I use social media more than many people do and how do I know that? Simply because I have 28,000 followers, 6,000 on Facebook, 7300 on Twitter, and nearly 16,000 on LinkedIn. Before you think this is just a pat on my back, well in a sense it is, but also reaching out to others who may not have the same results, impressions, and feelings about social media. For example, in LinkedIn, 17,430,000 Linkedin users in Canada in June 2020, which accounted for 45.7 per cent of its entire population. People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (10,000,000). Here I post everything from podcasts, videos, gospel sermons and everything in between, namely farming and agriculture. And it’s good for getting my message out to those people.
I use Twitter faithfully, especially when I need to gather information in a hurry on a specific farm topic by sending out requests for comments on the subject matter at hand. I believe farmers and other ag resource people use Twitter about as good as any sector of society. For the most part, we help each other honestly and honourably. Well, it does get a little tacky sometimes, but so does it in the coffee shops.
I get calls from an urban radio station when things happen on the farm and they need someone quick to respond. So I call on my Twitter farmer friends, and within hours, I have dozens of truthful, informative, and timely responses. Often from across Canada and parts of the United States.
“I want to talk about the trade fight between U.S. & Canada; how serious is it, is dairy the real sticking issue and will it become a shooting war at the border; and then want to mention your big combine event [Harvest for Kids] and do it all in three minutes.” That from now-retired farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson on July 2, 2018, for a telephone taping of the famous TV show, ‘This Week in Agribusiness.’ Those are relatively pointed questions.
I hit Twitter running and within several days I had nearly one hundred responses from my farmer friends. When Orion introduced me and asked the first question, I prefaced my remarks by saying, Orion, you asked me what farmers think about those issues. I said I spoke to hundreds of farmers directly and asked them to answer those questions.
These are their responses, not mine. I’m just the messenger and spokesperson.
Most recently, I use WhatsApp for communications participating in farmer discussions. Sometimes it gets a little much but so informative and inspiring. Glen moderates the HB Pork group where 250 people discuss pigs, pig politics, and pig production. The majority are from Hutterite Colony pig farms and offer up some lively debates.
The other WhatsApp group I participate in, Canadian Agriculture moderated by Louise Cardrunner, a grain buyer from Killarney, MB. This group is also so good and covers mostly grain and special crops farming but has farmers worldwide.
Here’s the kicker. My foray into social media started back in 2008 on Twitter following quadruple bypass heart surgery. For many years I found going to farm meetings difficult, so I travelled by social media.
Advance to COVID-19 at the beginning of March 2020 saw all farm meetings cancelled and many going virtual. I believe many journalists found the transition more difficult, but I continued as if nothing had changed logistics-wise. Yes, I miss meeting farmers and will be at farmer BBQ days after writing this column. However, my motto, a positive attitude to serve, encourage and inspire others motivate me to do my best. Motivation is a reason to get up in the morning.
At nearly 75 years old, I still work as an independent, international agricultural and farm journalist of 51 years. I put 1-God, 2-family 3-accurate journalism, 4-farmers’ advocate. I love what I do. I know the business pretty well but still, I keep learning. •
— By Harry Siemens
