Here’s the AgChat tweetup group at Commodity Classic. By now you should know that a tweetup is an opportunity for fellow Twitterers to meet face to face at an event.
In this case those who participate in the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation got together here for a little bit of networking. Cindy (@FarmPodcaster) took the photo from above us as she rode the escalator up in the convention center.
Commodity Classic Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2009 Commodity Classic
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We had a great tweetup here at AG CONNECT Expo tonight. Thanks to AGCO for sponsoring it.
You can find AGCO socially:
Facebook
Twitter
Ustream.tv
YouTube
Tweetups are a great place to meet in person with other Twitter folks and network. That’s what we did.
AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album
Attending today’s Agrievolution program is Martin Richenhagen, President/CEO, AGCO. I had the opportunity to talk with him about this new ag show – AG CONNECT Expo. AGCO is supporting the show in a big way.
Martin says says that although the U.S. is one of the biggest countries in farming, the biggest farm shows are in Europe and they wanted to change that by having the industry association (AEM) put on the show so that the money made goes back into the industry. He says this gives companies a real vested interest in the show. In fact, he says “we feel pretty much like shareholders.” He really likes what the AEM staff has done with the show.
AGCO has invited about 1,500 dealers and customers to the show and they’ll have some new equipment on display. The idea has been very well received according to initial feedback.
AGCO is also sponsoring the first ever AGCO/AEM/AgChat tweetup following tomorrow’s opening session/reception at approximately 6pm in the news media center which is located in room W221 of the convention center.
AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album
You can listen to or download my interview with Martin below:
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The first of two American Farm Bureau Federation “tweetups” was held at 3 pm in the #afbf10 annual meeting trade show. More that a dozen regular Twitter posters in the ag industry showed up at the Monsanto booth at 3 pm to meet each other in person and exchange tweeting tips.
For those of you on the Twitter fringe, tweetups are gatherings where people who tweet about a certain topic or industry meet up. Most of those who showed up for the tweetup are also very involved with #agchat , an agricultural industry Twitter conversation. The hash tag thing is a way to connect posts made on the same topic or from the same event.
Click on the photo for a bigger version and see some of the folks who are tweeting ag’s horn, including farm media, organization representatives like several in AFBF, company public relations like Monsanto, and real farmers and ranchers.
The Flickr photo album is now on-line with downloadable photos from the American Farm Bureau 91st Annual Meeting.
Next week we’re going to have an “A” class tweetup. It’s an AGCO/AEM/AgChat Tweetup at AG CONNCECT Expo. Tweetups are a great opportunity to meet in person the people you communicate with via Twitter. After our tweetup anyone who wants to hang around can participate in an actual AgChat!
Here’s the details:
Date: Tuesday, January 12
Time: 6pm following opening session/VIP reception
Location: News Media Center, Rm. W221, Convention Center
Sponsor: AGCO
Refreshments provided. The winners of the Agvocating for Agriculture awards have been invited to join us.
I’ll be keeping the news media center open for the weekly AgChat session and anyone who would like to stay for it may do so. We have internet access for credentialed media and I’ll try to have a screen so we can easily watch AgChat tweets live.
I hope to see you there.
We had a great holiday week AgChat last night. Thanks to everyone who participated and made my life easy as the guest moderator. Our topic was climate change and there was no lack of opinions on the subject as it relates to agriculture. I would characterize most of the comments to the following questions as being skeptical about the science behind the modeling and policies being proposed and many even questioning the necessity of any legislation dealing with the issue. Perhaps our U.S. Senate has realized that there are way too many questions that need to be answered before creating a massive tax scheme and new bureaucratic nightmare for us to deal with since they’ve put Crap & Trade on a back burner. Too bad the House didn’t do the same.
So, although many seem to agree that we don’t need C&T and that there is too much scientific disagreement on the issue I think most are okay with continued or new research on climate change. From new research we can learn more about weather patterns, find new genes to make plants and animals more adaptable to changing conditions and maybe even new practices that will make farming more profitable.
You can scroll back through the online conversation using Twitter Search. You can also participate with AgChat via Facebook too.
Here are the questions posed in this weeks’ (final AgChat of the year/decade!) session:
Q1: via @lenejohansen Are farmers concerned about climate change and how will Cap&Trade impact the farm economy?
