-->

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Agriculture Gone Digital: Online Resources

You don't need to be a professional to take an interest in the subject of agriculture. Indeed, anyone who wears clothing and eats food on a regular basis is indirectly involved. There are many online resources: everything from farming statistics to studies on beef to how to be better at animal husbandry.

General Websites

www.USDA.gov The United States Department of Agriculture is your one stop shop for agriculture questions. Regulatory programs, consumer services, food safety, and rural development are just a few of the links offered for consumers and producers.

www.AgriHelp.com  Agri Help has resources for first-time ranchers and third generation cattle professionals, including free ranching software  developed by Oklahoma State University. There is also a “neighbors” section where people who have questions about farming and ranching can ask experts.

www.animalagalliance.com  Animal Ag Alliance was developed to communicate the important role of modern animal agriculture to our nation's economy, productivity, vitality, security, and that animal well-being is central to producing safe, high-quality, affordable food and other products essential to our daily lives. This site offers information about current issues, from the latest legislation facing agriculture to animal welfare.

Cattle and Dairy websites

www.beef.org The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association website has compiled many beef-related websites and brought them to you in one place. There is everything from a cattle learning center to the Beef Quality Assurance Program where you can learn the safest and best way to treat and work your animals.

www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com This site offers information to consumers,  from how to buy beef and what to look for at the meat counter to nutritional information. This website also has the information about the Beef In An Optimal Lean Diet, or BOLD, research project that defies everything you thought you knew about beef and your health.

www.dairybiz.com Dairy Biz offers many resources for dairy farmers. They have links for equipment, news, information for children, and farm locations.
Photo by Hannah Miller.

Pork

www.pork.org The Pork Checkoff has industry news, resources, and certification for anyone in the pork industry.

www.porkbeinspired.com This site for people who are interested in cooking pork and in it's nutritional information.

Photo used with permission from Morgan Wagner.
 
Sheep and Goat websites

www.sheepusa.org Sheep USA has the latest reports on sheep, hot topics, research, online education, and things that you can do with wool.


www.sheepandgoat.com This site gives you all the information you need to raise sheep and goats. It shares tips on fencing, healthcare and more.
Photo used with permission from Megan Pepper.


Social Media

Facebook: The Truth About Agriculture is a good page to follow if you don’t know a lot about agriculture, they share many stories targeted to non-agriculture people, encourage questions, and share resources about  different aspects of agriculture.

Facebook: The U.S. Departmentof Agriculture updates their page frequently with a variety of information. USDA stays on top of the most recent research that is happening in the agriculture world.

Twitter: @AgChatFound Their mission is to empower farmers and ranchers to connect communities through social media platforms. They have tweet-ups each week to talk about suggested questions.

Twitter: @AgBlogFeed is a huge assortment of agriculture bloggers. This Twitter feed offers a place to find a new blog to follow or someone to answer your agriculture questions.



 Hannah Miller is an Agriculture major and a Social Media Committee intern with the Texas Social Media Research Institute at Tarleton State University.  You can find her on Twitter as @ambitiouscattle.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
UA-51962418-1