Rincker Law, PLLC isn’t just on twitter – the firm just started a fan page on facebook. You can become a fan here for updates on firm news and events, blog updates, and agriculture law & policy. Feel free to join the conversation on the discussion board about various agriculture law and policy issues.
Even though facebook’s genesis was strictly in colleges and universities, facebook has since matured and morphed into a powerful social networking tool used commonly across several generations and walks of life. If you are like me and feel uncomfortable with certain sectors of the public knowing the more personal details of your life, facebook has implemented sophisticated privacy tools that can be tweaked to your specific needs. The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation has a great tutorial on social networking here that more elaborately discusses facebook’s privacy options.
Like twitter, it is a great tool for staying up to date on agriculture news and events near you. To illustrate, as I mentioned in this previous blog post, many Farm Bureau groups can be found on twitter. However, facebook users can also subscribe to these news updates from their personal facebook page by becoming a fan of these Farm Bureau organizations. For example, the following Farm Bureau organizations have fan pages on facebook and frequently post great information on agriculture news and policy:
1. American Farm Bureau Federation (“AFBF”);
5. Illinois Farm Bureau (my home state);
6. Iowa Farm Bureau;
11. Nebraska Farm Bureau;
12. New Hampshire Farm Bureau;
13. North Carolina Farm Bureau;
15. Ohio Farm Bureau;
16. Oregon Farm Bureau;
17. Texas Farm Bureau;
18. Virginia Farm Bureau;
19. Washington Farm Bureau; and,
I was also very excited to find out tonight that Long Island, New York‘s Farm Bureau right in my own backyard has its own facebook fan page here. You can also add the Farm Bureau organizations in Minnesota, Kansas, Nevada, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana and Hawaii as facebook “friends.”
Though your own state’s Farm Bureau will have the most pertinent information to your farm, ranch, or agribusiness, I encourage folks to also follow agriculture news in other parts of the country. Ranching issues out west do affect more intensive management systems east of the Mississippi River– we are one intertwined agriculture industry whose strength depends on each other.
It is important to note that Farm Bureau’s are not the only agriculture organization that has entered the world of social media. The National Pork Producers Council, American Quarter Horse Association, Animal Agriculture Alliance, and the Kentucky Soybean Board all have facebook pages. Also, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) has a main fan page here keeping us all updated on NCBA events and news affecting the cattle business while the Beef Council has a “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” page.
On a final note, this blog wouldn’t be complete without a plug for NCBA’s Young Producers’ Council (“YPC”) facebook group which can be found here. There are over 1000 young producers that have joined YPC’s facebook page over the last year making it one of the most exciting facebook groups for young beef enthusiasts.