This year, the Ohio Soybean Council’s state fair booth had a few special visitors. Fourteen influencers, or social media users who have large audiences and established credibility, stopped by the booth to learn more about Ohio soybean farmers. The group has a combined social reach of 348,400 and shared at least 60 posts on social channels sharing positive information about GMOs, hormones in meat and tips to properly cook meat at home.

The influencer tour was organized by Jennifer Osterholt, who runs her own blog “Plowing Through Life” about living and working on a farm. “Offering a special event for influencers allowed OSC to maximize their checkoff investment at the Ohio State Fair by reaching thousands of people online, who weren’t able to attend the fair, with key messages about modern agriculture,” she said.

With GMO education, Osterholt wanted the influencers to learn how to approach food with critical thinking and not be afraid when they go to the grocery store. According to her blog post about the fair, Jennifer Rome of Why CLE wrote, “I typically think of fairs as being about rides, games, and fair food. While there is plenty of that at the Ohio State Fair, there is also the chance to learn
more about Ohio’s agricultural community and support the farmers.”

Another blogger, Joe from 614ortyNiner wrote, “If the consumers want it, the farmers of this state are going to do their darn best to get it out there.”