“Ag-Vocates” organize for Agchat.org

May 12, 2010 in 1, Agriculture, Non-Profit, Public Relations
Tags: @AgChat, admavericks, ag-vocates, Agriculture, agvocates, Bellana Putz, cattle, crops, farmers, healthy food, horses, HSUS, Jeff Fowle, livestock, Michele Payn-Knoper, Peta, rancher, Social Media, social media network, twitter

Whether or not you are involved in agriculture, you’ve probably heard in one form or another anti-agricultural groups such as PETA or HSUS attacking agriculturalists for one reason or another. These groups attack farmers and ranchers for administering medicines for routine herd health, for halter-breaking cattle and horses, and for producing healthy food in an efficient manner. A community of  ”ag-vocates” is encouraging farmers and ranchers to not wait until these claims are made to speak out. This community formed using Twitter for “#agchats” and formally organized the AgChat Foundation at agchat.org a year later.

When I spoke with founder Michele Payn-Knoper, she said the AgChat Foundation launched on April 2, 2010 (at the one year anniversary of the start of #AgChat.) Now, more than 2,000 people from seven countries have participated in the weekly #AgChat conversations on Twitter. The AgChat Foundation has four program areas focused on social media: Agvocacy 2.0 Training, Strategic Agvocacy Coordination, Data Analysis, and Technology Scholarships.  Its goal is to help farmers and ranchers use social media to tell their stories to the 98.5% of the population not engaged in the production of food, feed, fuel and fiber.

Along with Michele’s Twitter “Ag-Vocates” they now have an organized board of farmer directors working together to share their “farm gate to consumer plate” stories.  AgChat director and California rancher Jeff Fowle with his family raise horses and purebred Angus cattle shared, “The sole purpose I use social media is being able to tell the real message to the general public because I’ve seen the abuse of the mainstream media’s take and its direct effect on the family farmer.”  ”The twisting of facts to portray an activist agenda can be offset in social media.  Social media gives us the opportunity to connect the good stories with the public.  We can’t afford to be silent and must take our stories to the public ourselves.” Watch Jeff here as he explains how to share the voice of agriculture.

Just like we advise, Knoper asks everyone to “act in a professional manner by following the course of conversation without grandstanding or antagonizing. Be yourself and respect others. It’s a professional conversation.”

Kudos to farmers and ranchers across the world for uniting in a positive manner to tell your story.  If you’d like to learn more about this group of “ag-vocates” find them on: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Author: Bellana Putz
www.lessingflynn.com
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