image expired

AgriChatUK
What the award jury had to say about the project: ‘This project proposes a direct and cost-effective way to connect farmers, policy-makers and citizens via Twitter. It challenges the target audience to put forward their views within 140 characters. It is a simple yet innovative approach to stimulate debate and reconnect people with different interests.’

Summary of the application

What is the project about?

#AgriChatUK is a weekly online farming discussion. It facilitates discussions between farmers from across the UK and abroad, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), MPs and other political organisations, food and farming organisations such as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Soil Association, journalists, scientists and anyone else interested in farming or working in associated industries through Twitter.

How was the project implemented?

At the moment, AgriChatUK is operated solely through Twitter. The innovative aspect of the project is that social media is a revolutionary tool for the rural industry. Twitter offers both education and business generation to members of the rural community who wish to engage. Its value lies in the content exchanged in the network between users, and also the content shared with a wider audience. Farmers want to have a dialogue with both consumers and the wider media. Social media could become the primary way the industry connects.

Why should it get your vote?

#AgriChatUK is the perfect way for farmers to share best practice and experiences, while at the same time interacting with suppliers and customers. It is an online audience where there is no obligation to tweet in a certain way, the control rests with the user. AgriChatUK has since inspired the development of other country derivatives, namely @AgChatOz (Australia), @AgChatIRL (Ireland), @AgriChatNL (Holland), and @EUFoodChat (Europe).

We at Farming Online think it is great too.

Vote here