Dayton Business Journal...
Farmers use social media to raise awareness
by Ginger Christ
Monday, October 10, 2011 

Ohio’s farmlands may still be remote expanses of rolling hills and endless cornfields, but they’re not isolated from the technology taking hold in the rest of the world. 

Today’s farmers have become tech savvy. They film video on their Apple    iPads while ploughing fields. They tweet from the milking parlor. They share photos on Facebook    from the barn stalls. 

In short, they bring the farm to the consumer. And that’s all while enduring labor-intensive work. 

For years, America’s farmers have fought to stay relevant as people rely more on the chain grocery store than the local milkman. As consumers become more removed from the farm, it’s been increasingly difficult to keep agricultural issues at the front of public awareness. 

Now, with bundles of social media tools at their disposal, farmers are finding a voice again and influencing public opinion from the farm. 

“It’s a really great tool in reconnecting people to the farm and reconnecting our farmers to the people they’re feeding,” said Dan Toland, communications specialist for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation    . “There’s nobody better to tell the farmers’ story than the farmers.” 

Take Whispering Pines Farm in Sugarcreek Township for example. 

The family-owned farm in Greene County regularly posts photos and videos on Facebook. From videos of day-old chicks and dogs herding sheep to photos of lambs peeking in the chicken coop, Whispering Pines brings moments of everyday life on the farm to the public. And it interacts with the local community at the same time. 

The federation started using Twitter    in mid-2008 and Facebook a few months later. In 2009, it developed a Social Media Guide for its members, a guide that spread to farming communities across the country. The purpose of the guide was to give farmers, the majority of whom were in their 50s, step-by-step directions on how to use sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 

Because for many social media was a new concept, the federation first tried to familiarize its members with online interactions and urged them to use the sites first on a personal basis before as a professional tool. 

“I think in social media, the more human you are the better,” Toland said. “You have to use these tools in a way that’s personable.” 

While some farmers are limited by access to high speed Internet service, the accessibility of smartphones now has enabled more to connect to the Internet, even from the fields. A farmer is much more likely to use a smartphone than to sit down at a computer, Toland said. 

“A lot of our farmers don’t have time to sit down at a desktop. The only time they’re in the house is to eat and sleep,” Toland said. 

Toland estimates roughly 60 percent of federation members use Facebook and 8 percent use Twitter, but the numbers are constantly growing. And more social networking sites are becoming available such as Google    ’s new site, Google+. 

In early 2010, the federation started offering social media training sessions by county. Since then, Toland has trained about 750 members. 

Part of the popularity — and one of the greatest successes — of social media use in agricultural circles is the ability those tools give farmers to engage in discourse. A number of farmers now even refer to themselves as “agvocates.” 

And farming remains a vibrant part of the Dayton-area economy. In Darke County alone, agriculture remains the leading business, accounting for more than $350 million in annual revenue. 

One of the best examples in the state, according to Toland and Melanie Wilt, senior account manager and owner of Springfield-based Wilt Public Relations, is Mike Haley, a fifth generation grain and beef farmer who labels himself an agvocate. Haley’s Twitter account (@farmerhaley) has more than 15,000 followers and his farm’s Facebook page has more than 600 likes. He even maintains a farming blog, on which he recently posted an open letter to America about the inaccuracies in public perception of the farming industry. 

“Social media has in a new way been able to connect farmers who produce commodity products to their consumers who are a few steps away,” Wilt said. “Social media conversation is really helping to reduce the information void.” 

In addition to helping spread messages and inform consumers, social media also, more simply, is creating new retail outlets for farmers. 

With communities embracing buying local efforts, social media helps connect farmers to their communities and spreads awareness about farmers’ markets. 

While some farms are able to bring visitors into the barn in person, others are limited by biosecurity concerns, Wilt said. But, with social media, farmers now can share videos of farming processes without jeopardizing their farms. 

“It allows us to be more transparent and still maintain the biosecurity,” said Wilt, who was raised on a grain and livestock farm. 

Yet, despite the many advantages of social media, it is not a “silver bullet” for the agricultural community, Wilt said. More important is the message farmers are sending out and social media is only one channel farmers are using to spread their message. They also are speaking out at local meetings and giving presentations on farming in local circles, becoming more engaged in general. 

Part of that upped level of engagement could stem from the impact social media has on connecting communities of farmers. 

On Tuesday evenings farmers around the world participate in a topic-based Twitter chat using the hashtag #agchat. The agchats became so popular participants formed the Agchat Foundation, a nonprofit foundation designed to help more farmers embrace social media. 

And a group of farmers in Marion County launched Follow Farming, a seven-month social media project through which local farmers share what goes into farming 10 acres of corn and soybeans. The project has its own Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel and blog. All proceeds from the effort will be donated to charity. 

“Farmers traditionally used the Internet for weather and prices,” Toland said. “They’re getting a much more well-rounded view of what’s happening.” 

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