Vegan groups attack Ont. dairy farmer on Twitter

[Teh One Who Knocks]

John Miner, QMI Agency




LONDON, Ont. -- Andrew Campbell started the new year by sharing the day-to-day events on his Middlesex, Ont., dairy farm with his 13,000 followers on Twitter.

Then the hijackers moved in.

Outraged at Campbell's project to share the positive news from his agricultural operation and teach what life is like in agriculture, vegan groups from around the globe and individuals opposed to the livestock industry moved to swamp his Twitter postings that used the hashtag "#Farm365."

(For those not familiar with Twitter, hashtags are keywords preceded by # in Twitter messages, allowing people to easily search a topic or follow a particular issue.)

Along with Twitter messages decrying the use of animals for food, there was a steady stream of photos of dead livestock and animals being put down.

In some postings, farmers were called murderers for sending animals to slaughter and rapists for having their livestock artificially inseminated.

Many suggested it was immoral for farmers to use "non-human animals."

Animals love & form bonds w/ each other. It's wrong to hurt and kill them! RT if you're #vegan & u agree! #FARM365 pic.twitter.com/U2QKTnP7bj
— The Paw Report (@ThePawReport) January 10, 2015

Farmers and supporters of Campbell fired back on Twitter, defending agricultural practices and the compassion of producers.

Campbell said he was surprised by both the extent of the global attacks and the reaction from producers in other countries who took to Twitter to post photos from their own farm operations.

"What we have seen is there are activists concerned about animal care and thousands of farmers who are concerned about animal care. There is just maybe a little bit of a gap there," Campbell said Monday.

The challenge from the farm side will be to show others what is being done for animal care, he said.

As for the extremists, Campbell said he and others have decided it's not worth trying to engage in a debate with them.

"We are up for discussion, we are not in this for a fight of any kind," he said.

Some days you just have to pause and enjoy the view. A look over the pasture on a crisp morning. #farm365 pic.twitter.com/Dut57szcAB
— Andrew Campbell (@FreshAirFarmer) January 13, 2015

By Monday, the bitter tweeting battle expanded to the #Ontag hashtag, a hashtag usually used by people in Ontario's agriculture industry to share information on such things as upcoming workshops and the latest farm reports.

Despite some of the extreme reaction to his hashtag project, Campbell is determined to continue with it.

"If anything, this shows the reality that there is a gap in the information on how animals are raised on farms. It shows it is an important thing that is needed," he said.

London technology expert Carmi Levy, a writer with voices.com, said there is no workable way to defend against such hashtag hijacking.

"No one individual or group ever really owns a hashtag, anyway, so there's nothing stopping anyone else from using the hashtag in a manner different from its original intent," Levy said.

While there is no foolproof solution, Levy suggested companies and organizations can mitigate their exposure by planning for it in advance and being able to respond to attempts to use a hashtag in a counterproductive manner.

If they have someone who can respond online, organizations may be able to counter the hijacking by redirecting the discussion, shifting it to an entirely different hashtag, or even moving to a completely separate social media service if that fails, Levy said.

[Goofy]

#eejits

[Hal-9000]

ummm....descendant of farmers here


typically, dairy farmers like to keep their breadwinners alive for the most part...not much milk comes out of dead udders you twats

[Noilly Pratt]

I was a computer support tech for the Ministry of Agriculture for many years and had privileged access to everything.

Every agrologist I dealt with was very into humane treatment of animals and went out of their way to shut down bad farmers (of which there are only a small %). With mandatory associations for dairy producers, a bad farmer is found out pretty fast. No one will buy your milk if you are treating your cows inhumanely - there are too many other producers out there to pick from.

What was funny - a friend I knew in my teens I found out now had a dairy farm. He invited me to visit and I found that all of the cows had the names of all of our friends. He named every cow and his barn was more spotless than his house.

[Hal-9000]

My Uncle and cousin used to farm out in Strathmore Noilly, beef farmers....their farm had a rep for the best meat because of the non-hormone feed techniques and the treatment of the animals..

My cousin used to name calfs every year, then send off Daisy to the slaughter house at the end of the season


there was actually a scandal at the Strathmore meat packing facility involving my Uncle's cows...they were switching product, saying it was from his farm....and believe or don't it was discovered by people eating their beef and noticing it was substandard

there really is a difference when it comes to feed methods and treatment of the animals

[Goofy]

I like my steak to be fed a healthy diet

[Hal-9000]

we got some Australian beef one year....

bleh and yuck....it was tough, tasteless and seemed to cook a different way...we may have got a bad batch but it sure didn't live up to any hype

[Goofy]

Aberdeen angus, best there is

Strangely enough, i had sirloin steak for dinner tonight Was mighty fine!

[Hal-9000]

[Noilly Pratt]

For "fun" I worked on a cattle ranch once - for 1 day. A good friend who lived in Alberta was dating the daughter of the rancher and thought it'd be a good experience for him and 19 year old me. I did all the s#it jobs...bailing the hay, feeding, shovelling the excrement etc.

When I arrived back at the ranch about dinner time, after collapsing in the back of a pickup truck that drove me the long journey from where the cattle were to the house, feeling completely knackered, the dad said "You look like you were in a gang fight, and your gang didn't show up!" Love that line. I'd fallen down a few times and cut my face - generally tripping on stuff and not paying attention to where I was going. Now that I'm remembering, that dad was a doppelganger for Carroll Shelby...

But the 2 steaks I wolfed down were soooo good. First time I'd had a baked potato too. I must've done something right, as he offered me a summer job right then and there and I said "The only thing that kept me going was knowing I wouldn't have to do this tomorrow!"

A very cool experience that made me appreciate where our beef comes from.