5 years and 20,000 tweets later...

March of 2009 was a big month for me. It was the month I left my 20's behind and said hello to 30, embarked on my two-year AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee adventure, and welcomed my baby daughter into the world.

I also tweeted for the very first time:

It may take a little time, but I plan on using Twitter to keep folks regularly updated about the goings-on at Gilmer Dairy Farm...follow me!

— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) March 11, 2009

I didn't have great expectations for Twitter at the time, or at least not my usage of it. The thought of sharing short bursts of farm info was intriguing, but I didn't think you folks would find my tweets as interesting or useful as my blog or my farm's Facebook page. Once I figured out that I could post real-time updates via text on my Razr v3 flip-phone, though, both my follower count and my own interest began to rise. I upgraded to a smartphone within a couple of months, and my new-found ability to interact with other Twitter users while in the milking barn or in a tractor cab encouraged me to tweet even more frequently. 

So now here I sit, five years and a little over 20k tweets later, and I wonder what kind of impact I've made. As I stated in my very first tweet, my goal was to let you know about life on my family's farm, and that still remains the primary focus of all I do online. There are other farmers that interact with and influence far more people than I do (give 'em props), but there's nobody else that does it exactly like me and I'm pretty dang proud of that. I might not have posted or tweeted a single thing in the last five years that has helped shape your point of view on food or farming, but I've had fun trying!

Whether you follow me on Twitter, regularly read this blog, watch my farm videos on YouTube, or "like" our Facebook page, I sincerely want to thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and my family's dairy farm. I continue to welcome your comments and questions, and I hope my social-sharing style helps you feel more connected to both your glass of milk and to the farmer keeping a steady hand on the udder. 

Real-time updates from the milking barn

Thanks to modern technology, I have the ability to share real-time updates about what is happening on my farm to a virtually unlimited audience. My favorite "on-the-go" social network is Twitter, and today I decided to tweet out how many cows we had milked throughout the course of this afternoon. It didn't take long before I started growing bored with it, so I decided I would try to share the information in a more creative manner.

20 cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

30 cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

40 cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

50 (fifty) cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

60 cows milked!!!
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

70 cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

Make that 80 cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

90 COWS MILKED.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

100 cows milked, 78 to go.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

CX of CLXXVIII cows milked.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

If a school bus leaves Sulligent driving south at 50mph and a tree falls in the forest, how many cows have we milked? (Answer: 120)
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

We have milked x cows, if x = ((y^2-13)/5y)+0.004 and y=650
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

"We dun gone an milked ahunnurtinfawty cows, PAAAWWWWLLLL!"
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

All the cows that remain: pic.twitter.com/OFFOcAigzI
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

What does the fox say? "Yip-yip-yip-yippie" [English translation: "150 cows milked"]
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

I would have already drained 5.33 suitcases of Busch Heavy if I slammed a beer every time I milked a cow this afternoon. And I'd be dead.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

And then there were nine...
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

BREAKING: Gilmer Dairy Farm (Lamar Co., Ala.) successfully completed the milking of 178 mature, lactating Holsteins as of 3:55pm CDT.
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

Bonus coverage: My dad artificially inseminating cow no.918 pic.twitter.com/EHjfCI20Dy
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) November 1, 2013

Y'all have a "dairy" good weekend!

#ShowMeYourJugs!

Last night I was trying to think of a fun little way to generate some positive chatter about milk and dairy on Twitter, so I posted the following message to my "followers":

Tweet me a pic of a jug of #milk in your fridge by 10pm and be registered to win my undying appreciation!
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) October 11, 2012

A few good responses came in over the next few minutes, but I was sure there were more people out there with milk in their refrigerator. So I thought to myself, "Hmmm, what could get people's attention? I know...a hashtag!!!" And with that, I tweeted the following:

...just #showmeyourjugs!#milk #dairy
— Will Gilmer (@gilmerdairy) October 11, 2012

I've seen several pairs of jugs today.

My little request started to get noticed after that, and between then and now I've had about two dozen people answer my call. There is quite a bit of diversity in people's tastes, as I've seen skim milk, 1%, 2%, "whole" milk, half & half, chocolate milk, and on and on and on. Some jugs have been full, some near-empty, and have ranged from quart to half to gallon sized. There has even been quite a range of respondents, including college students, former high school football teammates, and even a television meteorologist!

If you have a Twitter account, join in on the fun! Take a quick snapshot of the milk or other dairy products in your refrigerator and upload it along with the hashtag #showmeyourjugs! And thanks for being such a great supporter of America's dairy farm families such as mine!

What they're saying about #moo

There have been several articles and blogs written about "#moo" after it trended on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. It's even got a little renewed publicity this week after "#oink" made its even more successful run this past Sunday. For your reading pleasure, I've added links to sites that mention the event. There are probably more articles out there, so please point me towards them via the comments section or on my Twitter account and I'll be happy to add them. Thanks!

