Filed under: Ag education, Ag promotion, Fall, Farm, Farm Bureau, food, friends, harvest, history | Tags: 30 day challenge, 30 days, Agriculture education, blog, blogging, blogs, farm, Farm Bureau, Food, friends, harvest, history, minnesota farm bureau
Wow! I’ve reached day 30 of the 30 day challenge, and I still have things to say! Today it’s blogging.
Back in 2009 I was at a Minnesota Farm Bureau meeting where we were challenged to get involved in a new thing called Social Media. Activist groups were taking over this new mode of influence. Some very nasty things were being said about agriculture and we were challenged to get involved and tell our story. The thing is, that if you are not involved in setting the table, the next thing you know, you may be on the plate. The goal is to stop fighting over divisive issues that some are pushing to the forefront. We are trying to stop the food fight.
Author Michele Payn-Knoper calls for decorum instead of mayhem in the conversation around farm and food. http://www.causematters.com/farmfoodbook/
I am not your usual blogger. Most bloggers are younger and female, so a mid-50’s (now 60) male on the blogosphere was a bit unusual. Yet I did have something to say, and I hoped that with my years of living someone would listen to me.
To get a large enough audience you have to say things people want to hear, share your personal stories and get known. Then, when they are comfortable with you, you can write opinions that may, or may not be well received. You also need to be reading, and responding to, other people’s blogs. A well thought out response may just make someone curious enough to check out what you are saying.
I also think it is important to write carefully. I am distressed when I read well thought out comments or blogs that are full of spelling and grammar errors. To be believed, I think you must write like you actually have a few brain cells tied together. Now I do not write with perfect grammar, but I do hope that I write well enough that my old english teachers would be surprised at my progress. Back when they knew me, I was a farm kid who had no intention of being a writer.
Today, I am still amazed when people stop me and comment on something I wrote. To have local people reading my blog is unexpected. I have had many nice things said about me when I do chance to meet one of my fellow bloggers at a Farm Bureau meeting away from home. All I can do is say “Aw, Blush, Thank you” when they do. I have even been asked to comment on agriculture issues and had them reposted or quoted from by bloggers I respect, some of them from very far away. This is getting to be more than I had ever expected.
This month I have joined other agriculture bloggers in an 30 day challenge to write something every day for 30 days. I have been pleased to join these folks in this challenge.
30 Days Bloggers
- Confessions of a Farm Wife: 30 Days, By the Numbers
- Janice Person: 30 Days of Giving Thanks
- Beyer Beware: 30 Days of #farmsmatter
- Pinke Post: 30 Days of Women in Agriculture
- Homestead Hill Farm: 30 Days of Views from the Hill
- Thoughts on Life: 30 Days of Ranch Life Memories
- farmgirldays: 30 Days of Farm Related DIY Projects
- Snapshots of a Kansas Farm: 30 Snapshots of a Kansas Farm
- Life on a Real California Dairy Farm: 30 Days of Thankful
- Morning Joy Farm: 30 Days of Family Agriculture
- From My Front Porch: 30 Days
- Rural Route 2: 30 Days of Farm Girl Memories
- Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom: 30 Days of Blogging
- The Field Position: 30 Days of Family, Food & Fun
- Sounds Like Home to Me: 30 Days of Randomness with a Pig Nutrition Grad Student
- Carolyn Cares: 30 Days of Thanksgiving
- Kelly McCormick Photography: 30 Days of Simply Being
- Wag’n Tales: 30 Days of Thinking
It has been an interesting 30 days for me, and I hope for you also. I invite you to contact myself or one of these other farm bloggers if you have questions about what is being said about our food. I can tell you that they will take your concerns about the food you eat seriously. If we do not know the answer, we can steer you in the correct direction. So thank you for joining us on this 30 day challenge of blogging.
Michael
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Minnesota Farmer 
As one plus 60 blogger to another – good job this month in telling your story about farming. I’ve enjoyed so many of your postings and learned a thing or two.
Comment by lenrosen4 November 30, 2013 @ 10:57 amThanks, I’ve enjoyed our relationship.
Comment by Michael November 30, 2013 @ 1:09 pm