Q2: via @RandolphWriter Is ag better off with C&T that has potential upside for some income, or w/ direct regulation from EPA?
Q3: via @cornguy What are the potential competitive consequences if the U.S. pursues an aggressive C&T agenda and other key players stay on the sideline? via@cornguy
Q4: via @danielschel How can climate change research benefit agriculture?
Q5: via @AFBFMace Are you more concerned about added regulatory costs or climate changes that might impact production?
Q6: via @AgriBlogger What did American ag learn from the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference?
Q7: via @mpaynknoper How do we translate the science in a way that helps people understand more than the politics of climate change?
Q8: What are executable ideas we can take away from tonight’s chat?
It’s time for another AgChat and I’ll be your guest moderator this evening. AgChat takes place via Twitter from 7-9pm Central.
I’m choosing the topic of climate change since we just finished the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. If you’re an AgWired community regular you know I am more than a skeptic when it comes to man made climate change. I think there’s way too much disagreement in the scientific community to make any policy decisions on this issue. I’m all for doing what we can to be good stewards of our natural resources but I see this whole thing as a political power grab and social engineering experiment by people who wants things their way or no way. I think it’s immoral and criminal how many activist groups, politicians and others are employing scare tactics to feather their own nests. But, hey, that’s just my opinion.
I know you’ve got an opinion of your own and AgChat tonight will be an opportunity to present it and “chat” about it and how the issue affects farming and agriculture in general. Of course, what affects ag affects consumers so let’s keep that in mind.
There are a lot of different applications you can use to participate. Here are a few:
Twubs – Highly recommended. Just use your Twitter ID to login.
TweetChat – Usually works great for me.
Tweetie – For Mac or iPhone – My Twitter app of choice.
TweetDeck – Full featured for Mac/PC or iPhone.
Seesmic – For PC, Blackberry and Android.
Open Beak (formerly Twitterberry) – For Blackberry.
ÜberTwitter – For Blackberry.
Search Twitter – The Twitter search engine.
There are certainly more than these. If you’d like to share your favorite feel free to post it in comments.
See you in AgChat.
Another AgChat session is wrapping up. The topic this week is the death tax or as some like to call it, the estate tax. As always, you can scroll back through the conversation via Twitter Search. We have a Twub set up for AgChat too which is becoming my favorite way to participate.
Some of the Twitter-heads attending World Dairy Expo met up for a Tweet Up on Thursday afternoon at the Media Room.
Organized by Twitter AgChat moderator Michele Payn-Knoper, the Tweet Up allowed fellow tweeps to get together and discuss technical and agricultural issues.
If you have not ever participated in AgChat, it takes place on Tuesday nights from 8-10 pm central time.
Hey AgChat fans. We had a tweetup today in the Country Financial tent this afternoon and many of us who have only communicated via Twitter got to meet face to face for the first time. Here’s most of our group.
What is AgChat? Learn more by visiting AgChat or looking back through post via Twitter Search.
AgChat was started by Michele Payn-Knoper, Cause Matters. I finally got to meet her and we discussed why she started the Twitter conversation about agriculture and what she believes it is accomplishing.
You can listen to my interview with Michele below:
This evening AgChat was moderated live from our hotel, Decatur Conference Center, and a number of AgChatters showed up in a room where we had good internet access.
The topic was biofuels. Responses to questions show there is still a lot of misunderstanding about the production of fuels like ethanol and biodiesel and the truth about tax credits vs. subsidies and more.
Farm Progress Show Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2009 Farm Progress Show
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If you’re going to the Farm Progress Show and you have never participated in AgChat, the weekly Twitter conversation/community for agriculture, then you’re going to have several chances to learn more about it. AgChat will be on display along with all the latest products and services. AgChat is for farmers, in fact for anyone involved in providing food, fuel, feed and fiber as well as consumers. The audience is growing and it’s providing some good interaction with people who want and need to understand agriculture today.
“AgChat gives farmers a stronger voice and leverages the power of the agricultural community,” notes Michele Payn-Knoper, Certified Speaking Professional and founder of #AgChat. “We see upwards of 1,000 “tweets” during our two hour discussion every Tuesday night, cementing this tool as an important venue for sharing views and ideas on current food and farm topics, from antibiotic use to mainstream media misinformation about agriculture.”
