Dairy farmers sharing their farm story online is a great way to interact with consumers who have never met a dairy family or visited a dairy farm. Concerned about negative comments from anti-dairy activists? ADA North East offers five quick tips to build your confidence and social media presence.

  • Implement the “banned wordsâ€_x009d_ list — posts that include these words will not show up on your page.
  • Set your profanity filter to “high.â€_x009d_
  • If you don’t have an on-farm business (such as a farm stand) turn off the reviews on the page. Activists use this function to leave one-star reviews and say disparaging things about your farm, so if there’s not a business reason to keep it up, don’t.
  • Remember: Actual questions deserve answers, but website “trollsâ€_x009d_ don’t. Feel free to block and ban commenters who are only trying to cause arguments.
  • Ask for help! Reach out to Beth Meyer for assistance in implementing any of these changes, or for personalized advice to avoid detractors.

Also, check out American DairyEngaged — our new dairy farming focused community that provides timely, relevant and vetted content for social media.