Good, bad, or indifferent, social media is everywhere. . . especially in the agriculture industry right now.  Mike Haley (a.k.a. @FollowFarmer and @FarmerHaley), a Simmental cattle producer in Ohio, compiled a significant list of all ag-focused tweeps on Twitter here.  Both @CariRincker and @RinckerLaw are on this very expansive list of agriculture folks ranging from livestock producers to agriculture organizations, farm radio broadcasters, extension specialists and agriculture attorneys.  For those of you who are considering joining twitterland, this list serves as a great starting place to find agriculture people and organizations to follow.  Additionally, WeFollow also has various directories for folks on Twitter.  The agriculture directory can be found here.

Twitter is quickly becoming the fastest way to get breaking news.  For yesterday’s #FollowFriday recommendations, I listed various Farm Bureau organizations who have a Twitter page.  The following Farm Bureau groups are all on Twitter and have been a great source for keeping me updated on agriculture news and policy:

1.  American Farm Bureau Federation (“AFBF”);

2.  AFBF’s Women’s Leadership Program;

3.  Arizona Farm Bureau;

4.  Hawaii Farm Bureau;

5.  Illinois Farm Bureau;

6.  Indiana Farm Bureau;

7.  Iowa Farm Bureau;

8.  Kansas Farm Bureau;

9.  Louisiana Farm Bureau;

10.  Massachusetts Farm Bureau;

11.  Michigan Farm Bureau;

12.  Mississippi Farm Bureau;

13.  Nebraska Farm Bureau;

14.  Nevada Farm Bureau;

15.  North Dakota Farm Bureau;

16.  Ohio Farm Bureau;

17.  Tennessee Farm Bureau;

18.  Texas Farm Bureau; and

19.  Washington Farm Bureau.

Social media certainly isn’t for everybody.  At first, I was very reluctant to join Twitter primarily because I did not understand the point.  However, in a few short months it has served as a great way for me to stay up-to-date on agriculture news, trends, and policy matters while networking with livestock producers and agriculture supporters around the country.

To decide whether Twitter is for you, I recommend watching a brief tutorial either here or here.  The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation also has a great guide to social media available here.