On Tuesday, September 1, Farm Progress attendees can learn more about this social media tool at two #AgChat events:
• Tweetup: A networking and #AgChat demonstration for those in agriculture who are a part of Twitter, or want to see it in action. From 3-5 p.m., in the Country Financial tent, booth 749 on 7th Street, join Payn-Knoper and others in the #AgChat community, who will answer any questions you have. Refreshments will be served.
• #AgChat live: Join other farmers and agribusiness to participate in this fast-paced streaming “convo” on Twitter. Tweet and talk with several of the chat regulars, or just watch the community in action. Payn-Knoper will be moderating live from Farm Progress, 7-9 p.m., in the Decatur Conference Center & Hotel Illini Room. Bioenergy is the topic for the Sept. 1 chat. Other #AgChat participants will be joining in the streaming conversation from locations around the world.
“Our goal is to pull back the curtain for the next wave of adopters of these tools, and to reveal both the simplicity and power of social media in communicating about agriculture. We want farmers to experience that special act of reaching out across the virtual fence to communicate not only with other farmers, but with moms, journalists and others who are interested in gaining a broader perspective on food and agriculture. It also gives us an opportunity to ‘listen louder’ to thought leaders and consumers about their food interests.”
If you weren’t able to participate in last night’s AgChat session via Twitter then you missed a good one. The topic was going to be bioenergy but that got moved to next week in favor of a focus on how agriculture is portrayed in the mainstream media in light of a recent article in Time Magazine and an opinion piece in the N. Y. Times. As always, you can follow back through the conversation via Twitter Search.
It was obvious pretty quickly that this topic and the questions hit a nerve with people and tweets were being posted fast and furious. For the most part it was a very polite, professional and courteous conversation. However, we did have a couple of anti-ag contributors who obviously have no real experience with ag and were involved in an attempt to disrupt things. My advice is to ignore people like that on Twitter or any social networking mechanism. It’s one thing to disagree on an issue but it’s another to when someone becomes antagonistic, insulting and unwilling to participate on the same basis as everyone else. But that’s also part of what makes these networks great. We have the freedom and ability to interact directly with people and I believe that leads to better understanding without the need to depend on mainstream media journalists who have their own agenda.
Here’s the list of questions we dealt with:
Q1 via @narthur Is mainstream media sensationalizing (e.g. Jerry Springer) to combat traditional media malaise? What do we do?
Q2 via @akleinschmidt If the journalists were here tonight, what would you like them to know about your #farm or part of #ag?
Q3 via @TruffleMedia Is #ag calling kettle black? Hard ?, but tactics used in recent articles have likely been used by modern ag.
Q4 via @TruffleMedia What are the outcomes we want to accomplish by a rebuttal to current media stories?
Q5 Via @NEFarmBureau Would there be interest in a clearinghouse to report agenda-driven media contacts (those who seem suspicous)?
Q6 via @farmerscotty Why does the media portray us in #ag as stuck in 1950’s-era through photos & references to good ole days?
Q7 via @akleinschmidt Inference is big, modern, efficient=bad, unsafe, ’souless’. Where/when did we lose connection-How to repair?
Q8: What’s the one executable idea you’ve picked up from #agchat tonight?
I know many of you will be attending the Farm Progress Show next week. Please attend our tweetup on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 3-5 pm at the @hellocountry tent. Please remember to use the #FPS09 hashtag in your tweets while you’re in Decatur, Il! See you there.
Thanks again to Michele Payn-Knoper for moderating. Also feel free to check out AgChat on Facebook.
Another AgChat session is in the can. This time the focus was on food safety. You can follow back through the conversation via Twitter. Here’s the questions that were posed.
Q1 via @agriblogger Is it reasonable to expect that government can guarantee #food safety? #farm #agchat
Q2 Via @TruffleMedia What will Food Safety Modernization Act ‘09 do for consumers and producers, if passed? http://bit.ly/117Y44 #agchat
Q3 via @KateOnline What are some of the biggest misconceptions about the way food is produced/grown/raised & safety of that food? #agchat
Q4 What are key resources for the consumer to learn about food safety? #agchat http://twubs.com/agchat
Q5 via @KateOnline Do you feel consumers perceive certain products as safer? Organic/Local/Conventional? #agchat
Q6 via @KateOnline What #ag and #farm practices do you see or use that improve #food safety? #agchat
Q7 – the grand finale: What is the one executable idea you can take away from this evening’s fiery #food convo? #agchat
The online session was fast paced at times as comments and ideas were proposed from a wide array of people. According to our moderator we had 1200 tweets in less than2 hours with 150+ different contributors. Over the last 3 months we’ve had over 400 unique contributors.
