Department of Agriculture hopping on social media bandwagon

Social media has penetrated all walks of life, including the agricultural world, so it's no surprise that the Department of Agriculture is joining the ranks of farmers communicating online. Earlier this month, Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of Agriculture, participated in the department's first monthly Facebook live chat.

The Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA), a Nebraska-based rural advocacy group, started investing in social media less than six months ago, and already has more than 700 fans on Facebook and nearly 300 followers on Twitter, according to an article in nextgov.com. Likewise, the American Farm Bureau Federation hopped on the social media bandwagon nine months ago, and already has 4,000 Facebook fans and nearly 2,300 followers on Twitter.

The USDA hopes that by sowing more seeds into social networks in the coming months, similar results will be reaped.

For more on farmers and social networking:
- check out this nextgov.com article

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