#FollowFriday #Ag Folks on Twitter

 Another exhilarating week has passed by. I spent the great deal of the week at my company headquarters in State College, PA; a beautiful part of the country.

I received a few #FF mentions from #ag folks that I hold in high regard. To be mentioned by these folks as someone to follow on #twitter is really amazing. I am continually thankful for the interactions on #twitter, especially from my fellow #ag tweeps. My heartfelt thanks for the conversations and knowledge you continually share with me. As we are all aware, agriculture, as an industry, is going to be faced with huge challenges to deliver on our promise to provide food, fuel, feed, and fiber to the world. I am very confident that our industry is going to indeed deliver, in spades. Now is the time "non-ag" folks to get involved! We need your interaction and interest so so the facts and truth about farming can be spread far and wide. Don't be sucked in with the sensationalism that compromises some of our media outlets. There are farmers and ag industry folks ready and willing to interact with you. Many are even willing to accept you as a visitor on their farm or business to answer your questions. Now is the time to find out where your food really comes from and who produces it. Yes there are bad people and companies out there as with any market, but there are more of us, many more of us, that do not get coverage and media attention. The foundation of our democracy is an educated populace, so take the time to educate yourself.

Below is a list to make it a bit easier to get started. Every one of these individuals has enriched my life. They are also eager to spread the word about #agriculture.....and why we LOVE it so much. So, pull up a chair, open a beverage, and take a load off. The water is nice!

#FollowFriday list in no particular order:
@mpaynknoper
@FarmerHaley
@cornguy
@CariRinker
@jilib
@featherchick
@JPLovesCOTTON
@KYFarmersMatter
@AFBFMace
@Tykerman1
@AFBFCyndie
@JeffFowle
@RayLinDairy
@iamafarmer2
@KSFarmBureau
@followfarmer

I am VERY short on time so I will have to add to this list a bit later and send out an update. To all other #ag folks, I am continually grateful for your presence. Go ag!

Agriculture and the political example it sets

The purpose of this blog is to discuss agriculture. It is meant to be an open forum for everyone involved in agriculture to speak their mind. It is really not meant to discuss politics, and this post will certainly not get into political positions directly; the bully pulpit is not in effect here, but all one must do to see how polarized things are at the moment is to turn on the television. Our 24 hours news cycle can be distracting and, well, useless sometimes. That is not a knock on the media as that is just the system that is in place. A great example of sensationalist TV faring better than civil discourse is CSPAN. As many of my friends and family state, "that is the most boring TV we have ever seen." Why is that I wonder? Let's face it, how interesting is a good, in-depth policy discussion? How many individuals would tune in to that news outlet if there was a focus on policy? I propose that their ratings would take a hit. It is so much easier to pull out the race card against all dissidence of current policy. It is also great TV when Obama is called a Marxist (I wager that 1/2 the people calling him that have NO idea what that means), racist, or Nazi. Where does that really get us? Does it make our country better? The answer is unequivocally no. And this is exactly why the media and general population should take a look at agriculture.

As all of us are aware, there is a very heated debate taking place in regards to health care in our country. Actually, there are very heated debates going on about the role of government in our society. These debates are the cornerstone of our democracy. Any President that tries to implement bold changes has faced significant opposition, from FDR to Reagan, and now Obama. I am thankful I live in a country that allows everyone to speak their mind. That being said, I must say that recent events really do challenge my die hard belief in the First Amendment. My steadfastness hasn't faltered, but it certainly is trying at times. It is, after all, the First Amendment for a reason.

Let's take a look at the 9/12/09 protest first. I am all for grassroots efforts culminating into a march and show of support or dissidence; however, it is really difficult to determine if many of the individuals taking part were actually there showing their dissidence of health care reform (#HCR). There were so many signs, both literally and figuratively that had nothing to do with health care. Look here for examples. This is what our media covers because it is sensational. What that does is detract from the actual debate. The fact of the matter is that Obama is not a Marxist, Nazi, or "death panel" advocate, and the Republican party is not full of racists. If you truly believe either of the above, then this post is definitely for you! Does racism still occur in this country? Yes, and it is not party dependent. We need to marginalize such activities and call them out for what they are. Every news outlet from ABC to Fox news and all of Congress should repudiate these views and mention that these people are the minority in our country, minority indeed! They are certainly free to speak their mind; however, it should be stated that such positions are deplorable.