Thanks again to Michele Payn-Knoper for moderating. Also feel free to check out AgChat on Facebook.
CNN.com has a nice story by John D. Sutter that covers how farmers are communicating today with their smartphones and Twitter. He spoke with my main man Steve Tucker, Nebraska farmer and Any Kleinschmidt, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture Educator and Assistant Professor and yours truly and also mentions AgChat. Here’s an excerpt:
As he rolls across the wheat fields of his Nebraska farm, Steve Tucker often has his hands not on the wheel of his tractor, but on a smartphone. Steve Tucker, a Twittering farmer, pauses in front of his tractor in Nebraska.
He sometimes posts a dozen messages per day on Twitter, commenting on everything from the weather to the state of his crops to his son’s first tractor ride and even last night’s cheeseburger.
He wants to bring urban Internet users along for the ride. And in doing so, he’s become a sort of text-happy evangelist for rural America.
I love the term, “twittering farmer.” We need more of them and there are a lot already. What’s your take on farmers using new social networking tools to communicate with each other and the general public?
I enjoyed another great AgChat session tonight. This time the focus was on Food, Inc. the movie. You can follow back through the conversation via Twitter.
It was obvious that most of us participating haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet but you can watch the trailer and read around their website or get the associated book to get a pretty good feel for what it’s about. After reading along with the comments posted, including from those who have seen it I think farmers should be pretty concerned if the movie “gets legs.” There is apparently a lot of misinformation from activists who want to promote their viewpoint in a sensational way without concern for facts or context for the presentation. I hope to get to see it so I can comment from a more informed viewpoint although I understand why one person who participated doesn’t want to see something that appears to be so obviously anti-ag.
Thanks again to Michele Payn-Knoper for moderating. Also feel free to check out AgChat on Facebook.
After missing it the last couple weeks I got to participate in tonight’s AgChat session on animal ag via Twitter. Here’s the questions posed.
Q1: Should we have a #farmfact and/or #foodfact day each week? Which day & which tag best for educating non-ag?
Q2: Should NAIS be voluntary or mandatory? Why?
Q3: Is it possible to be for MCOOL but opposed to mandatory NAIS? Why?
Q4: What are the existing humane standards for animal care and transport?
Q5: How has Prop 2 impacted animal ag in California?
Q6: What are the top technologies that have positively impacted the dairy and beef cattle industries?
It was another great session. You can read back through it via Twitter Search.
We need to thank Michele Payn-Knoper for once again being the “chat herder” for #AgChat. You can follow her on Twitter at @mpaynknoper. This week we had a co-host, Kathy Swift.
As you can imagine, our questions were sure to generate some discussion and show how many different opinions there are on this subject while also giving any non-ag folks watching some new perspective on issues they have no personal experience with.
If you participated or have read back through the discussion what do you think? Also feel free to check out AgChat on Facebook.
I missed AgChat last night but like you, I can review the discussion via Twitter Search. The subject was animal welfare and what agriculture can do to team up with allied industries and groups to create better understanding in the public and combat misinformation campaigns by extremist animal rights groups. Questions included:
Q1: How can #agriculture work with groups such as @RaisingVoices & collaborate against animal rights activists?
Q2: What specific message can both #agriculture & animal research carry that will make the most impact against misinformation?
I solicited comments from participants since I couldn’t and got responses like:
I was impressed; almost to the point of being overwhelmed. Had Tweetie, Tweetdeck, and Tweetchat all running to keep up!
Our AgChat moderator is Michele Payn-Knoper who did a great job of participating while moderating once again and posted this stats summary from the discussion:
1100+ tweets on #agchat last night with 100+ unique contributors. Great discussion around animal rights & #ag.
I know there’s more to add here but I invite comments from those who did participate to help AgWired readers better understand the discussion.
During the last couple weeks I’ve seen more growth in agricultural interests using Twitter than ever. I’m talking companies, agencies, farmers, ag media. This is a great sign. One of my favorite posts on Twitter yesterday started out, “Tweeting from tractor . . . ” Yes folks, your customers and members are there. Are you? If not, why not? I’d encourage you to go ahead and create an account even if you don’t want to start using it right away. If you don’t know how, email me and I’ll create it for you. Why get one now? You don’t want your competition or someone else to get your ID, kind of like protecting your domain.
