Cereals 2017: Power of social media can harness support for farming, NFU says

The power of social media can be used to proper British farming
The power of social media can be used to proper British farming

Farmers are being told to learn more about the importance of using social media to harness support for British farming.

During a special session at Cereals 2017, the National Farmers' Union will be running stand today (June 15) outlining the best ways to get positive messages about British farming to wider audiences.

Simon Ashby, the NFU’s social media adviser said: “In recent months we have been touring the country connecting with farmers to create momentum across Twitter and Facebook on key farming issues and outlining the most effective ways to use social media to combat some of the challenges facing the industry.

“We have already seen the number of active British farmers on social media increase substantially in 2017 using our top tips as a guide for increasing their social media footprints and we want to get more actively involved.

“The #glyphosateisvital campaign, in particular, has captured the imagination of British farmers with scores of them using their Twitter accounts to show why glyphosate is important to their farming businesses and the environmental benefits it brings. This has played a key role in boosting farming’s voice in the debate over its reauthorisation.”

The Twitter campaign under #glyphosateisvital has been backed by a number of British farmers, who have posted tweets in support of keeping the herbicide.

Young farmers have been told to use the power of social media to be bolder about self-promotion and be proud of their products if they want to build a successful career in the industry.