So, why should we have a look at agriculture? How does paying attention to agriculture apply to the current health care debate? The answer is quite simple. When we debate agricultural issues, we talk about POLICY, pure and simple. Ask a farmer about the effects of, say Cap and Trade and the answer revolves around the effects such a policy will have on their ability to run their business; growing our food, fuel, feed, and fiber. It isn't about what Obama and Congress "are." It is about the actual guts of the bill. Ask a farmer about Indirect Land Use and, not surprisingly, the discussion is about policy. It isn't about Pelosi, Frank, Grassley, or any other elected official directly; it may focus on their position, but it isn't about attacks on character. Farmers spend the time required to educate themselves, and......wait for it......actually READ the bill. What a novel concept right?

To take that further, we are currently in a debate surrounding the future of agriculture and the role various types of agricultural approaches fit into the puzzle; that puzzle being massive population growth, finite resources, and a healthy citizenry. Granted our discussions, at times, become antagonistic. There are a minority of individuals that play to the sensational also, but, as with the current debates, these are the minority. The majority of us use a wonderful approach to the discussions; that is education and facts. If there is something that one of us has detailed knowledge about, we share with the group. Lo and behold, it actually furthers our discussions!

And that, after all, is what we all need to focus on. We need to educate ourselves on the issues and then determine our position. If you already have a position because Glenn Beck or Rachel Maddow "said so", then go back to the drawing board. There is nothing that replaces a good, in depth read. Take the time to educate yourself on issues. You may find that the 24 hour news cycle is not meant for a replacement in your own research. I also encourage you to look to agriculture as an example. Beyond that, everyone should be paying attention to agriculture as it is what drives a thriving society. Yes I know that was a shameless plug, but #ag is where it's at so come join us! We would love to interact, answer questions and talk about policy.

#FollowFriday #Ag Folks on Twitter

Another week has flown by! As I reflect on the events of the past week, I would like to thank my fellow #ag tweeps for yet another enriching twitter experience. I appreciate all your efforts to ensure an adequate, safe, and healthy food supply. I am especially grateful for your willingness to share your knowledge, not only with me, but with the general public. Working together I am totally convinced agriculture, in it's entirety, is going to face the upcoming challenges we are certain to experience. I am looking forward to another exciting week ahead as I tweet from my company headquarters in State College, PA. As an aside, if there are any #ag tweeps in the neighborhood, drop me a line as I would be more than happy to meet and shake hands.

The following #FF (#FollowFriday) list is not an exhaustive list; it is a list of the #ag tweeps I had the most interaction with this week. For all "non-ag" folks, please take an interest in #agriculture. It will enrich your life as agriculture is a mix of art and science, exhilarating, fascinating, fun, complex, and just plain wonderful. It is the cornerstone of ALL thriving societies; not to mention, there are so many excellent people involved. You will not be disappointed once you take the dive, so do it to find out where your food comes from, who produces it, how they produce it, and why. (Psst - I will let you in on a little secret: Almost every family farmer that produces our food does it because they love it...their heart is in it!)

Besides following the below individuals, an excellent resource to get you started has been put together by @followfarmer. This is a great spreadsheet designed for you to be able to follow the worthwhile #ag folks on #twitter. I am looking forward to tweeting with you in the twitterverse.

My #FF list of #ag folks - in no particular order

@FarmerHaley                    @foodprovider
@RayLinDairy                     @featherchick
@TroyHadrick                    @derekbalsey
@AFBFMace                     @OliverRanch
@kansfarmer                       @KYFarmersMatter
@daringrimm                       @WriteNowBiz
@KSFarmBureau                @jilib
@mpaynknoper                   @n_web
@Kath_Monsanto               @JPLovesCOTTON

Where's the "Beef"

I had an exchange on #Twitter with one of my #Profood counterparts last night in which a few others joined in on the discussion, well a loosely defined discussion.

Why is it that conversations turn sour so quickly? Do I cause some of this strife? How is my counterpart interpreting my last 140 character tweet? Maybe I am just a jerk? Maybe he/she is? These are all questions that just get in the way of what we should be doing. We should be focused on debating the merits of safe, healthy food, not thinking what our next statement is going to be. In all fairness to everyone, 140 characters is really, no I am not kidding, really difficult to express your point; especially when it comes to food and agriculture.

It all started with just an "innocent" (quotes for a reason) tweet from Rob Smart as follows, including some of the back and forth between he and I:


@Jambutter: Curious @MonsantoCo if Norman Borlaug held any seed patents or was all of his intellectual property in the public domain?
@natejtaylor: @Jambutter why would U ask a question you can find the answer to by an internet search Rob? (cc @MonsantoCo)
@Jambutter: Pretty simple @natejtaylor, I wanted to know if @MonsantoCo knew the answer. Did you run the search?
@natejtaylor: @Jambutter I did not. And nothing with #food is simple. I took that as baiting and antagonistic. Not what we need in food debate.
@Jambutter: @natejtaylor Monsanto tweeted about Mr. Borlaug and feeding world's hungry. He approached challenge in much different way, so I responded.




From there the conversation went down hill quite rapidly. It then became a question as to why I cam to the 
"rescue" and "defense" of Monsanto. What? My response as noted above was why ask a silly question like that. The answer is to illicit a response. In my view, what took place was exactly what the intent was; to have a conversation in which one "side" would win. To me, this is not a healthy approach to advancing agriculture in these unprecendented times.


To be very clear on my position. We currently live in a time where supercapitalism rules. This is not healthy for our society or economy. The outcome of our capitalistic system ends with consolidation of power and markets akin to either an oligopoly or flat out monopoly. It is just how the capitalistic system works. This, by no means, makes it right and we should all continue to fight against consolidation and inject competition into the market place. Competition is where family and specialty farms can show what they do, how they do it and why, and begin to get a fair price for their work and products. I can find common ground with my ProFood counterparts on this particular issue. That is why I support farmers markets, CSA's, and strong local food economies. We need all of those, as well as a strong, scalable, agricultural industry for our vast world. 


At the end of the day, is Monsanto a benevolent company? No, and neither is Wal Mart, Oracle, Toyota, ADM, Cargill or any other large organization. Publicly traded companies are amoral; meaning that their purpose is to obtain capital and add Shareholder Value Add (SVA), otherwise called increasing the stock price. That doesn't automatically correlate to spawns of Satan working at these companies. I know plenty of people working at, for example, Monsanto that believe in what they are trying to do. They want to ensure an adequate, safe, food supply for everyone. I am glad they are in my life from both a professional and personal standpoint. It also means that the citizens need to push back on companies and legislators in every marketplace to ensure healthy competition. I work at a small business and we deal with entering new markets constantly. The barriers are vast, but that is where the innovation takes place and where I WANT to be. Isn't that part of the ProFood ideals? 


To answer the question posed of my "defense" of Monsanto, I offer this; I felt it inappropriate to put forth an antagonistic question on the back of Norman Bourlag. That is all, nothing else. Why do that when we all have much more important things to worry about. Some things are better to let roll off your back so the focus can be maintained. Practitioners of circuitry will tell you that noise is unwanted signals. We should stop focusing on the noise. Let's focus on, for example, how we are going to find common ground to advance safe, healthy food production? How can we integrate what existing farmers are doing into, say a CSA? How do we develop strong, versatile, local food economies? These are pressing issues that every single farmer I interact with would be more than happy to talk about. There are also other macro-economic issues we must deal with that are just so complicated that no one group, company, NGO, or government is going to solve by it's lonesome; multiple approaches are required. I will also address the other chats that took place regarding the assumption that I thought everyone should just be silent regarding Monsanto. On the contrary, we ALL need to be vocal about our beliefs and ideals. It is, after all, how we progress.


I propose that we do away with baiting, antagonistic questions. Anyone else in favor of that? Where is it going to get us? How can #ProFood expect to get "conventional" farmers on board and participating? This also applies to my #ag counterparts also, including myself. Why does there always have to be a "beef" when there is disagreement? None of that makes any sense to me......at all. I still stand by my previous post about the middle of the road, although I hear that post is no longer valid after last night's heated interaction. I find that a down-right shame. It is not "us" against "them." Until that has been dealt with, we can't even begin to define the parameters for a decent discussion.


In conclusion, I need to apologize to Rob Smart (@jambutter) for stating:


@Jambutter And I answered Rob. I am not defending Monsanto. I think your approach is ALL WRONG and I am sure you don't like that. 


I should follow what I preach. That comment above was rude and assumes I know Rob's approach. So in an effort to get back on track, accept my apology Rob. Now, let's get back to providing safe, healthy, food for not only our country, but others as well. Time is short, so focusing on the noise rather than outcomes creates a vicious circle that leads us back to the same eroded ground. And we all know how well eroded ground performs. All it does is allow arguments, instead of debates, to fester. There is a vast difference between an argument and a debate. As Gay Hendricks stated:

Arguments are often like melodramas -- they have a predictable beginning, middle, and end.

Here is hoping we progress this week!

How I pick my #FollowFriday

Before I get into my #FF recommendations, I want to tell you why I chose the particular photo above. These are just two of my 6 animals; 4 cats and 2 dogs. This should be indicative of the fact that, although we come from different backgrounds, we should be able to find common ground! For reference, the dog's name is Lavendar, an Italian Greyhound. The cat's name is Kona. These two live in complete and utter harmony. Below is a better picture of Lavendar:

Every week on Twitter, we all start posting our #FF recommendations. This idea was, and still is, excellent. It allows for all of us to expand our networks, not by just randomly adding people to your network, but actually adding quality people to your network. It also allows us to pass on our thoughts about what people have been posting through the week. I am always grateful and thankful that someone takes the time to read my posts, read them indeed! To have the likes of such great #agvocates include me in a #FF is an honor.

On this follow friday I want to give the following people a shout out. I do this because they post compelling content, participate in healthy debates, know what they are talking about and are just plain great people! While you ponder the merits of whether or not you decide to follow these people, remember that they are on my list because of the value they add to my Twitter experience. Sometimes the tweets are thought provoking, sometimes irritating, (yes it is good to get irritated sometimes - it is how we become better people) many times funny, and always, always relevant! So, do yourself a favor and follow these people. If you are not interested in #agriculture, #food, and #farming, you soon will be! These are not in any particular order:

@FarmerHaley
@JeffFowle
@daringrimm
@RayLinDairy
@KYFarmersMatter
@WriteNowBiz
@nel1jack
@Mica_MON
@SteinerTractors
@agchick
@mpaynknoper
@cornguy
@JPLovesCOTTON
@AFBFMace
@Ken4Corn
@celestelaurant
@iamafarmer2
@craig_leach
@jambutter
@ZacharyCohen
@meredithmo
@CariRincker
@jilib
@farmanddairy
@renee_martin
@kubileya
@Mica_MON


I am certain there are people I have not included that should be on this list. I will continually work towards generating a longer list. As time goes by, more and more will be added as I am now searching through other industries. I cannot express enough my gratitude for how much the interaction with these individuals have impacted my life, both personally and prefessionally. I say again; do yourself a solid and just click the follow button.....you will be happy you did.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”


Charles Swindoll - Clergyman

The Politics of Agriculture and Pro Food - Personal Responsibility and Corporate Food Chains

As we continue the discussions on the Agri-Supply chain and all that encompasses, and at the risk of just stating the obvious, political ideology places a significant role in the sometimes heated exchanges. On one side of the equation are the folks who are steadfast in their belief that it all starts with personal responsibility; generally speaking, these are the folks who are on the front lines supporting agriculture as great #agvocates should. On the other side of the SAME equation are the folks who believe that there are other factors in play within the system that need to be considered; these are predominantly part of the #ProFood movement. Now, I am always putting out reminders not to paint with a broad brush, so to be very clear, the above is not all inclusive. There are some, with no doubt, that do not fit this scenario. For the purposes of this entry, I will be using the above generalization to attempt to further our discussions and elicit feedback.


So, in my view, we need to see if we can elucidate this equation. There isn't a simple algorithm for this. It is complex with many different variables and outside influences like geography, family history, cultural practices, and many more. Personally, I think we all should be ecstatic that there isn't one set answer. This is where innovation takes hold, we learn to work with a myriad of individuals, knowledge is gained, and progress is made. 


It seems to me that, after removing the "noise" from the data, there seems to be a disconnect. For the most part, I really do not think that the individuals I have interacted with that are on the Pro Food (all, I REALLY wish you would think of another name...polarizing) "side" are trying to demonize the conventional farming operations. There are those that certainly do, and to those, I call you on the carpet. We are not going to progress agriculture without the full support and participation of multi-generational farmers. As Albert Einstein eloquently stated: “The only source of knowledge is experience”. So enough is enough. What many of the Pro Food advocates are trying to do is break the hold large multi-national companies have on certain parts of our food supply chain. Actually, this is a laudable goal; however, it would do everyone on the Pro Food side to remember that honest, ethical, people work at these huge companies and DO NOT deserve the disdain they receive. They are working hard towards the exact same goal we all are. I have met them personally, and you don't know what you are missing. Another point in fact is this: The United States is a capitalistic society. The inevitable outcome /progression is that businesses grow; it's just what you do. Just look at Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. Focusing efforts to prevent oligopolies from forming, or worst monopolies, is where efforts should be focused. Also, not all corporations providing food and inputs to the system are the devil incarnate. They do good things and will be a part of the solution to the looming crisis we are going to face. 


To continue the disconnect from the other side of that coin; it is important to remember that one does not have to be deeply involved in an industry to ask questions and lay out constructive criticism. Isn't that what journalist like Edward R. Murrow did for the betterment of our country? As an aside, we need more journalist cut from the cloth of Mr. Murrow. For those of us working in #agriculture, we should, change that, need to listen to what the Pro Food "side" is stating. If we are to truly #agvocate for our profession, we need to take in and assimilate all data points, whether we like the data or not! This will ensure we distribute facts and have a real discussion. We are in unprecedented times given the lack of resources and expected booming population. How do we even approach such a precarious situation? Conventional?, Organic?, Permaculture?, Biodiversity? CSA's?, Local Food Economies? Yes, all of the above. There is room for everyone. 


I would like to touch on personal responsibility. The position that it all starts with the individual is to simplistic. It negates the many facets of life that truly impact what happens in our lives. I just finished the book The Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. If you haven't read it, it is worth your time. He has a theory that there is no-one that is solely responsible for where they are. Each and every one of us has a cultural legacy that impacts us, and if we really think about, had help along the way, either through a lucky break, parents, right time/right place, and access. I tend to agree with Mr. Gladwell. This doesn't negate the brilliance of certain successful people. It just means that the opportunity was presented to these individuals that allowed them to use their smarts and work hard. I mention this so we can remember that not everyone who "doesn't make the right choice" is lazy. Sometimes, due to circumstances we are not aware of, it just is. This is painting with a very broad brush, and we all know what I think about that. Let's look at it this way:

What happens when the fulcrum on the above see-saw is not centered? We all know basic physics so the answer is pretty obvious. If the answer starts with and is all about Personal Choice, then we are not paying attention to what the bad companies do. There is no mistaking that there are some bad people in our industry that give us all a bad name. Unfortunately, in our media environment, this is what makes for good news. 


If we only focus on corporations and negate Personal Choice, we will stifle innovation and not allow people to fail, learn, and progress. By allowing people to fail and then succeed, they will possibly build a successful business that grows and then start the cycle all over again. What an awesome circle! Now this is VERY simplistic and only one idealogical piece of the puzzle, but it is a good example of how political persuasion plays a role in the food debate.


