Cattle Market Reports via Social Median with Kentucky Cattleman’s Association

As an Extension Economist focusing on livestock, beef cattle industry stakeholders are the primary clientele for my extension program. Social media continues to grow in importance as a means to reach these clientele. Plus, it is a very efficient way to reach individuals that I am unable to reach in person and frees up time and resources that allows me to better target my face-to-face programming and work on publications and other educational materials. I was fortunate to have been contacted in the spring of 2018 by the Kentucky Cattleman’s Association about being a regular contributor to their social media content. Beginning in March, they have been taping a short market review video that is used as part of their Kentucky Cattle News. On average, Kentucky Cattle News reaches 20,300 people each month and is viewed by 15,220.

In addition to including my videos in Kentucky Cattle News, my individual clips are also posted separately. These videos are seen by a large number of individuals, but there are also a significant number of people who share the information, which allows it to be further disseminated. For example, my March report (which has been out there the longest) has reached over 17,000 people, been viewed by over 8,000, and been shared 99 times. Those sharing information from my clips include farmers, county agents, stockyards, insurance companies, ag lenders, and others.  The table below shows analytics for my “stand-alone” videos, as of July 3, 2018.