newsrooms and waited for the government to tell them what to do. One frustrated journalist could not take this anymore. He purchased his own plane ticket and went to the village where it had occurred.  He was confronted by this scene: a line of coffins coming down a hill and relatives wailing. He felt   overwhelmed.. He didn’t know what to do, so he took out his phone, like any one of us might, and snapped that picture and tweeted it out.  Voila! That picture went viral and broke the censorship and forced mass media to cover the story.

These same feelings are the feelings we here at the Bullvine felt when watching what was happening to the dairy industry.  We could see the media and the industry censoring what information was being shared with producers from around the world.  Scared to share an opinion that was contrary to that of the companies that had the power, the industry was heading down a slippery slope.  We felt the need to say something.  We didn’t like feeling overwhelmed. So we started the Bullvine.

However, sometimes starting the conversation or sharing a different opinion is not enough.  Take what occurred in Turkey in 2012.  A year later, Turkey’s Gezi protests began. It started as a protest about a park being razed but became an anti-authoritarian protest. It wasn’t surprising that the media also censored it, but it got a little ridiculous at times. hings were very intense. At the same time that  CNN International was broadcasting live from Istanbul, CNN Turkey was airing a documentary on penguins. Now, I love penguin documentaries but that wasn’t the news of the day. An angry viewer put his two screens together and snapped that picture, and that one too went viral, and since then, people call Turkish media the penguin media.

We find this same level of censorship, either intentional or not, still exists in the dairy industry.  Most publications are so afraid to offend the companies that have the power or the money that they are allowing them to choke out those same breeder-producers they claim to serve. Instead of standing up for those that they claim are members of the community, they sit back and watch as the industry slowly dies.   They prefer to post pretty pictures of baby calves or young kids, choosing to hide their heads in the sand like CNN Turkey did, instead of analyzing the actual news of the day.

Nowadays, technology like Facebook, Twitter, and etcetera allow people from around the world to connect on any topic they choose.  We see it all the time in chat forums such as The MilkHouse, where breeders express their concerns about actual issues that all breeders face.  The challenge is, for the most part, it’s just talk.  It’s a few breeders who are expressing their concerns while others lurk in the background afraid of repercussions.

A great example of this is when one breeder expressed their concerns over a sire of theirs failing health tests, after initially passing them upon entering an AI unit. The level of discussion went insane.  Breeders and producers from around the world were expressing their support and outrage about how this AI unit had conducted themselves. The AI unit representative had even called the breeder threatening them for their actions.  The problem is nothing changed.

Sure social media helped flame this fire to proportions never before seen in the dairy industry.  However, nothing changed.  Everyone eventually moved on.  No one has purchased less semen from this AI company as a result of their actions and breeders still lease their sires to this AI company.  So nothing has really changed other than the megaphone has gotten louder.

While we here at the Bullvine certainly see the need to raise and give a megaphone to the issues that face breeders here today, it is going to take more than just a louder voice to bring about real change.  It’s going to take all members of the community to unite and take action.

The dairy breeding industry is on the edge of extinction as we know it.  AI companies and other genetic organizations are using the superior technological and capital power they possess to choke out the dairy breeding industry as we know it.  Unfortunately, dairy breeders are sitting back and watching this happen.  They are letting these companies choke out their future.  Sure a few voices on social media are shouting, “Hell no!”  But no one is taking action.

The companies that are making these decisions that best serve their own interests see that, despite all the discontent that is being expressed through social media, no one is changing their buying habits.  It was much the same when we first took on the touchy subject of AI units owning females. Sure everyone was upset about the issue but no one took action.  Now these organizations own the majority of the top index animals in the world and have more than enough females to produce their own next generation of sires, without having to purchase bulls from breeders at all. Breeders have become like that  little dog with a big bark that has no bite. There is no incentive, need or concern, on the part of the AI companies, to change.

The Bullvine Bottom Line

In the past, when dairy producers had a problem, the only way they could be heard was to join committees and get on boards in order to have their voice heard.  In contrast, in today’s day and age, you can simply take to social media and express your opinion.  The problem is that it’s too easy.  It’s too easy to get it off your chest and then move on.  This method leads to no sustainable change being made.  So, the next time you are so pissed off about something in the dairy industry or the next time you are so concerned about the future of the breeding industry, don’t just take the easy route and put up an angry post   on Facebook.  Ask yourself what sustainable action you are taking to bring about change?  For us here at the Bullvine, that is the motivation that first got us started three years ago today. That is the motivation that we use daily to do what we do. However, without you taking action it all dies on the vine – The Bullvine.

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If you have a dairy farmer in your life, there are 25 ways to irrefutably confirm that Valentine’s Day 2015 has arrived and romance dairy-style is making its presence heartfelt!! He may not have done ALL of these today but you can put a kiss (X) on the heart, if your dairy man has put romance, as described here, into your life.

