This Week on RealAg — The January 10th Edition
While many of us industry types were getting back into routine this week, the bad weather hangover in Ontario was still raging. Our own Shaun Haney got hung up in Las Vegas while trying to get to the...
View ArticleAg Literacy Starts in the Home Room
It’s March and I can almost taste spring. Certainly the thermometer around here isn’t part of that – but the slightly longer days and that first day of spring marked on the calendar for later this...
View ArticleBorlaug 100: What Will Your Agriculture Legacy Be?
100 years ago, Norman Borlaug was born. An American scientist and researcher, Borlaug won the Noble Peace Prize in 1970 for his lifetime of work aimed at feeding the hungry through advancements in...
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Apps for the Field: A Quick List of New and Notable Apps
New apps aimed specifically at farmers are launched every month. From the very simple, to the GPS-reference, cloud-shared, multi-user type, the number of made-for-agriculture apps grows each month. If...
View ArticleApps for the Barn: A List of New or Notable Livestock Apps
Apps continue to grow and evolve in all aspects of agriculture, with crop commodities eons ahead of their livestock counterparts. Discussions are no longer bound by the confines of a physical...
View ArticleThe Launch of MyNewHolland.com – A New Global Virtual Online Community
This week New Holland launched a global customer community platform to provide collaboration, discussions and offer premium services. The new site is MyNewHolland.com, and is now live. Setting up an...
View ArticleThe Corporation Conundrum: Why Consumers Hate Monsanto, But Love Their iPhones
On a warm evening last summer, I sat around a backyard barbeque with a number of people my wife works with. This group tends to be quite removed from the farm, naturally because many of them were...
View ArticleFCC Launches Social Media Campaign to Get Injured Farmers #BackToAg
Farm Credit Canada, along with the Rick Hansen Foundation and Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA), have launched #BackToAg – a social media campaign to help raise money for a new program...
View ArticleA Growing Season in 11 Minutes: The Schultz’ Family Farm’s 2014 Growing Season
What do you get when you combine footage from a GoPro, UAV, time-lapse camera, smartphone, with film editing software and a fantastic soundtrack? You get the video below — an entire growing season,...
View ArticleCelebrating a Year of #farm365
At 2:03am, January 1st, 2015, Andrew Campbell tweeted a photo of a newborn calf on his family’s dairy farm in southwestern Ontario, kicking off a year of highs and lows posting farm photos on social...
View ArticleStaking a claim for ag in the social media jungle
Marketing and farming go hand in hand, says UK communications specialist Simon Haley. In a swing through Ontario that starts later this week, he’ll be urging farmers to use their intrinsic marketing...
View ArticleMastitis TV: Dairy farmers, researchers turning to social media for knowledge...
When it comes to connecting with other farmers and researchers, there’s no substitute for being there. Just consider attendance at events such as Crop Connect in Manitoba or Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show...
View ArticleKnowledge alone does not bring us to a common understanding
We all like to believe we are independent thinkers, but the beliefs of most people often align with one team or another. Tamar Haspel does not have a team. She is a columnist for the Washington Post...
View Article‘Be a good witness’: RCMP discusses rural crime and new safety network
During TechTourLIVE this year, the audience got a special treat when the tour stopped at Regina, Sask. RCMP Supt. Kevin Kunetzki was a featured guest at the event and on RealAg Radio to talk about...
View ArticleAGvisorPRO launches as the ‘uberization’ of ag knowledge
AGvisorPRO, a global platform that connects farmers to experienced ag experts, launched this week in Ag in Motion. Currently offering access to roughly 50 advisors, the platform enables users to...
View ArticleEngaging Farmers in Social Media Shapes the Agriculture Story
I was somewhat surprised a month ago when I spoke about social media at the North American Consulting School (NACS). The room was full of agriculture consultants whom were all very passionate about...
View ArticleWhat Impacted Me At the AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Conference
This week I was one of the fortunate people to be able to attend the AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference in Chicago. This was a collection of the top agriculture social media people in...
