A fascinating report today from CNBC’s Kate Kelly on how farmers in the Midwest are using Twitter to update each other about crops:
Once a convenient outlet for boredom on the tractor, tweeting with fellow farmers has become a way for the participants in a far-flung and isolating business to compare notes on everything from weather conditions to new fertilizers.
The real-time information shared on Twitter has helped some farmers make important financial decisions on matters such as when it’s most advantageous to sell their crops. And surprise, surprise – who else is listening in? Commodities traders:
“A lot of time farmers are talking to other farmers and I’m sitting there listening,” says Thomas Elwood, aka @cornbroker, who trades corn and other grains on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Image: opensourceway
