Nebraska farmer touts value of social media to ag

If Debbie Borg had her way, tweeting and blogging would be on every farmer’s weekly to-do list. 

Borg, who is president of the Nebraska Soybean Association, farms with her family near Allen, Nebraska.  She says more farmers should be using social media programs, such as Facebook and Twitter, to bridge the gap between agriculture and the rest of the world.  Borg says what may seem mundane to farmers and ranchers is exactly what consumers need to hear. 

“For example, there was a lot of conversation before Labor Day about ‘Oh, everybody is looking forward to a three-day weekend’—and farmers started replying ‘What is a three-day weekend? I still have my cows to feed’,” says Borg, “and so it’s just a reminder to people that we take care of our animals every day—365 days out of the year—whether there’s a blizzard or a rainstorm or whatever—we’re taking care of our cattle every day.” 

Borg has recently started conducting social media training sessions for farmers. She leads participants through the process of starting a Twitter account and discusses the value of tweeting and blogging from the farm.

AUDIO: Debbie Borg (7 min MP3)

Link to Debbie’s blog