View ArticleAgNerds – How to Know What’s Going on in Canadian Agriculture on Twitter
Twitter is an incredibly useful tool. One of the things that make it so useful is its power to connect you to people outside of your traditional network. Twitter is also one of the most under-utilized...
View ArticleAgNerds – What is a QR Code? – Episode 7
Do you have any idea what this funky white and black cube is above? You will probably see it in a lot of advertising this fall. What do you do with it? How do you scan it? Why would you scan it? It is...
View ArticleTwitter Was Made for Farmers – Rick Taillieu
Farmers are starting to grasp the potential of social media. A growing interest has been shown by both the older and younger generation of farmer on how to use tools like twitter to their advantage and...
View ArticleAgNerds – Episode 12: Where Are All the Apps?
Winter is almost over, and with that, so goes the season full of trade-shows, meetings and seminars. As busy as it is for all those involved, it serves it’s purpose well. Farmers and ag-industry folks...
View ArticleTweet Responsibly Or You Hurt Us All
Twitter really is an amazing tool. The ability to share information and have conversations with people around the world is one of my favourite parts. But, like everything, there is always a down side....
View ArticleAgNerds Ep 14 – Twitter VS Armyworm
It’s always a good thing when you see social media being used in a helpful and constructive way. It’s not that a picture of a bacon sundae isn’t important to share with the world, it’s just that there...
View ArticleThe Nexera Thank you Train Makes a Stop to Help Fight Hunger
Last week the Nexera Thank You Train made a stop in Lethbridge, Alberta. The stop is one of many across the west and is a collaboration with Dow AgroSciences and the Grey Cup 100 train and aims to...
View ArticleYour Burger is Done at 71: Food Safety on the Homefront
I had a Twitter conversation yesterday, regarding E. coli contamination, that got me rather riled up. Because Twitter allows me to interact with so many people, it really does open my eyes to some of...
View ArticleWhat’s in Your Crop Scouting Bag?
One of the things I love most about Twitter is impromptu sharing of stories, interests and events between near-strangers. From the mundane, to the hilarious, to the very interesting, Twitter connects...
View ArticleMake the most of #farmerlove
We are in a battle. It may not seem all that bad right now as our combines roll and livestock gets sold. Sure, we hear talk about hormones and GMOs and animal treatment and all of that other stuff. But...
View ArticleWhat’s Hot at Crop Week and the Crop Production Show
I’m fresh off a very long, full day at both Pulse Days at Crop Week and the Crop Production Show at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, and I thought I’d quickly jot down a few of my observations from the...
View ArticleUpcoming Young & Beginning Farmer Events in Manitoba
Young and beginning farmers have a lot hanging over them. Getting a business up and running, raising families, keeping up with all the latest in agriculture. It’s at that point that focus becomes...
View ArticleSuper Bowl Sunday: “So God Made a Farmer” Steals the Show
It’s quite rare for farmers to be front and centre in mainstream media. Still more rare is to see a speech made in the late 70s start trending on Twitter during the Super Bowl, but that’s exactly what...
View ArticleTwitter Must-Follows in Western Canadian Agriculture
Here at RealAgriculture, we love us some social media. Because of that we often get asked: “Who should I follow on Twitter?” We gave it a bit of thought, and while we’d love to suggest you follow all...
View ArticleTwitter Must-Follows for Eastern Canada
Last week, RealAgriculture sent some Twitter love to a list of #westcdnag Twitter accounts, based solely on how active the accounts were and whether or not they wore their RealAgriculture free...
View ArticleIt’s Your Turn to Speak up, Young Farmers
FarmOn.com, an Alberta organization focused on connecting young farmers with resources, information and people to help them get started or continue farming, is launching the #farmvoices movement on...
View ArticleGet Ready for the Very First #ABBugChat!
#ABbugchat will make its debut on Twitter tomorrow, Tuesday, April 16 at 10 am (11 am central). Many of us may be unfamiliar with this communication venue so perhaps it is best to do some preparation...
