RanchWife4Life Jecca Ostrander Talks about Agvocacy

rancher Jecca Ostrander horsebackWe love to see farmers and ranchers explaining what they do more broadly, both with the general public and to others in agriculture. Nebraska rancher Jecca Ostrander (Twitter, Blog & Website) recently talked to Brownfield Network’s Ken Anderson. The network posted a brief description on it’s website.

On September 11, the following post was made:

Jecca Ostrander has been breeding and raising quarter horses for most of her life.  Jecca and family run the Willow Creek Ranch near Gordon in northwest Nebraska.  Jecca fills us in on their side business, Box O Quarter Horses, and discusses some of the changes they have made in the operation to become more efficient.

Listen to the interview here.

This week the network posted a second interview with Jecca as she talked about speaking up as a farmer:

Jecca Ostrander ranches and raises quarter horses with her family near the small town of Gordon in northwest Nebraska.  Jecca is one of the growing number of farmers and ranchers who are using the social media—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogging—to share agriculture’s story with the non-ag public.  We recently visited with Jecca about her “agvocating” activities.

Listen to the interview here.

We love seeing farmers & ranchers talking about their operations and why they participate in social media. If you have a clip that’s been in the news we may have missed, please send it to media@agchat.org.

Filed Under: Farm Perspective, News Tagged With: , , , , ,
September 27, 2010 By

Connected Marketing Week Talks to AgChat Foundation Founders

Caught on the web this weekend!

Byron Gordon, SEO-PR, interviews Jeff Fowle, Owner-Operator/President of KK Bar Ranch and the AGChat Foundation and Ray Prock, Jr. of Ray-Lin Dairy at the #140 Character conference at Connected Marketing Week 2010 in San Francisco. Jeff says as a rancher he’s using social media tools Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to reconnect with consumers and share news and information about farming and ranching. Through the AGChat Foundation, ranchers and farmers are able to share their stories about how food gets to the table using social media applications. Ray then discusses how he uses social media tools and applications such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on behalf of his dairy farm to tell the story to his consumers how the milk ends up in the dairy products they enjoy.

via Linknet Blogs » Blog Archive » How farmers and ranchers use social media to reconnect with consumers at Connected Marketing Week.

Filed Under: AgChat Board, Farm Perspective, News Tagged With: , , ,
September 18, 2010 By

Kansas State Fair Includes TV Interview with Farmer Using Social Media

This weekend people in many states made their trek to the state fair and Kansas farmer Tom Tibbits was one of them. Shortly after he reached the fairgrounds, he wound up in the interview seat talking about how and why farmers use social media.

Tom is one of the familiar faces for those who have participated in #AgChats on Tuesday, looked to Twitter for info on food production, thrown around ideas of how to do social media better, etc. We’re sharing that video here and saying thanks to Tom and all the other farmers who keep plugging away telling their individual stories and helping the cause of getting other farmers to understand and utilize the power of social media.

You can find Tom on Twitter as @KSFarmBoy and read his blog.

Tom Tibbits talks to Kiowa County Media at the Kansas State Fair

Filed Under: Farm Perspective, News Tagged With: , , ,
September 12, 2010 By

Why would a farmer want to blog?

At last week’s AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference, each participant went through sessions about various social media. One of the topics was blogging and we are so proud to see that some of the participants have taken the step of started their own blogs for their farms to tell the individual story of their family farms.

To help others give a little thought to why a farmer or a farm spouse would start a blog, we asked two of the folks who got off to a running start why they decided to take the plunge.  Thanks to Twitter friends WagFarms of North Dakota and MNFarmMomma for sharing their stories with us at the AgChat Foundation and the public at large through their new blogs.

The Wag’n Tales writer and her inspiration

WagFarms writes via Wag’n Tales (an excerpt but you really should read the whole post):

Dear blogworld,

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to step into your world for just a minute…and in return, I’m asking you to step into mine. I want to explain to you why it is that I’m writing and why it is that you should care.

I could give you a thousand reasons why I shouldn’t be here. I have 4 boys for pete’s sake, that should be enough right there! I have a house to clean, laundry to do, rooms to straighten, errands to run, cows to check on, calf replacer to retrieve out of a washing machine, etc., etc. Yeah, I’m really that busy.

But I have four main reasons why I’m taking this time…the first was born in June, 2002, and the fourth was born in April, 2009……

I have a story to tell, and I don’t want it ending with me. I want my boys to have their own stories to tell. I want them to have the freedom and opportunities to pursue whatever careers their hearts decide on…and if the world is lucky enough, one of them may decide to be a farmer.

So, long story short, why am I here? Well, I’m hoping that if someone has a question as to why I do what I do…perhaps I’ll be lucky enough for them to actually ask me, instead of a reporter in New York. And if that luck holds out, perhaps my boys will too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Home Minnesota’s family in front of their IH tractor

 

MNFarmMomma writes on her Sweethomeminnesota Blog:

MOMMY-why do I have to get dressed, why do I have to pee in the potty, why can’t I go with dad in the shop filled with sharp tools, WHY WHY WHY…sound familiar to anyone! With a 3 year old and a 2 year old this is a question I have to answer everyday.  I always try not to give them the classic, “because I said so” line, but it’s just so darn easy!  SO-when I was asked why I blog I was able to muster up ideas right away!

1.   I have always enjoyed journalism, but never had the time to sit down and write in a book-typing is easier and faster!

2. I believe, like every mom does, that I have the 2 most beautiful little girls who drive me nuts, but make me laugh everyday!

3.  I have found a new understanding of the importance for me to advocate for my family and the life we have chosen.  FARMING!

4. It’s therapeutic in ways-I can write what I really think and feel and before I push the “publish” button I have the opportunity to sensor myself-can’t always do that in real life:-) I don’t always want to either!…..

Your Farm Story

If your farm and you haven’t found a venue for telling your story to the 98 percent of Americans who don’t live on a farm, maybe you will want to consider a blog. We will have tips on setting them up or improving them in the coming weeks.

For those of you with questions or tips (particularly those who were in Chicago), we’d appreciate your insight. You can email us at media@agchat.org and we’ll compile tips. Guest blog posts are always an option for this community site too!

Filed Under: Farm Perspective, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , ,
September 7, 2010 By

Trained. Energized. Networked. Individual.

Trained. Energized. Networked. The individuals who came to this week’s AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 training conference commented over and over again that these were some of the key benefits of the conference.

Farmers and ranchers from across the U.S. got together to trade tips about social media. Some of them led panels or gave presentations – but all seemed to take notes about what they could do.

Everyone arrived at the event with a tangible energy. And many of the participants and trainers arrived with names of social media “friends” from Twitter and Facebook. They recognized other participants from videos, photos and knew immediately that a wide range of farms were represented — wide ranges of acres, crops, farming practices and philosophies. Smiles and tips were traded day and night.

We look forward to sharing some of the information presented at the event here on the AgChat Foundation blog in the coming weeks and months (guest bloggers certainly welcome). We start the same way the incredible event started. With a video about the revolution farmers are creating through social media.

We hope you find this video something you will want to share with family and friends as you talk to the about the efforts of the AgChat Foundation and The Evolution of Online Agvocacy.

Filed Under: Agvocacy 2.0 National Conference, News, Training Tagged With: , , ,
September 2, 2010 By
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