With more than 65,000 pig farms in the U.S. today that’s a lot of pig farmers and different ways to raise pigs. Central Ohio farmer, Tom Graham, appreciates the diversity of ways to raise pigs and enjoys connecting with other farmers and people in agriculture using social platforms, X (previously called Twitter), Snapchat and Instagram.
“Twitter is my preferred media,” says Graham, who joined in 2010. “There’s a whole bunch of us on there sharing what we do. Even though we may be doing similar work in farming or raising pigs, everybody looks at it with a different take.”
While Graham says a lot of his audience are other ag producers, the interactions with each other can push the information shared out further. He has even met many of them in real life.
“I’ve been involved in a couple of those were 30 or 40 of us will meet someplace,” he shares. “We’d never met each other, then we get together have a meal and prove we’re actually who we say we are.”
Graham has been raising pigs for 41 years. His parents originally bought the farm he lives on now in 1983 as a farrowing operation. The family ran 150 sows through the early 2000s, then stepped away for a year before becoming contract growers.
“I enjoy what I do,” Graham says. “I do a good job with what I do with pigs from nursery stage through market hogs. But the highlight is that I get to do this with my kids and grandkids. I enjoy that I have them to share this with.”
Oaklawn Farms, which was the name of the farm when it was purchased, includes Graham’s brother, and his two sons, who have off the farm jobs, but also help with the diversified operation. Among all of them they raise wheat, corn, soybeans, hay, cattle and pigs. He also has five grandkids living on the farm, ages 14 months to almost 11.
“The 10-year-old absolutely loves helping with the pigs,” he says of his oldest granddaughter. “She can do almost anything with up to a 60- or 70-pound pig.”
He recently shared on Instagram a photo of her after she helped load out 1,200 feeder pigs. It’s all about telling the story of family and pig farming.
Sharing agriculture stories online isn’t something new for Graham though; it’s just evolved through the years. Previously, he participated in several virtual barn tours
organized by Ohio Pork. Different producers give live tours from the barns to high school students. Those videos can be found on YouTube and provide an opportunity for those outside of agriculture to experience an actual pig farm. In addition, Graham’s wife, Sue, was a school teacher for 39 years and recently retired. During her years in the classroom, the couple also provided virtual tours to reach her students.
“We had our own Ag in the Classroom,” he adds. “She taught in Zanesville, which is not a huge city by any means, but those kids didn’t know much about where their food came from. It was an opportunity to show them, and they asked lots of questions.”
Even though social media and digital platforms have been around for decades now, there are still new opportunities for farmers to share their stories. Graham encourages others in agriculture to start somewhere. He recognizes the importance of sharing his own voice.
“If I don’t share what I’m doing, somebody else is going to do it for me and they won’t be me,” he says. “So the biggest thing we’ve got to counter is misinformation about what farming and raising pigs really looks like.”
We will be uniting together June 3-8 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
Find additional PORK Week stories…
A Look Into What’s On a Pork Producer’s Mind
