The word agroinfluencer makes them laugh. "We are going to show what we do, but from there to being an influencer with a lot of followers, of those who go to Andorra, I think not," laughs Alberto Alfaro (Cascante, 39 years old). Farmer and agronomist, he has been working in the primary sector all his life and grows, fundamentally, winter cereal, legumes and olive trees. He is one of the six chosen by the Union of Farmers and Ranchers of Navarra (UAGN) to study a 12-hour itinerary, funded by the Government of Navarra through the Cosmos call, to train in communication and digital communication skills. Lessons that are complemented with visits to entities in the sector that apply new technologies and with a support group to "weave a network with a spirit of permanence". The objective is that, through their personal stories, they value and give visibility to life and work in the field.
The idea of the project arose when it detected that "something was missing" in institutional communication. That something, describes Susana Villanueva, head of communication at the UAGN, was "the personal nature of their stories." Hence, it has opted to train these professionals so that "through their social networks, their digital channels, they tell us their stories". The six new agro-influencers have been chosen by Villanueva following two fundamental criteria: their youth and their sensitivity to communicative issues. "We did not look for them to have social networks, eye, because not everyone has them, but for them communication had to be important because they are dedicated to agriculture and livestock and for them this is a plus. And if they don't like it, they're not going to spend time on it." They are people who are dedicated to the cultivation of cereals, corn, but also to the breeding of sheep and are distributed throughout a good part of the regional community. It is not an attempt to replace the media, adds Villanueva, but a way to "generate added value that is complementary to traditional media."
The training is convincing the participants because they have already asked for more extensive training in some topics, says Hodei Flores (Lakuntza, 37 years old), a child educator who runs a livestock farm in Etxarri Aranatz together with her husband. They are dedicated to the breeding of sheep and the production and direct sale of milk and cheese. Flores has his own social networks, but until now he had not launched into digital communication with the company (@pokegaztak). In your case, a good communication strategy could help you improve your positioning in the market. However, it has not yet decided on the path it will work. He does not rule out the didactic purpose of his publications because of his own training and because one of his objectives is that "what we do is known. It used to be said that a city child doesn't know where milk comes from. Maybe it's not so literal anymore, but maybe they don't know that, for example, to make cheese, these animals have to eat a certain food or how to milk them." At the moment, he does know which network he will use: "I'm going to start with Instagram, I'll learn little by little. I start as a very novice," she laughs.
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A post shared by Alberto (@alberto___alfaro)
Alfaro (@alberto___alfaro) does have experience in social networks – Instagram and LinkedIn – but on a private level. He wants to disseminate "what agriculture consists of, especially new technologies", such as "satellite images, precision agriculture to reduce the use of fertilizers and fertilizers". "Next, I want to spread the issue of digitization. It is something that is entering agriculture and in two years everyone will have to be very familiar with the processes, "he says. To publish, he acknowledges, it is necessary to have good communication skills. This is one of the parts of the training that he liked the most because "it is a job in which you spend a lot of time alone or with few people and then it costs more to speak in public". He has not yet launched to record a video on Instagram, but he is clear that he wants to try. In his case, he prefers LinkedIn for being "more professional, more technical. I like the technical stuff better." However, he does not rule out continuing to promote Instagram for its visual potential and its usefulness to reach more people.
Along the same lines, farmer Guillermo Asín (Peralta, 37 years old) narrates his day to day on his Instagram account (agro_blog86). He grows corn, spinach and, above all, cereals. "I'm a farmer, I'm not a communicator. I am self-taught. I tell what works for me, what I think works well in this area and what doesn't." He launched to post on social networks with the idea of improving the performance of his lands, but also to share his experiences and help others. "I started looking online at what works, what doesn't work, where to improve, and since there was no one to tell you, I said, I'm going to create an account." Today he has almost 2,300 followers on his account and interacts with people from all over the world, from Seville to Argentina or Uruguay. The themes vary, from irrigation probes to amino acid fertilizers. "Agro-influencer, but on a small scale," he says, humorously.
Screenshot of one of the videos of the 'agroinfluencer' Guillermo Asín@agro_blog86
Asín started the course with the aim of improving the way he conveyed his message. He is satisfied with the training and is already working on one of his main challenges: "I'm a lot of saying crutches and I try to correct myself," he acknowledges. He defines himself as a "super embarrassing" person, but has opted for "shock therapy. Hala, come on." So he began to record short, explanatory videos, with technical content, which have a clear basic foundation: "We know that in agriculture two plus two is never four, because one year goes well and another goes badly, but we are learning," he says.
The project has another objective: "To get citizens to banish the idea that the farmer or rancher is the one who does not want to study and that is why he goes to the countryside," says Villanueva. Moreover, he stresses: "Now, the farmer is a person who is trained, who controls new technologies and who really wants to work in the field." To convey this message, it has a team of six professionals, for the moment, willing to disseminate the details of the work in the field. "Hopefully," he concludes, "in a few years there will be many more."
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