Why is #moo trending on Twitter - California dairyman (and Twitter virtuoso @RayLinDairy) Ray Prock's blog informed over 1000 people of #moo's meaning during the trend on Sunday, August 2
Why is #Moo Trending? - the Hungry Garden Blog's take
Dairy Awareness #Moo -ving on up in Twitter - my explanation and thoughts about #moo on this blog from late that Sunday afternoon
The day Twitter said #Moo - my day after review and observations on the FB Blog (also released as a Focus on Agriculture article and reprinted in several publications/websites)
Birthday Wishes and Twitter Trends - on Jacob Edenfield's blog
#moo - a brief review on the Midwest Laboratories Blog
What's #Moo? - a brief explanation from USDA's National Agricultural Library blog
The day Twitter went #moo - recapfrom Dairy Herd Management
Special #Ag TOTW: The #Moo Story - the Field Assignment blog honors Mike Haley & Ray Prock for their efforts
Farmers use Web site todraw attention to dairy industry Woes - a very nice article by Jeannine Otto of AgriNews
With a Moo Moo Here and an Oink Oink There - The Fastline Blog recaps both trending topics
Twitter Dairy "Tweeps" - the Hoard's Dairyman "HD Notebook" mentions #moo and recommends more dairy families get involved w/ social media
Social Media Helps Spread the Word About Agriculture - from the Nebraska AgRelations Council

Dairy awareness #moo -ving on up in Twitter

#moo

To those of you unfamiliar with the micro-blogging service Twitter, #moo has become quite the topic this Sunday afternoon. Words preceded by the # symbol are known as hashtags in Twitter lingo and are used as a label to help people find topics they are interested when searching through "tweets".

So what's the big deal about #moo?

Early last week, dairy families across our country received another painfully low milk check. Many of us thought that by the middle of summer we would have seen a price improvement, but that has yet to materialize. As bills pile up and losses mount due to the dairy pricing crisis, many of us have started feeling the emotional strain. As a way to do something silly and cheer ourselves up, a few dairymen with Twitter accounts suggested people use the #moo hashtag in their posts as a shout-out in support of America's dairy farm families. It caught on within the tweeting ag community and pretty soon #moo started showing up regularly within our discussions.

Then a farmer from Ohio, @FarmerHaley to be exact, raised it to a whole new level. Around mid-week, he stated his simple birthday wish: that people would use #moo in their posts on Sunday afternoon to support and bring awareness to America's dairy farmers. His wish was retweeted (repeated) many, many times and once Sunday afternoon rolled around #moo did indeed become a trending, or popular, topic on Twitter.

Not only have farmers and agricultural enthusiasts helped make #moo so popular, but its popularity has caught on with the tweeting public-at-large. And several folks, including fellow tweeting dairyman @RayLinDairy and @JPlovesCotton have worked diligently all afternoon to make people aware of what #moo is all about.

As a dairy farmer, I am very appreciative of the efforts that have been made to bring awareness to the situation our nation's dairy farm families are facing. I'm also thankful for all the people who aren't involved in agriculture who have taken time to simply explore what this afternoon's hot topic is all about. It's been a tough few months and the next several will continue to be challenging, but knowing there are people out there supporting you and appreciative of what you do really motivates a person to keep pressing forward.

So again, thanks to all of you who #moo! Keep it up, and keep on purchasing delicious, healthy dairy products!

Back on the Blog

The Dairyman's Blog returns today after a few days of inactivity. For some reason, sleep's been hard to come by at night around here and post-milking, pre-breakfast "blog time" has been replaced by "nap time" lately.

We're looking at a pretty cool day here on the farm. Overnight temps dropped down around the freezing mark and we're not supposed to get much over 50 degrees by mid-afternoon. We'll be cold again tonight before highs climb back into the 70's tomorrow. Rain possible for Thursday and Friday. And there's your weather, lets throw it back to the news desk.

I had hoped we would begin harvesting some of our spring forage this week, but it's looking doubtful. If the rain chances are knocked down a notch by tonight I'll probably pump down our captured nutrients and fertilize some of the milking herd's grazing land to stimulate some regrowth.

The cows are still holding daily production around 63 pounds each and are in really good condition. We only have 5 in our maternity pen right now, and only three heifer calves that haven't been weaned yet (which will happen later this week). We have a group of 18 breeding-sized heifers next to the barn that we're watching for natural heat, and so far we've bred six of them.

That's about all I have to report before heading back over to the dairy. Remember, you can learn more about life on Gilmer Dairy Farm from three other sources: our farm website, Facebook fan page, and Twitter.

Have a great day, and make sure that three servings of dairy products are part of it!

Follow Gilmer Dairy Farm on Twitter

I've opened up a Twitter account to keep folks updated about what's happening on the farm. You can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/gilmerdairy