Miss the first two episodes? Catch up on the BASF Ag Products’ YouTube channel to learn more about David and Gary’s farms and families, as well as keep up with future videos.

Now more than ever, it is important for everyone who touches the industry, from farmers and agribusiness professionals to nutritionists and veterinarians, to pitch in by writing op-eds for local newspapers, describing their work to friends and family, organizing meetings and more. These “agvocates” (agriculture advocates) help consumers better make the “farm to fork” connection and promote the importance of dairy to the economy, healthy diets and our farming culture.

One popular communications tool is social media, which encompasses online communications ranging from blogs to Twitter. When it comes to using social media to promote agriculture, the dairy industry is especially active. In fact, many online leaders credit dairy producers who utilize Twitter, Facebook and personal blogs as leading the way for the online agriculture community.

Online agvocacy efforts are ramped up even more than usual in June to celebrate National Dairy Month, as dairy enthusiasts share industry statistics, weather conditions in the field, information for consumers and positive stories from the farm. Even cows have joined in on the fun, tweeting live updates from their milking machines with a little help from radio frequency ID tags.

There are many resources available online to help people in the dairy industry monitor, share and participate in social media:

•    Get started: More than 1,200 dairy producers, nutritionists, veterinarians and students are part of the Dairy Checkoff program myDairy, which houses information and tools to use social media to share positive dairy stories with consumers. To access the site, e-mail myDairy@rosedmi.com for more information.
•    Follow along: Twitter, which allows users to share updates and links in 140 characters or less, is an easy way to follow real-time online conversations. Relevant tweets are tagged with hashtags such as #ag, #dairy, #JuneDairyMonth and #ThankAFarmer. Simply type these phrases in at www.search.twitter.com to read what dairy producers around the world are tweeting straight from the farm.
•    Join in: One of the most influential groups working to promote agvocacy online is the AgChat Foundation, an offshoot of the popular weekly #AgChat Twitter conversation. Set up to educate and equip farmers with the skill sets needed to effectively engage on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media services, the Foundation is working to spread awareness, award technology scholarships and host educational workshops.

The AgChat Foundation’s first venture into social media training will kick off at its Agvocacy 2.0 Conference, slated for the end of August at the Dairy Management, Inc. facilities in Chicago. Dairymen and women, students, and others involved in the industry are invited to apply for the conference, where attendees will share their own successes and challenges, learn about new technologies, and network with agriculturalists from around the country.

The conference will be limited to 50 qualified applicants, but NutriDense Silage is excited to partner with the AgChat Foundation to send a dairy representative to the conference. We recently kicked off the NutriDense Silage Web Moo.0 contest for dairy producers, students, and agribusiness men and women to share how they use social media to promote the dairy industry. Through a YouTube video, Flickr photo slideshow, blog post or 500-words or less essay, we want to see how people in the dairy industry are using social media to support their efforts in the field, spread the word about the benefits of dairy products or help consumers better connect with dairy farmers. Click here for more information and to enter.

Happy National Dairy Month! Please do your part to spread the word about the positive aspects of dairying and its critical role in the world’s economy and food supply.

Greg Jones is the NutriDense Silage product manager for BASF Plant Science. You can contact him at gregory.jones@basf.com.

Dairy Management Inc., which manages the national dairy check-off program, is sponsoring a free webinar on social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The 90-minute tutorial, held Thursday, April 15, will focus on ways dairy producers and other dairy industry professionals can use social sites to stay connected with family and friends, share positive dairy stories, promote their dairies and be an online agricultural advocate.

Interested? To find out what time the webinar will be held and learn more information, e-mail myDairy@rosedmi.com.

E-mail, snail mail…moo mail? Sending a cow through the mail may not be the easiest way to say you care, but Dairy Farming Today makes it easier for milk and cheese enthusiasts to share the love.

The Web site, which also has a Learn More tab chock full of farmer interviews, myths and facts, frequently asked questions, a section on dairy technology and even a dairy dictionary, has a variety of ePostcards ready for you to personalize and send.

From congratulatory cartoon cows to dairy farmers at work, the cards are a fun way to send a quick note while learning about the men and women that support our nation’s dairy industry.

For more online resources, follow Dairy Farming Today on Facebook and YouTube.

Watch the clip below to hear Rick talk about BASF Plant Science, and read the entire BASF Pipeline article by Brownfield.

To learn more about BASF Plant Science’s commitment to plant biotechnology, check out the About Us section of the NutriDense Web site.

More than 1,600 exhibitors will be on hand, with free seminars on a variety of topics important to dairy producers, farmers, ranchers and agribusiness professionals.

If you can’t make it out, you can also keep up with the 43^rd World Ag Expo using social media:

• World Ag Expo on Facebook
• Twitter: @World_Ag_Expo
• Follow attendees’ updates by searching for hashtag #WAE10
• World Ag Expo YouTube channel