Farmers have long been at a disadvantage to well-funded agricultural opponents with millions to spend on slick advertising campaigns. However, in recent years, more and more farmers have begun to turn to free, rapidly growing media tools that have allowed them to advertise their businesses, connect with similar-minded individuals, and promote their causes via various social media platforms. As a result of their efforts, these farmers have formed an informal online community—participants are often referred to as "agvocates"—that has allowed them to finally band together to combat negative media advances as well as exchange ideas and form partnerships.

As Michele Payne-Knoper of Cause Matters, which provides agricultural advocacy training and social media strategy to farm groups and others, told Farm Industry News earlier this year, "The reality is that people are talking about agriculture on Facebook and Twitter...If we aren't at the table, others will tell our story, and it may not be accurate." [read more]

The reason for farmers' embrace of social media is two-fold—first off, it allows them to connect with consumers via Facebook Fan pages, Twitter accounts, and even videos posted on YouTube. On the other hand, it provides a forum to give their views on issues affecting the agricultural industry.

But when social media took the world by storm in the past several years, farmers are probably not the first group that one would have imagined would become so involved. "Farmers are the last folks you'd expect to embrace social media, but slowly and surely, like a tomato seedling pushing its way through the damp earth, they're seeing the light," Janet Rausa Fuller of the Chicago Sun-Times reported last May.

In the same article, Lyle Allen of executive director of Chicago's Green City Market, noted that farmers are starting to catch on, though some may be hesitant about the time it takes to establish oneself on various social media platforms. But, as Allen has been persistent in reminding customers, "it's an afternoon of free advertising." Who can beat that? [read more]

It is particularly interesting to note that the growth of this trend is occurring despite the fact that 36 percent of U.S. farms still don't have computers and 41 percent don't have Internet access, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And yet, among farmers who are able to connect, the movement has grown so rapidly that in April 2009, The AgChat Foundation formed a community on Twitter, where a moderated, weekly chat attracts more than 2,000 people from seven countries. During the chats, participants discuss difficult issues affecting the ag world and brainstorm on how to connect with people outside the ag community to spread important messages and tell their personal stories.

The Hand That Feeds U.S. itself has built up a quite a social media following, boasting nearly 1,600 Facebook fans and more than 1,300 Twitter followers. Earlier this year, The Hand That Feeds U.S. used Facebook and Twitter to promote its farm photo contest, an endeavor that turned out to be highly successful, with more than 100 contest entries and 4,000 votes cast.

But the best part about the social media movement among farmers is that it has put human faces to the people who produce 98 percent of our country's food and fiber. The persistent myth that the bulk of our food comes from large factory farms rather than small family farms is finally being revealed as a mistruth, as everyday Facebook and Twitter users are beginning to come into real contact with the everyday individuals who have dedicated their lives to feeding the world.