Western Nebraska farmer Steve Tucker found himself live on CNN this morning talking about his use of Twitter - and about farming. He's Tykerman1 on Twitter.
Here's a link to the story on CNN.com. (Video is below.)
He appeared live on CNN via Skype (internet video/audio calls).
He made many good points about farming and agriculture - and noted that many folks don't know where their food comes from and Twitter and other social media tools are a great way to reach out and tell that story.
Plus, the technology gives him a way to have conversations all day long - with friends thousands of miles away.
He also noted that farmers are doing a lot more today with less.
Since his story appeared on CNN, Tucker's 'followers' on Twitter grew from about 470 to 830 - and it's still growing. (The nearest town has a population of less than 200!) (UPDATE: As of July 6, Tucker's followers had increased to 1,500!)
Here are a few lines from the article, featuring ag extension educator Andy Kleinschmidt of Ohio (akleinschmidt on Twitter):
The growth of smartphones on farms is important because many people don't think about where their food comes from, much less associate a specific farmer with that process, said Andy Kleinschmidt, a farmer and agricultural extension educator at Ohio State University.
"When you can put a name or personality with someone who's actually raising corn and soybeans or actually milking cows, that's the most important thing that's come about in my opinion," he said.
And here's the video featuring Tucker:
Other Nebraska farmers on Twitter include Debbie Borg (@iamafarmer2), Brandon Hunnicutt (@cornfedfarmer), Randy Uhrmacher (@Ruhrmacher), Zach Hunnicutt (@zjhunn) and Susan Littlefield (firefighter89).
Am I missing anyone? Let me know!
FYI - Twitter co-founder Biz Stone blogged about the CNN coverage here. Also, fyi, Evan Williams, another Twitter co-founder and current CEO, grew up on a farm in Nebraska.
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