Voices for Agriculture: Derrick Josi

Fourth-generation farmer Derrick Josi, 41, likes to share several times a day what his life is like in Tillamook, Oregon, at the Wilsonview Dairy that he runs in partnership with his wife, Jaycee, and parents, Don and Desi Josi. The family milks 850 cows but will expand to 1,100 by the end of 2024.

He shares unfiltered and honest messages to defend farming, as well as show how a dairy operates, and to explain or answer questions about ag practices or issues. They reach more than 200 million people annually through his TDF Honest Farming content on a website and social media accounts, in speeches and in a book, "An Industry Worth Fighting For."

The majority of Josi's audience is "definitely urban people," he notes. They're split 50/50 in gender; the largest age category is 25-54. He has 700,000 U.S. followers coast-to-coast. His international followers reside on several continents -- with 42,000 in Canada and 20,000 in Brazil. As of the end of June 2024, he has 1.1 million followers on Facebook. "Last month, I reached 35 million people in one month," Josi says. He has 100,000 followers on Instagram, 20,000 on social platform X, and 15,000 on YouTube.

"I used to stress all the time about algorithms," he adds, but now he just focuses on posting his usual farm routine. "You can't show every single thing to your audience." But he is learning what they like. "Shorter do better than long form," he says. For example, a 67-second video he posted June 10 reached 30.1 million views by July 1.

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-- https://tdfhonestfarming.com/…

-- You may email Elaine at elaine.shein@dtn.com, or reach her on social platform X @elaineshein or call 402-214-8531

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