Read a personal note from Michele about her lifetime of work in agriculture
Empowering voices from farm to food for 25 years
Who we are: A cause rooted in the farm. A mission that reaches the world.
Cause Matters Corp. was founded in 2001 on a simple conviction: agriculture's story matters – and it deserves to be told well. For 25 years, Michele Payn has been the person organizations call when they need to cut through noise, rebuild trust, and turn complex science into conversations that actually land.
What we do: We bridge the gap. Between farms and consumers. Between science and common sense.
Cause Matters Corp. helps farmers, scientists, dietitians, and agribusinesses communicate what matters most. Whether that's tackling food misinformation head-on, training scientists to tell their stories, helping rural communities navigate mental health challenges, or equipping ag organizations with the strategy to grow their voice – this work changes how people think about food and farming.
Michele didn't stumble into this work. She grew up in it. Today, she lives it – residing on a small central Indiana farm with registered Holsteins and wildflower pollinators and working every day at the intersection of food, farming, and science communication.
Timeline: Farm roots to shaping global conversations about food
Before she started Cause Matters Corp., Michele was raised on a Michigan dairy farm, began breeding registered Holsteins at age 9, and earned degrees in Agricultural Communications and Animal Science from Michigan State University. She started her career marketing dairy genetics to more than 25 countries and then served as Regional Director for the National FFA Foundation – raising several million dollars in corporate sponsorships across 15 states. She is comfortable in both the barn and board room.
Michele Payn, CSP, Keynote Speaker
2001: Cause Matters Corp. Founded
Launched with a mission to connect the farm gate to the food plate after seeing ag-to-consumer communication gap widening. As a pioneer in agricultural advocacy, Michele would spend half of her time speaking convincing farmers and ranchers we had a perception problem.
2002: Ukraine Training Project
Traveled to Ukraine to work with ag retailers and grain farmers through a USAID-funded project – bringing communication and advocacy tools to the people working to modernize one of the world's most significant agricultural regions.
2003: A Cow-Loving Daughter Arrives
Michele became a mom – and gained a lifelong farm partner. Her daughter grew up showing and loving Holsteins, which says everything about the home and barn she was raised in.
2009: Certified Speaking Professional Designation
Earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation – held by fewer than 10% of professional speakers worldwide. This earned credential that reflects thousands of hours of platform work and measurable client impact.
2009: Social Media Pioneer
Founded #AgChat – among the first global Twitter communities for agriculture, which reached 50,000 people globally. Later began #FoodChat to engage people around the food plate around how food is produced. Michele trained agricultural organizations and farm groups across the U.S. on social media strategy and engagement.
2010-2012 Egypt Agriculture Education Project
Worked in Egypt as part of the MUCIA USAID project to help build an agriculture education system. Provided speaking and writing training, along with strategic planning. Empowerment transcends borders.
2012: Dietitian Research & Engagement Begins
Recognized a critical gap: registered dietitians were advising millions of Americans on food with little firsthand knowledge of how it's grown. Began active research and engagement with dietetic associations, building programming for meaningful farm-to-RDN education.
2013: No More Food Fights! Released
Published first book – a two-sided format inviting farm people and food people to reach across the plate and find common ground. A bridge-building framework still used in ag advocacy training today.
2013-2016: Connecting Gate to Plate Platform
With No More Food Fights! as a platform, built out a robust portfolio of keynotes, workshops, and consulting engagements across North America – facilitating strategic plans for state ag organizations, delivering social media and advocacy training.
2017-2018: Food Truths from Farm to Table Published, Receives IPPY Bronze Medal
Published Food Truths from Farm To Table: 25 Ways to Shop & Eat Without Guilt, a #1 Amazon Best Seller Designed to answer the questions consumers and dietitians ask most, with insight from 55+ contributors. Named the 2018 IPPY Bronze Medal winner in health, medicine, and nutrition – placing agriculture in the same conversation health professionals.
2018: Stress Management Training & Tools Offered
Michele started speaking about mental wellness for farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness professionals – a topic still widely underserved. This led to Agriculture's Growth Journal, a tool to provide 52 practical tips and space to write down thoughts.
2018: A ‘City Slicker’ Joins the Farm
Michele married Erik, who likes to tell people farming is women's work in their barn, but has since become a genuine partner in creating their wildflower pollinator conservation project on their Indiana farm.
2019-2020: Food Bullying Published, Receives IPPY Gold Medal
Released Food Bullying: How to Avoid Buying B.S.,exposing how fear-based food marketing manipulates shoppers and undermines farmers. Became a #1 Amazon best seller and in 2020, named the 2020 IPPY Gold Medal winner in health, medicine, and nutrition – selected from among 4,500 entries in the world's largest independent book competition
2019: Food Bullying Podcast Begins
Launched the Food Bullying Podcast with health speaker Eliz Greene as founding co-host, bringing a consumer health lens to agriculture's toughest conversations. Nicole Rodriguez, RDN, later joined as co-host, adding the farmer-dietitian pairing that gave the 120 episodes a distinctive, credible voice at the intersection of agriculture and nutrition.
2024: Science Story Speak Workbook & Training Launched
Co-authored with Amy Hays – Science Story Speak is a first-of-its-kind workbook helping scientists in nutrition, agriculture, Extension, and conservation communicate more effectively in a sensationalized, science-skeptical world.
2024-2025: Used AI Training as an Issue Forecasting Tool for Agriculture
Michele bgan looking at A.I. for issues intelligence in 2024, and then included cutting edge insights in her keynotes to help agricultural organizations, agribusinesses, and farmers understand what AI means for food, farming, and science communication.
2026+ The Next Chapter… Empowering Voices from Farm to Food
Expanding A.I. literacy, neuroscience tools, and communication training for the agrifood sector – equipping the next generation of farm and food leaders to tell their story in a rapidly changing information landscape. How can we get real-life agriculture information into brains and bots?
Our Audiences
We show up for the people who feed the world – and those who worry about what they eat.
Agricultural Organizations: State & national ag groups, Farm Bureaus, commodity
boards, agribusinesses who want communicate differently.- Farmers & Scientists: Ranchers, food producers, and researchers who need to tell their story in a skeptical,
sensationalized world. - Dietitians and Healthcare: Nutrition and health professionals who want a clearer, science-based lens on farming practices and how food is produced.
- Rural Communities looking for practical mental wellness tools built for the realities of rural living.
We work with a variety of groups, from Fortune 500 companies to farm-to-food community events to small leadership trainings. Michele customizes each keynote or program to the audience and event. Take a look at our client list and testimonials .
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