'Tweeting' attracts unwelcome attention

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Anyone who has followed the news likely knows the trials and tribulations of Appin dairy farmer Andrew Campbell, who planned to post a farm photo on his Twitter account every day this year and was subsequently attacked by anti-agriculture activists.  Campbell is not unique in finding that launching a farming blog can bring unwelcome publicity. Wisconsin dairy farmer Carrie Mess and Alberta grain farmer Sarah Schultz told their stories at an Ontario Farm and Food Care conference in April.

After Mess pronounced a PETA video allegedly showing abused cattle on a dairy farm in North Carolina a fraud on her blog, she "received a cease-and-desist order" from PETA, ordering her to take her blog off down. "I didn't . . . I framed (the letter) and put it up in my office." Because of the video the farmer couldn't find a market for his milk. The agricultural community should have supported the farmer, not abandoned him, Mess asserted.

Schultz, wife of a farmer and a nurse, was investigated by her professional association after a local activist falsely accused her of selling health products from her website.  How hateful does all this get? Schultz relates that, when she blogged that she was taking a holiday in Hawaii, "someone hoped my plane would crash."

All three "agvocates" say they continue to tweet and blog because there is so much misinformation about agriculture on social media that needs to be corrected, and that is best done by farmers. BF