“We are really just getting our feet wet, and seeing where it goes,” said Doug Martin, sixth generation farmer and Co-Owner of Martin Family Farms in Central Illinois. Martin is another one of the many farmers embracing social media and using it for their benefit. I recently was able to have a conversation with Doug about how he is using social media to help promote his farm and educate others.
Doug and his father, Jeff, farm around 4,500 acres in Central Illinois where they plant mostly corn and soybeans. About a year and a half ago, Doug established a website for their family farm to give weekly updates on planting and weather conditions. After doing some more research, he realized that the website was a marketing opportunity waiting to happen, “I realized it was a great way to promote our farm and our business, but a way to connect with people as well.”
The ability to connect is what drove Doug to continue to explore other areas of social media like blogging and Twitter. In February of 2009, he started a blog to make connecting and updating easier, “we had a really wet spring this year, so I had some extra time on my hands. I sat down and figure out how do to it. I also realized it Twitter was a great way to reach people that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Doug now has over 100 followers on Twitter and has been recently incorporating videos into the blog. “Someone on Twitter asked me what no-till was, so I went out and got some video to show them.” Whether Doug Martin realized it or not, he really just illustrated better than I ever could why social media is so powerful, valuable, and important.
While Doug has done a lot regarding social media in a relatively short amount of time, he hopes that this is just the start. “I’d like to do some live videos from the cab and some other things along those lines-we will see where it goes.”
If you are a farmer using social media to promote your farm or educate others, or do you know someone who is? Let us know your story. Email us at interact@fastline.com We would love to hear from you!
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