Third-generation grower Shay Myers may not have expected to find himself in front of a camera growing up on his family’s farm, but he’s made a name for himself as @shayfarmkid, amassing nearly 647,000 followers on TikTok.
Myers, also the CEO of Parma, Idaho-based Owyhee Produce, shared the role that social media plays in modern agriculture on this episode of the “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast. He said he learned just how little the outside world knows or understands about farming when he moved away for school. Coming back, he realized how using social media could quickly disseminate information when the Parma area experienced a significant snowstorm that caused several of his family’s buildings to collapse.
“Suddenly I had a need to be in front of the entirety of our customer base, and I didn't have the time to pick up the phone to talk to everyone,” Myers said. “You needed the visuals, too, because what was happening was in this little, teeny microclimate, and so it's not like it was a statewide disaster.”
Myers said a good social media post isn’t an exact science. Sometimes things he thinks will work don't resonate with his followers, and other times things that might seem fairly mundane to a farmer really interested his followers. An example of this, he said, was a video he did on onion storage, which went viral.
He said the most important part of a social media post is being genuine; don’t worry so much about being perfect, either.
“Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good — that's the first thing,” he said for advice on creating social media content. “Get over your sense of fear and that uncomfortable nature that comes in and [put] yourself out there and then just being consistent about what you produce and what you say.”
Myers said part of the reason his posts resonate is because he’s speaking about something he’s knowledgeable in and passionate about, which means he can speak easily about it. He also said it’s important for the industry to continue to use social media and other platforms to educate and inform those unfamiliar with agriculture. Myers said that growers’ reluctance to get in front of the camera is a weak spot for the industry.
“You just don't have to look far to see the challenges that we face in agriculture,” he said, pointing to the global pandemic to help people understand where their food came from. “That little boost in transparency or in understanding is quickly fading, and so we need to continue to just make an effort.”
Watch the full podcast episode in the video player embedded above.
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by Christina Herrick, Jan 24, 2025