Farmers from Illinois and Nebraska started ‘Farm Hats’
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
The online farming community is showcasing just how skilful its producers truly are.
Farmers from Illinois and Nebraska created the Facebook page “Farm Hats” in 2015 to highlight the fact that farming is more than just planting and harvesting.
“A lot of farmers do their regular farming gig,” Matt Boucher, a farmer from Dwight, IL, and partial creator of the page, told Kendall County Now today. “But you’ve also got to be a welder, secretary, an accountant, an electrician, and have … that know-how just to make the farm work.”
The page currently has about 10,000 members from across the world, including Central America, Europe and Africa.
The members share photos of their farms, ask questions and offer advice about all things agriculture.
Having access to various opinions allows everyone to learn from one another, Boucher said.
“Farmers like to talk,” he told Kendall County Now. “We like to talk to other farmers about what we do and learn from that. There’s so much to learn from other farmers, as everybody does a job differently.”
The Farm Hats members are also using their platform to raise money for agricultural education.
Farmers are being encouraged to send in photos for the 2018 Farm Hats Calendar. Proceeds from the calendar are donated to Ag in the Classroom, FFA and 4-H.
“We would love to see (pictures) of you showing what makes you and your farm unique,” Boucher wrote on the Facebook page on Nov. 6. “(Farmer selfies) are encouraged, as well as scenery shots and more.”