Feed & Facebook, Tack & TikTok, Irrigation & Instagram: Social Media Stays True to Ranch Life We sat down with Brandi Buzzard, Nikki Callison and Tucker Brown, three ranchers from Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, respectively, who not only raise crops, critters and kids but also make it a priority to share their ranching story on social media. Meet the advocates:
Brandi Buzzard // Third-generation agriculturalist from southeastern Kansas Nikki Callison // Fourth-generation rancher from south-central Oklahoma Tucker Brown // Sixth-generation rancher from northern Texas
BB // I was a student at Kansas State University. That’s where I got my undergraduate and my master’s degree, and there was a student journalist writing all these op-eds that were pretty anti-meats and anti-milk. I was just so aggravated and, finally, I had to do something about it. I wrote a reply like a letter for the editor, What inspired you to start sharing your story on social media? NC // In 2018, I had more and more people coming to me to buy beef directly, so we started small — but that encouraged me to share our story on social media to show people what we were doing on the ranch. The more I did that, the more I found that it just really fit. I’m a fourth-generation rancher and former history teacher
TB // I have always enjoyed sharing our ranch’s story for as long as I can remember, but a turning point for me was in 2021 at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) convention. I watched them present their annual Advocate of the Year award. The young lady was very impressive — a first-generation rancher from California. It really opened my eyes that I was not doing
and I love photography, so sharing our ranching story on social media suited my skills. I really enjoyed interacting with my audience, and it just continued to develop from there.
BB
TB
and it ended up being around 500 words long. Unsurprisingly, they did not print it. But there was a journalist at Drovers — Chuck Jolley — who I really respected. I emailed him and asked him what I should do. The next thing I knew, he ended up publishing my column online. And I thought to myself, “Well, that was cool. I could do this.” That was 2009.
my part to share the deep agricultural history of my family and to share the truth about the beef industry. If we don’t tell our story, then someone will tell it for us.
NC
18
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator