Category Archives: Better Blogging

Better Blogging: Finding Online Mentors


Part of my series sharing tips to improve blogging (Link)

Do you ever have that moment where you just really need to stand on a soapbox and set the world to rights? In the age of blogging, I see those posts all too often and I have been known to post a few right here. They may end up as an emotional piece, fairly lengthy, sometimes heated, and occasionally condescending. And sometimes they even provoke the largest response. But is it always the best response? There is a way to make these posts more productive with the help of some key people.

A few weeks ago I had a rather unproductive conversation with a lady who professed her feelings about me committing animal abuse and the need to stop my actions. I let the thought stew for a few weeks and wound up writing a lengthy narrative. I almost threw it in the trash, but thanks to some great friends, it ended up on CNN after a little revamping.

Time for a little pop culture reference

(I know! Rare for me, right?)

Harvey Spector always seems to be giving Mike Ross the “mentor” talk in the USA series Suits.

Have you ever watched the USA Network show Suits? The main characters are Mike Ross and Harvey Spector. Harvey is dad figure in the series, the successful lawyer, who puts up with no bull. Mike is this zealous kid who stumbles into the situation and gets high aspirations of himself and just wants to make Harvey proud. Mike usually ends up doing a great job, but requires a little guidance from Harvey to keep him in line. Harvey and Mike – perfect television example of mentor and mentoree.

Boy, the number of days that I feel like young Mike. I really do have great aspirations for my work, sometimes it just requires a little help from someone to bring me back down to the ground, remind me what I am capable of, and where the lines are before I can make it back up.

Finding your Online Mentors

The need for online mentors or “blogging buddies” is incredibly important when sharing our story through blogs and online social media. These people shouldn’t be used so much as a filter, but rather as guides. I use various people to bounce ideas off of, send out a line when I need some advice for an ongoing conversation, and even to celebrate victories or let off a little steam.

For some of my posts that carry a little more weight or have the potential to reach a larger audience, I usually turn to my friends for help. These folks are great to point out grammar mistakes, but I feel the largest help is just another set of eyes. I’m usually writing about material I am familiar with and might be unable to see a term or phrase that might be taken inaccurately by a crowd new to a topic. So it really helps to have someone helping who is somewhat familiar with my topics, but far enough removed so they can critique my material.

One great example of this is a recent piece on CNN’s Eatocracy. The editor asked if she could repost something from my blog describing how my family was dealing with the Arkansas drought. I was busy at a livestock show and didn’t take the time to review the piece before CNN used it. There were a few grammar errors that I should have caught, but that didn’t keep me up at night. The part that cut me off at the knees was the word “pray” – used once at the end of the post in the phrase “pray for rain” – which ended up being part of the title, and resulted in almost 200 comments describing how horrible I was in believing in prayer or that it alone would fix the drought. The word was used ONCE in the title and ONCE in the post itself and ended up completely derailing the conversation on the post.

One little word. Someone had pointed out the use of “prayer” when reviewing one of my previous posts, but I never considered it with this one. Imagine what it could have been had I used my resources and had someone catch that for me!

For the record, I’m not suggesting “prayer” is a dirty word that should not be used in telling our stories. It’s something I’ve used before, and have never encountered before within my normal audiences. But I have to take into consideration the audience I’m writing to on CNN is different. I never would have imagined it would have been that different.

What can an online mentor do for me?

Online mentors can be great. They are there to lend a hand when I am stuck with writer’s block, when I need help finding another resource for a conversation, or when I need help figuring out how to use something new online. They even step in to guide me when I get a little riled up in a conversation or topic response – just like a mentor in real life should be able to do.

I won’t give away the names of the friends who help me out along the way. I just like to keep it that way. They know who they are — And to them I am very grateful!

No matter you’re level of use in social media, I encourage you to find a friend or contact online who you can turn to for assistance, advice, or even celebration or an occasional venting. They’ll make your online networking and blogging experience that much more enjoyable and productive.

What other benefits have you found in utilizing online mentors?

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Food and Farm: Facilitating Online Conversations [Audio]


A few weeks back I had the great opportunity to travel to Kentucky and visit a few friends. While there I met with a great friend and online mentor for many, Ray Bowman. Ray hosts a radio broadcast sponsored by Feedstuffs each Friday afternoon. Check out his page for more information on broadcasts.

Ray and his wife graciously welcomed me into their home after we attended church services together. We had a wonderful meal and afterward I sat down with Ray for a conversation about facilitating online conversations and what they mean to agriculture advocacy today.

Here’s a link to the podcast. Give it a listen and let me know what you think as Ray and I discuss reaching out for food and farm discussions. Topics include:

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CNN Eatocracy: Can we find civil food conversations online?


I don’t know about you, but I get pretty frustrated hen trying to have a conversation, but can’t wade through all of the mud that is being slung in the process. This happens a lot when trying to talk food and farming online. These are emotional topics and each side of the table tries to throw it’s own scientific backing in the mix.

I ran into this situation a few weeks ago and used it as an opportunity to share a few points I feel are important when approaching food and farming conversations, especially online.

These thoughts went live on CNN Eatocracy late last week in my latest post, aiming to facilitate further discussion on food topics by offering a farming perspective. These points are something both side of the table need to take into consideration and inspired quite the conversation on the original post.

Farmers aren’t evil. Now can we have a civil conversation?

A few weeks ago, I received a Facebook message out of the blue asking to stop my support of animal abuse. The person behind the message said I may not realize it, but she believes what I do for a living is inherently cruel.

She described things she feels are wrong with animal agriculture - how baby calves are used for veal production, how cows are sucked dry of their milk until they can no longer function, and how pigs and chickens are crammed into crates to the point where they cannot move. She believes that livestock farming needs to end in favor of plant-based diets to feed the world’s population.

When I asked where she had witnessed these cruelties or learned of this information, I received a number of links to articles and videos from groups likePETA, Mercy for Animals, Farm Sanctuary, and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS); groups that have a focused agenda to stop animal agriculture with little to no consideration for the farmer.

This is not the animal agriculture I work in. The stories she had were moving and certainly lead people to take action, but they do not represent the agriculture community.

There is nothing more frustrating than being approached by someone who believes I am an evil person for what I do, without ever having a chance to voice an opinion about my experience. This happens time and again in conversations about food and agriculture topics and we are just digging ourselves a deeper hole, but we can find a better avenue to communication.

The discussion continued, and I asked, again, where she had witnessed these cruel circumstances. She pasted several statements filled with statistics and graphic descriptions of the animal housing conditions and treatment standards. A quick Google search found these statements easily copied from the above mentioned group websites.

I shared links to a few blog posts and videos I have created in the past to describe animal care on my family’s farm, guidelines farmers follow for better animal care, and a series of posts to detail work in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), or what some call “factory farms”. I view these as a snapshot of how I perceive modern cattle farming.

No matter the effort or the questions I asked, I continued to receive prepared statements and figures from these organizations. I felt like it was one large brick wall.

Then I had to step back and ask myself, is this how messages are received from farmers and ranchers as we try to use science when discussing modern food and farming? The clash of emotion and science and neither is making headway.

As a whole, our communities of farmers and customers need to approach these conversations and be more respectful of others’ opinions. Food will always be a difficult subject to discuss. Everyone has different expectations for their food; how it tastes, how it should be grown, and how much it should cost. We definitely have skewed perceptions of how our wants and needs should be accepted by the other side of the table, even though we share a common ground – eating food.

When we approach these conversations, I want to encourage us all to take a few steps for better communication and dialogues.

First, we have two ears and one mouth. We all need to listen first before we speak. Everyone possesses their own opinions and when we can hear the other viewpoints, we can better respond to the issues at hand.

Second, leave your first impressions at the door. Assumptions need to be laid aside. Ask questions. What is the other person really asking? The better you understand and are willing to listen to what the other side of issue has to say, the better you will understand your own beliefs.

Finally, understand the world is not out to burn you. Haters will abound, latch on to the most emotional, exciting aspect and blow it out of proportion. These folks will often stand on the most prominent soapbox, seeking the most attention. This by no means qualifies them as right or their stance any more substantial. Many more people mean well and stay much less vocal.

Conversations require cooperation from both sides to be productive. I am no communications professional, but I do know that both sides need to evaluate their approach and listen more.

So here is my challenge, what questions do you have about modern farming? And are you willing to consider asking them in a way that makes it easier to engage a conversation rather than an accusation?

Instead of “Why do you poison our food supply with chemicals and GMOs?” maybe someone not on the farm could ask a farmer, “How does your use of chemicals and technology affect the safety of food and our environment?” I know it takes a mind shift and I am trying to make one on my end too, but if both sides shift toward openness rather than assumption.

So think about it: if you could ask a farmer of any crop, almonds to zucchinis, where would you start? I’ll do my best to find farmers to help with the answers in a similar spirit.

Leave your questions in the comment section below or submit your question via the Ask A Farmer page above or send me a message on Facebookand Twitter.

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Better Blogging | Tips for Agriculture Advocacy [Video]


Part of my series sharing tips to improve blogging (Link)

After attending the AgChat Foundation conference last week, I’m really pumped and have some great ideas for building my conversations with those who want to know more about their food sources.

I look forward to learning more about what others want to know about food production, how cattle are raised, and how I can help other farmers respond and act upon these concerns. I hope to do a better job of building relationships, talking more about my interests outside of “just” agriculture, and encouraging others to become more available to talk candidly about food.

Sometimes advocacy requires spending some time just listening to others (Image Credit: AgWired)

I’ve been asked several times recently to share my story via video. I’ve dabbled in video creation for the fast few years with video blogs about farm and ranch life. I’m working to improve on that.

Here’s a three-part video series that highlights my start in agriculture advocacy, along a few tips on using social media to tell your story, building relationships, and I touch on how I came upon the opportunity to write on CNN’s Eatocracy.

Each video is just a few minutes in length. Please share with your friends and feel free to use them where ever needed. Keep watching, all 3 videos will play automatically.

I know there are others reading that know more about video creation, What are your suggestions to improve my video blogging efforts?

What motivates you to advocate for agriculture?

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