There’s a good story about farmers using social media in the Fresno Bee titled, “Facebook draws a growing crop of farmers, Many in the ag industry are using Twitter and blogs to communicate, educate.” Cindy spoke with author Robert Rodriguez and pointed him to a few other folks to contact for the story. She is quoted in the article.
The story starts out with a description of how and why one dairy farmer (Barbara Martin) is using social media.
For Martin, using social media and blogging is a way to dispel some myths about farmers and encourage a greater understanding of the slumping dairy industry.
She’s blogged about everything from fixing the pricing structure for milk to sharing her childhood memories about growing up on a farm. Her most recent post is a video diary about her heifer Chica.
So do you think dairy farmers are ahead of the curve or what?
The bottom line is that the use of social media by farmers continues to grow and grow and grow. And I just got an email today from someone in ag communications wondering “if Twitter is a passing fad.” Hmm. How would you answer that?
New communications technologies are developing faster than at any time in history. To choose not to participate is like deciding, “I don’t want to be part of your conversation.” Not a good strategy when they are your customers or members.
I really enjoyed this article and your post. We have seen similar trends in other local, independent businesses who are using social media to connect with and service their customers http://bit.ly/DOf3z.
Farmers in the UK would love to be able to use social media to communicate in this way too, but unfortunately most of the UK rural land mass only has dial up connections due to the inability of the incumbent telcos to think further than supplying the cities. We still rely on the obsolete copper phone lines for our internet, and they can only deliver a limited service. We also have very poor mobile coverage away from densely populated areas. Sad old digitalbritain. The farmers who can get a connection are moving with the times and find it much easier to comply with government legislation and regulations. They are also diversifying into compatible enterprises to stay economic. Ecommerce sites selling produce are starting to appear when farms close to cities can get a connection. Local JFDI initiatives are springing up to lay fibre and bring connectivity to small communities. Power to the People.
chris
Enjoyed your post. Check out “The No Duhs of Social Media” for more insight on your topic. http://www.famefoundry.com/646/the-no-duhs-of-social-media
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