Farmers represent 2% of the population in the United States and large scale agriculture represents a fairly small percentage of that 2%. If you do not personally know a farmer or someone in agriculture it can be difficult to find good agriculture advocates to follow on social media. There are also many, many different categories of “agvocates” on various different platforms. I wanted to provide readers with a categorized list of who I follow, who I turn to for information outside of my area, and who I follow for agriculture news.
The following are several of the main agriculture enthusiasts that have a consistent presence on various social media accounts (these are linked to either Facebook or Instagram) and fall into certain categories: Farmer/Producer, Photography, Rural Living and Agriculture Advocate/Blogger and Industry Organizations. **As a disclaimer I know many of them fall into multiple categories, but I’m going to put them in a category that I think fits them the best. They are also all present on multiple social media platforms as well.
Farmer/Producers:
The Farmer’s Life – Brian is a farmer from the Midwest who provides a look into the day to day life of a corn/soybean farmer. I particularly enjoy his posts on his popcorn and waxy corn production.
The Farmer’s Wifee – Krista is a 1st generation dairy farmer along with her husband. I follow quite a few dairies and enjoy her perspective as a mother of 4 and a 1st generation farmer.
A Kansas Farm Mom – Nicole provides a look into a Kansas grain farm and cattle operation. She also provides a look into the world of 4H and FFA as her two farmer boys navigatAppe through high school.
Burgess Hill Farms – Jenny and her husband are also first generation farmers in Kansas. It was a toss up whether I put her in my Facebook list or my Instagram because she takes wonderful pictures.
Farver Farms – Shauna and her family farm in Northwest Montana. She also has a thriving farm to table business marketing their lentils and wheat.
Tillamook Dairy Farmer – Aside from the fact that I am a huge fan of Tillamook products, I love the every day look into life as a dairy farmer that Derrick gives.
Dairy Carrie – Carrie is another dairy farmer – this time from Wisconsin – and her feed is wide ranging from farm life, to blogging, and general agvocacy.
The Foodie Farmer – Jennie provides a unique look into Maryland agriculture, where she raises wheat, tomatoes, and several other crops. She also is a registered dietitian and provides great insight into healthy eating, food production, and shattering some persistent internet myths related to food production.
Almond Girl Jenny – Jenny is an almond farmer in California – I love following her for her pictures when the almond trees are in bloom! Also I am fascinated by crops outside of my area and almonds are not a crop one sees in MT.
North American Custom Harvesters – If you want to see wheat, corn, soybean, and sorghum harvest through the lens of a custom harvester and from Texas to Montana this is the place for you. Tracy also has several other accounts including HarvestHer to showcase others in the custom harvesting world.
Minnesota Farm Living – Wanda does a great job of blogging about agriculture in general as well as their farm in Minnesota. I enjoy follow her for several reasons but my favorite is the information she has about their hog operation.
** As you can tell I try to follow farms that are outside of my area of “expertise”, I have picked up quite a few dairies over the years that I follow.
Photography:
Jay Hill – Jay is another 1st generation farmer who takes stunning pictures of his farm operation in Western Texas and New Mexico. He also does a tremendous job of walking his followers through every day farm life through Instagram stories and Snapchat.
WheatlanderJay – Jay does not post a lot, but the stunning pictures he takes of farm life in Alberta are worth the wait between posts.
Appel Dairy – If you are looking for pictures of adorable Jersey calves, this is the place for you. Ann showcases their Western Washington dairy farm largely through their calves and provides a lot of random dairy facts along the way.
Sunflower Farmer – If you love sunflowers, this is the Instagram account for you. Mark takes beautiful pictures year round, but my favorites will always be his sunflowers in August.
Kellie for Ag – It was a toss up whether or not to put Kellie in my “farmers” category or photography. She is a farmer, married to another farmer (which is only noteworthy for their friendly dispute over machinery color and cattle breeds). Her social media accounts are typically filled with day to day farm life, but her photography is beautiful.
Whitney Klasna – Whitney was also a toss up whether to put her in the photography or farmer category. She is also both, from Eastern Montana. She is a master at i-phone photography however and adds compelling captions that really capture the day to day ups and downs in agriculture.
Rural Living
Prairie Californian – Jenny’s social media and blog is wide ranging from recipes, photography, mom life, and farm life. This link is to her Facebook page but also follow her Instagram for stunning photographs of North Dakota agriculture (all of the sunflowers).
Nurse Loves Farmer – Sarah has a website full of awesome recipes, is a great resource for agriculture blogs (she has stepped away from actively writing about farm issues but her archives remain), as well as boy mom life (and mom life in general).
Plowing Through Life – Jennifer is another great resource for rural living and recipes.
Urban Gone Rural – This link is to Brooke’s Instagram page however she is also active on Twitter as well. I enjoy her perspective as someone who seemingly loves urban areas as much as she loves rural life (something I identify with).
This Farm Wife Cooks – I love her facebook page for the recipes. If you like to cook, this is one for you to check out.
Agriculture Advocate/Blogger
JP Loves Cotton – Janice is a tremendous resource for all things agriculture – but she is my go-to resource for all things cotton farming. Her blog is wider ranging than most on this list simply because it’s all encompassing of her life and not agriculture specific, but she has traveled to and toured a diverse collection of farms. Janice also rocks Quora.
Agriculture Proud – This link is to Ryan’s Agriculture Proud facebook group. Ryan is one of the original “agvocates” and has developed multiple platforms (Agriculture Proud has a page as well as this group). He is currently developing his Beef Runner platform where he showcases his running exploits as well as maintaining a healthy diet that includes beef.
FarmHer – FarmHer was created several years ago and since then has flourished as they have developed not only their social media platforms but also a podcast and TV show. FarmHer showcases female farmers across the country through their various media outlets.
Female Farmer Project – The Female Farmer Project also features female farmers across various platforms. They have done considerable print media work, including providing the photography for a crucial piece on farmer suicides that was published in the Guardian (for reference here is my post on mental health in agriculture).
The Farmer’s Daughter – Amanda is a farm girl turned lawyer who devotes large amounts to time to writing about agriculture issues. Aside from her blog her work is often published in agriculture media outlets.
Farm Babe – Michelle devotes her time to myth busting in agriculture and addressing some of the hottest topics on the internet on behalf of farmers and consumers. She is also regularly published in agriculture media outlets. She lives on a farm/ranch in the Corn Belt, so expect to find some amount of day to day farm life as well as her skilled writing.
Girls Talk Ag – Girls Talk Ag is the brain child of Jent Campbell, who has written a children’s book called Meet Pete, as well as maintaining her own Facebook page Farm Wife Feeds, Angie Setzer, can be found on Twitter, and Karen Corrigan who can also be found on Twitter.
While this is not intended by any means to be a comprehensive list (and I am sure I am leaving out several that I really enjoy) this will get you started. Following these pages will also likely lead you to additional pages and industry advocates through their shares and referrals. I also follow a large number of commodity organization pages including: Montana Grain Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Wheat, National Cattleman’s Beef Association, Eat Wheat and many, many others. I will also update this post from time to time to add new accounts.
