Ag Careers Exist! Are you looking for information on working in agriculture? Where are the resources? Where should I go to school? AgChat covered several of these questions and more in the weekly #AgChat discussion! Of note is the question Complete the following: If I knew then what I know now, I would____________.
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January 29th, 2013 – AgChat on Careers In Agriculture
January 29, 2013 By
Pinterest Part 2: Are you a lettuce farmer or an apple grower?
I recently began reading “The Impact Equation” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith and found it interesting that within the first page of the book, they refer to farming. They use the growth of a head of
lettuce versus an apple tree as an example for social media. Its an accurate description of what we should be doing to succeed in social media. A lettuce head begins as seeds which ripen over a short period of time and are then cut to be used right away. Whereas, if you tend to an apple tree over a long period of time you will continue to reap the benefits year after year.The same concept can be specifically applied to the use of Pinterest. Its a sensational tool that if began on the right foundation & tended over time will reap wholesome, sweet results. Those results are born in the shape of influence. Now that you’ve been pinning like a mad person, you might wonder if people are paying attention to your pins. Lucky for you there are a number of options for measuring your influence on Pinterest:
- Curlate (provides insight into viral trends)
- Pinerly (measures clicks and reach)
- Repinly (shows you trending pins)
- Pinfluencer (free 21-day trial available-provides assistance with managing contests)
- PinReach (previously called PinClout, provides profiles that might be of pinterest to you and at this time is free and my personal favorite)
With insight into what types of content are most popular, you can determine which boards are in need of growth & focus. This varies depending on your social media goals. Like you, one of my pillar goals is to educate people about farming and ranching. However, what I’ve found through PinReach is that my ‘learn about your food and farming’ board needs some work.
How can we grow our weakest boards? There are several theories behind board growth. Almost first and foremost you should consider installing a Pinterest ‘follow me’ button or a plug-in on your blog, providing an easy way for others to pin from your blog. Another way which holds merit is by building those pins yourself. For example, I can populate my ‘learn about your food and farming’ board with farm stories and blog posts which contain visually, appealing photos. If appropriate, these posts can also be cross-pinned onto some of the more popular boards, creating a draw to the weaker board. Of course, we also need tend to all of our boards so that they continue to grow and branch to as many followers as possible. As those branches flourish they become intertwined netting additional supporters.
When it comes to Pinterest you need to ask the question, ‘Am I a lettuce farmer or an apple grower?’
~Jenny Schweigert
This is part two in a series of Pinterest posts. If you missed the first part be sure to jump on over to find out why Pinterest is more than Boots & Farmscapes.
January 22, 2013 By
January 22nd, 2013 – AgChat on Animal Welfare
What About Animal Welfare? Many consumers know of animal welfare mainly through the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) portraying agriculture animals in a bad light. But like many issues, there are multiple views. This AgChat brings people in and out of agriculture to discuss animal care and what farmers and ranchers do everyday.
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January 22, 2013 By
Resolutions or Goals
Last week ACF held a New Year themed #AgChat. It was invigorating to see so many new and old faces developing plans for 2013. The most interesting trend was the amount of people who were making New 
Year’s goals rather than resolutions. In fact, almost 90% of the participants had set goals on their agvocacy road maps.
We are now half-way through the month and are wondering how many have thrown their goals to the wayside?? Ouch. Well, we hope we can help super-charge you into getting back on track. Consider tackling some of these measurable goals:
- Blog more.: = Blog at least once a week
- Blog better.: = Create or begin using an editorial calendar
- Videos: Master YouTube and make more videos = Make one video or vlog per month
- Engagement: Be more proactive when writing. Use a more sensitive tone. Listen more. = Engage with at least one person a week
- Feature guest bloggers = Feature two bloggers per month
- Utilize Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube more. = Pin five times per week, post on Facebook two times per week, spend 15 min. per week ‘liking’ others videos
- Show more pictures = Publish three photos per blog post
- Tweet more = Tweet three times per day
Are you up for a challenge?
January 18, 2013 By
January 15th, 2013 – AgChat on Conventions and Trade Shows
Ag Trade Shows and Conventions It’s important to get out and see what’s happening beyond your fence line. Agriculture conferences, trade shows, and seminars are a great way to meet up with friends and colleagues, learn some new information to help improve your farm operations, and to have some fun!. This AgChat conversation shared some thoughts on how events are promoted, what farmers and ranchers like about certain events, and what the one event they need to attend will be in 2013.
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January 15, 2013 By