There was a blog written by @ZacahryCohen earlier this week that was very provocative. It was about Obesity and how farmers should take some blame for this crisis in our country. Needless to say, it got the attention of a few folks, including myself. @JeffFowle and @AndyVance, two excellent #agvocates that I am proud to know and talk with via Twitter wrote responses in their blogs. Both are advocating that it is personal choice that starts it all. Referring back to the fulcrum diagram, would it not be prudent to realize that, yes personal choice is a key factor, but not the only reason? There are other factors that we need to be aware of. 


One thing I can be sure of is that farmers are not to blame for obesity issues in our country. 


It is a mix of people making bad choices, bad policy, and very effective marketing.


So how do we go about balancing the equation that we started with? Truthfully, we may not be able to balance the equation. Ideology is ideology and philosophy is philosophy; however, I am, and will always be, an optimist. The funny thing is that the equation cannot reach balance and remain there! It will always try to reach equilibrium and then an unknown force will cause more disorder. The fun, interesting, and exciting part is taking part in the attempts to balance the equation. This is what I am passionate about and what motivates me; it is about the journey.

Living things have no inertia, and tend to no equilibrium. 
Thomas Henry Huxley - English Biologist

Ag Folks to Follow on #Twitter for #FollowFriday

Another week has just flown by. Do yourself a favor and follow everyone of these #ag folks. My time is short so a broad overview  in lieu of a lengthy description of each person will have to suffice.

#Farmers - The farmers listed below have been very active this week, from travel overseas to blog posting, interviews, and online chats via #onthefarm. They each spend time interacting with anyone, I mean anyone, who takes an interest in agriculture who wants to learn how their food, fuel, and fiber is produced. Without further ado, here is my list for the week ending September 4th, 2009, again in no particular order:

@JeffFowle
@RayLinDairy
@FarmerHaley
@TrayHadrick
@cornfedfarmer
@iamafarmer2
@derekbalsey
@KYFarmersMatter
@shaunhaney

#Media - As we know, media plays a crucial role in how consumers view agricultural production. The following individuals are strong #agvocates. They work tirelessly to help farmers get their message out, always report facts, and perform their journalistic duties as proper journalists should.

@agchick
@AgriBlogger
@TruffleMedia
@mpaynknoper

#Legal Eagles - The following #agricultural #lawyers are always their to help and answer questions. They are up to date with what is going on in their communities, as well as with the industry in general. Thank you for representing the interests of the #ag community and sharing your knowledge. We all appreciate it.

@CariRinker
@AgriLawyer

#Industry Providers - This group covers a broad base of #ag folks. Otherwise, we would be sifting through way to many industry segments. Suffice it to say the the following individuals provide key support for the #ag industry, whether through the supply of inputs, education (I included academic extension services in this group), research, marketing, or services. Thanks for all you do.

@n_web
@akleinschmidt
@craig_leach
@JPLovesCOTTON
@Mica_Monsanto
@Kath_Monsanto
@Kate_Online

Stay tuned for next weeks #FollowFriday shout outs to other #ag folks. Your hard work and dedication help to feed my family, and build strong local communities. All my best on this Labor Day holiday weekend. I will grill a delicious Rib-Eye and enjoy a tasty beverage for you all.

A little Humor is always good on a Friday: Please double click to open the larger file

PS - For Shaun, I thought I would just let everyone know that we can thank....wait for it...CANADA for our holiday weekend. The founder of Labor Day in the US, Peter McGuire, first witnessed a "Labor Day" celebration in the year 1882 in Toronto. He was so inspired that he brought the celebration back to the United States. The rest, as they say, is history!

Farm Progress 2009 Live Tweetup

Yesterday I attended my first tweetup! The event took place at the Country Financial Booth at the Farm Progress Show (#FPS09) in Decatur, IL. It was great to shake hands and talk in person to the people we have conversed with many times through Twitter.

