There are over three million farmers in the U.S. and 30 percent of them are women. However, female farmers don’t always get the credit they deserve. This year, to celebrate Women’s Equality Day on August 26, one agricultural cooperative is breaking into the music industry and shining a spotlight on the oftentimes overlooked women who make the dairy industry successful.

Land O’Lakes partnered with Grammy Award-winning songwriter Liz Rose and country music star Maggie Rose to create a female empowerment anthem based on the popular “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” nursery rhyme – challenging the stereotype of what your typical farmer looks like. This modern rendition, titled “She-I-O,” showcases the hard-working, successful and powerful female farmers that help drive the industry. The song is accompanied by a music video which features some of the female members of Land O’Lakes’ cooperative, which consists of 1,791 farmers. “She-I-O” debuted on Tuesday and has already garnered over 102,000 views with thousands of people commenting and sharing the video across social media. These musical elements are part of a larger “All Together Better” campaign which also includes a partnership with Feeding America. For every like, share or comment on the video or song, the Land O’Lakes Foundation will donate $1 to Feeding America, up to $100,000. To better tell the unique stories of some of these female farmers, Land O’Lakes and the Female Farmer Project produced a three-part digital documentary series called “In Their Words” which follows the daily lives of Lori, Candice and Amanda, three farmers featured in the music video.
Companies have harnessed the power of pop culture to showcase their brand or products in the past. However, Land O’Lakes’ unexpected foray into this mainstream channel is positioned to not only capture the attention of consumers for the duration of the three-minute song, but to continue the conversation with additional consumer engagement aspects on social media platforms. In fact, 68 percent of Americans say they are more willing to share content from Purpose-driven companies with their social networks. By providing consumers with multiple ways to get involved on the channels they frequent, brands can further amplify their efforts.