UK farming Twitter group wins EU Communications Award

AgrichatUK, a UK twitter group that runs weekly farming discussions, has won second place in the Innovative Communication category at the EU CAP Communications Awards in Brussels.
The group beat 118 entries and was the only UK group to make the shortlist, missing out on 1st place by just 1%. Run by the European Commission (EC), the award celebrates projects that help communicate issues and themes related to CAP.
“The awards in Brussels were a lot bigger than we imagined, with our competition being projects linked to global organisations such as WWF and Copa-Cocega,” said AgrichatUK co-founder Simon Haley.
“It was humbling to compete against such entries, but for a wholly independent and non-funded initiative, it was extremely satisfying that the AgrichatUK concept gained recognition from the European Commission.”
Charles Tassell, a top fruit farmer from Kent who also co-founded AgrichatUK, said it was satisfying to receive recognition for the time and enthusiasm the group put in.
“It is rare to have the opportunity to be involved from the start of an initiative that has the potential to reach out to such a large number of farmers and create a community spirit as well as provide a sounding board for our industry,” said Mr Tassell.
Since AgrichatUK first started in March 2012, it has run nearly 100 Twitter farming discussions on topics from water security to rural crime, mental health and CAP.
The group has grown to nearly 10,000 followers and regularly attracts between 60-150 people to its Thursday night discussions, as well as industry bodies such as the NFU, Red Tractor and government agencies, including DEFRA and UKBis. It is run by a small team with no funding and on a completely voluntary basis.