As we in agriculture are aware, social media has provided us with mechanisms to interact with other professionals in the agricultural market place. We are sharing our knowledge, disseminating factual information, and learning from one another. We need to continue to leverage these tools moving forward.

During the tweetup I met the following individuals:

@mpaynknoper - We all know Michele, if not personally, then through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, etc. She is the founder of #agchat.
@Mica_Monsanto - Mica is a PR rep for Monsanto. I enjoyed talking about agriculture and past social media interactions. I like her sense of humor and appreciated her take on some of the current issues with agriculture
@KateOnline - She also works for Monsanto in Public Affairs. It was a pleasure to meet and talk with Kate about her activities in the SM realm as is pertains to agriculture.
@Kath_Monsanto - Kathleen is the SM specialist for Monsanto and conducted a SM presentation at the Monsanto auditorium during #FPS09. She is working hard to leverage the SM outlet. Nice to meet you Kathleen!
@TruffleMedia - I have always thought John posts relevant and informed content....getting to meet him in person was, and is, a bonus.
@agchick - Tricia is just an all around good person, a farm girl, and quite funny. I can appreciate a good sense of humor; it helps when debating issues
@JacksonFarms - I always enjoy meeting with farmers, and Mike was no exception. We talked about how crops were looking in our areas, technology, SM, and a variety of other topics. Thanks for the good conversation Mike.
@AgriBlogger - I had a great time discussing agriculture, from production to marketing, with Chuck. Be on the lookout for interviews and updates from #FPS09 on his website.
@Willie1701A - I actually met Willie briefly at the tweetup; however, I did get to spend some time chatting with him during #agchat that night. Another person with a good sense of humor and knowledge of agriculture.
@KurtLokenvitz - Kurt and I spoke in length about potential projects. It was a pleasure to meet you Kurt.
@ArlanFF01 - I actually spoke to Arlan on the phone prior to meeting in person to discuss social media and agriculture. I believe his article on the social media and agriculture topic will be coming out soon. Check it out online.
@cornguy - I read his blog entries, as should you. It was good to shake hands and discuss how our efforts to spread the message of agriculture are doing.
@HelloCountry - This is the Twitter account for Country Financial. A big shout out to Country Financial for hosting our tweetup at their booth!
@KAOjr - This was the first interaction I had with Ken, and it was excellent. He and I exchanged information on our companies and ourselves. I was not following Ken prior to the tweetup. That has now been rectified. Good to chat Ken!
@jjatfp - Jeff helped organize both the tweetup and the conference room for #agchat. Thanks much for the effort and time. Jeff and I also spent time discussing our companies. Thanks for the fruitful discussions and good sense of humor Jeff.

I also had brief introductions with @vmdavis @ken4corn and @shanedailey. I hope to meet them again at a future tweetup and spend some more time conversing.

You should be following all of the above individuals. If we want to expand the reach to a broader audience, we need to follow people. Following people on Twitter will contribute to expanding your network.

Now that I have met these individuals in person, it is going to add more to their tweets. I am looking forward to more interactions with them as well as everyone else in the twitter network.

In light of such a wonderful experience, I am going to generate a Google calendar with the upcoming trade shows for the end of this year and all of 2010. I invite you to DM me your email address so I can share the calendar with you. This calendar should give us a good overview of upcoming events as well as allow us time to plan any future tweetups, which I HIGHLY recommend we conduct. I will also provide the link to view the calendar if you prefer. If so, let me know and I will DM the web address your way. Lastly, if there are any events you would like added to the calendar, please let me know as I am sure I have not included all events. The more that gets added, the better chance we have of conducting a tweetup.

I want to pass along my thanks and gratitude to everyone I met at the Farm Progress Show. It was a pleasure to meet you, a pleasure indeed! I am looking forward to meeting more of you at future trade shows and/or tweetups. To all farmers, have a great harvest season. Here's my hope that we have a prolonged fall!

There may have been other folks I did not include in this post; it is by no means intentional. It just means that I missed you. If you are not added to the list, please feel free to scold me immediately!