View ArticleSocial Media & the Modern Farmer — Connecting with Consumers
There are some big shifts in technology that happen that force you to move into the future. Look at television. The shift to digital forced a lot of old stalwarts to take a drive into town and look at...
View ArticleThumbs Up, Thumbs Down, Ep. 3 — Plant ’13, Soybeans, Chuckwagons and More
Well, winter won’t end and seeding won’t start, so Shaun Haney and Lyndsey Smith decided it was time to do something to shake things up a bit. Which, for many other media types, could mean writing a...
View ArticleTomorrow’s #AbBugChat — Early Season Pests
Tune in to Twitter tomorrow at 10 a.m. (mountain) to participate in the second #AbBugChat. Hosted by Scott Meers, tomorrow’s #AbBugChat will cover reports of early cutworm damage, what to scout for...
View ArticleAgNerds: Rick Taillieu on the $-Saving, Friend-Making, Weather Forecasting...
What does NHL hockey, the weather, German apps and fanny packs have to do with mobile technology? Come, let me show you. In this edition of the always informative but rarely serious AgNerds, Shaun...
View ArticleNothing to Hide? Then Join the Conversation and be Transparent About Technology
Editor’s note: This is Owen Roberts’ Real Talk, Real Action column. Each week, Owen will offer his insight into how farmers and the agricultural industry can participate in the rural- and ag-related...
View ArticleCanada Beef Inc Partners with CCMA in search of Canada’s Biggest Country...
Canada Beef Inc (@CanadianBeef) and the Canadian Country Music Association (@CCMAofficial) announced in a “Tweet Release” tonight that they have partnered in search of Canada’s Biggest Country Music...
View ArticleThe Futility of Demanding Respect
I recently watched a movie about two journalists who wrote for competing papers during the holiday season. As it was long before social media, the journalists received handwritten letters of thanks or...
View ArticleFarmers Adopting Technology Rapidly To Remain Competitive
For many years people thought of farmers as being less intelligent than the general population. How many times did we see the picture of the farmer with the straw hat and dirty overalls, such poor...
View ArticleHow Social Media is Extending Extension
Just a few years ago, Dave Hooker, professor at University of Guelph-Ridgetown Campus, started a Twitter account as @CropDoc2. Like many, however, it sort of was just there and he didn’t do much with...
View ArticleTo tweet or not to tweet? Social interactions shifting platforms
Using 280 words to say what you feel about a certain subject, or to describe what’s going on at your farm operation, is a thing of the past according to one keynote speaker at the Prairie Cereals...
View ArticleGrain Farmers of Ontario ad campaign receives mixed reviews from farmers
The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) has launched a social media, radio, and television campaign to bring awareness to the plight of grain farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ad calls out Prime...
View ArticleNew John Deere combine gets the #AndyClean stamp of approval
Andy Pasztor, a grain and vegetable farmer in southwestern Ontario got a rather large nod from a big green and yellow machine recently. Pasztor, @apasztor82 on Twitter, has built a reputation for doing...
View ArticleYes, there are women in the driver’s seat
Perceptions can be tough to overcome, especially when seeing is believing. A farmer from South Australia, John Gladigau, had some urban dwellers come visit the farm recently, and 4-year old Arcadia...
View ArticleRealAg LIVE! with Christina Crowley-Arklie on the mainstream perception of...
How did one tweet change an entire conversation surrounding butter in this country? What role did social media play in this thing called #buttergate? What can we, as an industry, learn from one...
View ArticleHow social interactions — online and IRL — can shape your career in agriculture
Psychological boundaries are determined by social interactions and experiences. So what role does this play in your career? Dr. Cami Ryan, a social scientist, says her journey to leadership was only...
View ArticleSimpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy launches 5-year ag literacy...
BMO has committed $1 million to the Simpson Centre for Food and Agricultural Policy at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy to lead a new program to change how society perceives and...
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