Farmers Fight Negative Perceptions With Social Media

It's all too easy for animal advocates to be down on farmers and farming these days. A quick dip into social media uncovers all sorts of (justifiable) outrage: YouTube videos showing graphic details of the recent Ohio dairy farm cruelty, Facebook updates on appalling conditions at egg producers, Twitter alerts mobilizing advocates on setting legislative standards for agricultural animal welfare. It all paints a rather harsh online picture of farmers and the farming industry — and the notoriously unplugged farmers are fighting back by marshaling their own social media forces.

As tech-savvy farmers are observing, social media use among animal advocates and environmentalists, plus the segregation of farms from the rest of society, have combined to create an overall negative image of farming. People's ideas of what farming is like today are coming from sensational cases circulating on the internet and in social media, two forums from which farmers tend to remain completely removed. "We weren't part of the conversation," California dairy farmer Ray Prock Jr. told the Associated Press. "And if we aren't telling our story, other people will, and they'll tell it the way they want to."

Creating a new story of farming is AgChat Foundation, a new group encouraging farmers to use social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The organization aims to help farmers show a less sensational, more responsible side of farming and agricultural animal care.  The effort is gaining momentum, not only among sincere, ethical farmers who simply want their voices to be heard, but also from more strident farming proponents who feel attacked by groups of concerned citizens.

"The conversation about agriculture is happening — with or without us," proclaims AgChat's website. "Anti-agriculture activist groups have been using social media to proliferate misinformation — for example, HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) has increased its Twitter following 45x in 15 months. Farmers must engage in the conversation or face the consequences of animal rights activists, environmentalist extremists and other pundits."

Ouch — that's some pretty inflammatory language right there. And this message of urgency comes on the heels of additional industry warnings that farmers should  "take extra security precautions to prevent getting targeted by animal rights groups looking for video to aid in their fundraising efforts and political campaigns."

Will AgChat's efforts become just another PR campaign against animal activists and environmentalists? Despite the obvious danger of falling into "us vs. them" camps, the real potential for this campaign rests in the interactive nature of social media. "This is where my family lives — I care for the air, and the water, the environment, the cows," said Prock, as he showed off what the AP characterized as open, airy barns. "This is what I wish I could show people." Thanks to social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook, Mr. Prock, you'll find a public that is ready, willing and interested to see.

Photo credit: iLoveButter