Twitter has more than 300 million users worldwide, and judging by my personal experience, it’s becoming a game changer in the agricultural marketplace.

Twitter has changed the way we buy and sell. My dad likes to talk about “windows of opportunity” to accomplish tasks. Planting season, for example, seems to be more condensed each year. The window is always small from the time after silage chopping to planting cover crops on that same ground before we need the equipment elsewhere.

This year we called the implement dealer to try to rent a manure spreader to use with our own. No luck. I drafted a tweet, sent it to twitterland and boom! - one of my twitter followers sent me a private message. We ended up renting an identical manure spreader for a fair daily price. It was a win-win situation: we accomplished twice as much in a day and the renter received income on equipment he wasn’t using. Twitter made this happen.

Twitter has also changed customer service. I’ve spent the past six years fighting Apex, the old John Deere farm management software. I recently transferred our planting and harvest data to the newer system. I tweeted this: “I need a collective prayer to get me through my first John Deere data manager experience.” Fellow John Deere users thought it was funny, while other farmers touted their own systems. A few days later, I received a call from the corporate ag management systems manager. He called to ask about my data manager experience and if I needed any further help.

Note to ag equipment folks: I never thought a dealer would 1) follow me that closely on social media, and 2) take the time to call me about it. Thumbs up on customer service to the social media-minded farmers. The dealers are paying attention to me, and that creates more loyalty on my end.

Let’s face it. Old media alone is not equipped to find farmers the best marketplace and customer service. Platforms like Twitter have changed the way I do business. How about you?  

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.