Celebrating Farmers

Social media has given farmers the perfect way to share the many joys, challenges and the daily realities of farming with people interested in how their food is produced.   A growing number of influencers have gained millions of followers who welcome their regular and honest posts and the insights the content gives into their lives.   Many say that they started sharing their stories to play a part in developing society’s interest in food production, land management and in appreciating the trade-offs that are a daily part of profitable and compliant agriculture.   In this episode of the Science Behind your Salad we are celebrating some of these farmers who came together to connect and inspire one another at an AgXplorers’ Influencer Camp in Germany.   Host Jane Craigie caught up with five of the 20 influencers at the event - Marie Hoffman, from Germany, Ally Hunter Blair who farms with his family in England’s Wye Valley, Tonis Soopalu, Estonia’s only farming influencer, Lasma Lapina from Latvia, and Austrian farmer, DJ and restaurateur, Johannes Burchhart, who describes farming as “like a heartbeat”.  Jane also spoke to Thomas Fischer who farms very sustainably at Quellendorf near Berlin, one of the farm’s ecologist partners, Christian Schmidt Egger and BASF’s Anna Lena Hottendorf.   Handles for the influencers:  Ally Hunter Blair @wyefarm  Johannes Burchhart @bauernjohny  Marie Hoffman @marie_hfmn97  Lasma Lapina @lapainaa  Tonis Soopalu @farmer.tonis See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.