Oregon farmer says Twitter a business necessity

A seventh-generation farmer in northwest has adopted social networking to promote her Yamhill farm and says it has become essential to her marketing efforts. Heather Walters uses Facebook, a blog and Twitter, Pamela Price reports for the Daily Yonder. The farm's Twitter account started as a vehicle for Walters to find customers but expanded to an educational tool for proper hog farming after the farm purchased a few piglets.

Twitter doesn't appealing to all demographics equally. Price reports 53 percent of Twitter users are female, and a Pew Internet & American Life Project report says rural residents account for only nine percent of Twitter regulars. Walters' use of Twitter paid off after Joey's Restaurant at The Allison Inn in Newberg, Ore., expressed interest in buying the farm's pork via the micro-blogging site, Price reports.

Walters tells Price that while Twitter has helped her farm, it isn't becoming a common practice among farmers. "I have had one farmer in McMinnville ask me about Twitter and how to use it, but then she backed off saying she didn't have enough time ... so that hasn't gone anywhere yet,” Heather said. "I think that social media is so important to my farm's success that I have to make time for it.” (Read more)