Who’s Telling Your Story?

If you’ve checked out my blog or follow me on social media, you’ve probably figured out that I have a passion for agriculture.

I’m a farm kid, but moved to a city nearly three hours from our farm after college. Living in a city and interacting with individuals on social media have taught me a lot about what can be improved with showing non-farm folks about agriculture.

Farmers sometimes get stuck in their own worlds and assume that their profession is well-understood. Their worlds are their rural communities. In those small towns, even the non-farmers are pretty familiar with agriculture since their friends and neighbors are farmers and they are surrounded by cornfields.

In reality, only about 2% of Americans farm. Fewer than 20% of Americans live in rural areas. That’s 80% of people living in the United States that don’t exist in those rural worlds. They’re missing out on having those farmer-consumer relationships. It’s possible that their farm experiences are from visiting their grandparents’ farms many years ago. And, as farmers, we know that a lot has changed since then.

Not having direct relationships with farmers cause a disconnect between farmer and consumer. This leads to questions that go unanswered, which eventually will turn into misconceptions about farming and agriculture.

Fortunately, social media is an excellent opportunity for farmers to engage with consumers. Unfortunately, it’s also a platform that can be used to spread messages that may not be the whole truth about farming. So I asked farmers on Twitter why they agvocate.

Their response? They agvocate because they want to have conversations with consumers. They want to share their stories and show consumers what happens on their farm on a daily basis. Farmers agvocate because they have a passion for their profession and want to share that passion with consumers.

You know what? I think it’s working. More conversations are taking place. Consumers are connecting with farmers and following their daily activities on the farm through photos and thoughts shared on social media. Farmers are learning, too. They’re listening to consumers questions and concerns and are learning to communicate effectively, often adding “writer” and “photographer” to their job description.

Farmers need to share their stories, whether on social media or through face-to-face conversations. Consumers will find answers to their food questions, and who would be more appropriate to answer those questions than farmers? If farmers aren’t answering those questions, someone else will.

So farmers, who’s telling your story?