Twitter has developed into a great online communications tool. Yes, there’s a small learning curve. Yes, it will take time to build connections (followers). You can of course stick your head in the sand and let other people talk about you without your participation. I don’t recommend it.
So, why should you participate in the online discussion? For one thing you’ll be helping tell agriculture’s story in an environment where you’re more likely to interact with consumers who are having a say in how you run your business (think legislation). How many times do we see companies and groups lament that “our story isn’t being told.” That’s because you’re depending on others to do it for you. With today’s social media tools you no longer have that excuse. Additionally, by interacting with your customers, members and the public you can make sure your side of any story is told – by you!
I’ve written about our weekly #AgChat session a couple of times where people interested in agriculture are participating in a live Twitter discussion on Tuesday evenings. We’ve been reaching out to all interests, including those not involved in production agriculture. This past week we saw a growing amount of non-ag participation. Some of them are extremely vocal opponents of animal agriculture or farming as we know it. It was interesting to see how cordial some of them were and how antagonistic some were. Now we’ve just learned that the most antagonistic one has started an alternative #AgChat called #SustAgChat which will be a live Twitter discussion on Sunday evening from 5-8pm Pacific time. Of course the focus is “sustainability.” Something that most farmers are very familiar with and practice with growing effectiveness. We learned last week that many people have extremely different definitions of sustainability. I dare say that some consider it a backyard garden and a meatless diet. I would recommend looking at how USDA defines it as a more reasonable place to start. I like Cindy’s point that “we’ve been farming for how long?”
My point in bringing this up is to show how we’ve made a difference. We’ve touched a nerve with the public sufficient to cause them to take action in response. And this has been done by a small but growing group of people who are taking a few minutes out of their week to use the tools at our disposal. Something to think about, eh?
We just concluded another great #AgChat session via Twitter. Here’s the questions posed.
Q1: What are differences between the 2 main types of ag production – local & nat./int?. Advantages & disadvantages?
Q2: Family farmers vs. ind. ag, how can you distinguish between 2 approaches (family vs. big) & validate need for both?
Q3: How can we share positive msg about all ag practices, incl organic, even as some claim one is better than another?
Q4: NYC held a food conf. Disagreements aside, they’re interestd in farming. How do we engage & find common ground?
Q5: What other groups can we collaborate with outside of agriculture strengthen our voice & overcome adversaries messages?
We had a very lively discussion. You can read back through it via Twitter Search. The picture is from Twitterfall which I really like to follow a fast paced discussion like this.
I want to thank Michele Payn-Knoper for once again being the “chat herder” for #AgChat. You can follow her on Twitter at @mpaynknoper.
A couple of things stood out to me during the discussion. We don’t have common definitions for terms like sustainable, organic, industrial farm, family farm, etc. It’s really hard to communicate with people who define these terms in completely different ways.
We had a few non-farmer types join us which was very refreshing. One in particular was very open to discussion and explaining a different point of view. Another was there just to spam us and threaten. I think it shows that we are having an impact. As was pointed out, all of our websites (blogs included) and social media efforts are reaching a lot more people than just farmers. So we are getting our message out and not depending on the mainstream media to do it for us. I think we’re making an impact.
If you participated or have read back through the discussion what do you think? Also feel free to check out #AgChat on Facebook.
Earlier this week, Chuck summarized Tuesday’s #agchat session on Twitter. I joined in for the first time this week, and I wanted to discuss Question 5 on AgWired this morning. Question 5: “If you had 1 recommendation for ag to create a message , what would it be, who would it involve & how would you execute it?”
The tweets that followed this question really impressed me. There were so many outstanding marketing ideas for positioning farmers and ranchers in a positive light. My favorite was the slogan, “Farmers Care.” It was simple and to the point. However, then the discussion changed pace, and individuals started asking if consumers even knew what a farmer was? Is the world so disconnected that people don’t even have a clue as to what a farmer is? I doubt it, but I’m certain their ideas of farmers don’t always coincide with the reality of what food production is.
Even if you missed Tuesday’s #agchat, here is your chance to weigh in. If you could create a slogan for farmers and ranchers to use, what would it be?
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