25 Ways to Score Dairy Love on Valentine’s Day

1. Valentine’s Day he makes a YOU-turn especially for love. He salutes February romance by bringing his lunch to share with you in the calf barn where you’re re-bedding calf pens. It’s his idea of a “roll in the hay with his little honey”.
2. The only other women on his mind have four legs and udders. You have the magazines and advertisements and newspapers to prove it. Unfortunately he thinks of them nine days a week.
3. He’s always inventing more ways to spend quality time together. Recently you have had two-gether time stable cleaning, bagging feed and bookkeeping.
4. The last handwritten card you received on Valentine’s Day said, “We’re out of colostrum. The feedstore will leave it on the ramp after closing.” Who said your man no longer delivered any good pick-me-ups?
5. You may be owed it but don’t bank on a dairy farmer producing anything with more poetic rhythm than the seat on the tractor you get to drive to rake hay. Although you would love him to pen “Ode for my wife” you are more likely to receive laundry room “odor for my wife!”
6. Although you have a romantic vision of total agreement in your partnership, in actual fact, men and women working on dairy farms often disagree. It’s the GMO effect:  Genetically Modified Opposition.
7. It isn’t that dairy farmers don’t like matchmaking. In fact it’s practically a full-time hobby. Give him a stack of pedigrees and the latest bull proofs and his thoughts, although maybe not focused on love, are definitely focused on finding the perfect mates.
8. When you occasionally ask why he never says anything romantic to you or about you, his response is, “I am struck dumb by your perfection.” Now that’s a smart dairy farmer.
9. The last time he presented you with a surprise box on Valentine’s Day, it turned out to be a trip to the granary to see the new litter of kittens that were making their home there. If you were lucky, he also had a second special box … a cardboard one….. so that you could move them somewhere that wouldn’t interfere with your daily chores. Such a thoughtful guy!
10. Thoughtful and sentimental. Or should that be “scent”imental. Women love it when a man lets his presence be known.  Dairy farmers are great at that. Barn boots across the clean floor, greasy hands on the fresh towels — barny barn smell on the pillow cases.  It may not be better housekeeping but it’s definitely animal husbandry.
11. Thank goodness most passionate dairy farmers don’t play the field they plough them!
12. Dairy farmers talk funny – especially when give instructions. You better know where the rock ridge is so that you can bring him a cotter pin when the tractor breaks down north of the dry well by the rail fence on the old Sutter place.
13. Dairy farmers may not be the brightest valentines in the chocolate box but they are definitely the sharpest ones in the laundry. More times than I can count I have washed pocket knives, burned out light bulbs and udder towels and turned everything the bright red of that new hat that was his “favorite”
14. It all comes out in the wash… if you’ve ever spent Sunday morning trying to untangle a pair of nylons from 200 yards of binder twine ….you know that isn’t true!
15. Washing the milk check takes money laundering and strained relationships to a whole new level.
16. However, on most days, there is no need for a matchmaker in dairy romances. Mother Nature does a wonderful job using storms, drought, wind and rain to keep the relationship from becoming routine or, heaven forbid, predictable.
17. You both know that your dairy guy thinks it’s a compliment to be asked, “Where you raised in a barn?”
18. Going “out” is a phrase you have to eliminate from your vocabulary. Out means: the cattle are out; or we’re out of feed;
19. Some couples share their love by going out to shows. When you share your life with a farmer you have a 24/7 front row seat for the greatest show on earth brought to you by Mother Nature productions.
20. Dairy sweethearts don’t need Valentine Surprises. The 24/7 of dairy farming has surprises built in. Like the ones that happen when the dairy man who has the key to your heart also leaves every door he passes through open:  house, barn, calf pens.
21. Dairy love is always ready to cut to the chase. ‘Cattle are out’.
22. On the other hand, nothing says love like duct tape and binder twine. You may prefer the ribbons and lace of Valentine’s Day, but duct tape and twine get the job done until the perfect fix is available. It’s quick. It’s easy.  Two can do it!!
23. So don’t expect a dairy farmer to get a fresh haircut for Valentine’s date. Keeping his shaggy locks is a sign of unconditional love. This romantic is not going to do anything that would make him attractive to somebody else.
24. If you’re still longing for a special treat for Valentine’s Day, sit hubby down and explain your vision for redoing the farmhouse in country modern style. When he looks up, obviously confused, ask, “What do you think?”  Nine times out of ten he will answer, “Sounds great to me”. When he comes in from the barn next week he will have no choice but to love the brand new living room furniture.
25. This man can fix anything that’s broken but with dairy luck on your side he will never break your heart

The Bullvine Bottom Line

So looking back over our checklist, how does your Dairy Valentine’s Day lover rate? If you checked more than three of these boxes with a smile on your face, the truth is obvious.  You’re in love with a dairy farmer.  You need to repeat this phrase often “I’ve fallen for a dairy farmer and I can’t give him up!!” So to all my peers who also love dairy guys, Happy Valentine’s Day Ladies from the Broadside of the Bullvine!! (Read more: 8 OF THE GREATEST DAIRY LOVE STORIES IN THE WORLD, THE DOS AND DON’TS OF DATING A FARMER, THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIP IN THE WORLD)

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