Andrea Flemming, aka @thatfitagvocate, is our Influencer
A fifth generation farmer in rural Minnesota, Andrea Flemming didn’t start out with the intention to become an ‘agfluencer’. Sharing her journey as she joined the family farm while being a CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) focused on building the necessary strength to work in a physical industry under “Thatfitagvocate” proved to be just the content people needed. Today, her social media accounts boast tens of thousands of followers.
Hi Andrea! Please introduce yourself!
Hello! I’m Andrea Flemming, otherwise known as ‘That Fit Agvocate’ as I share online. I’m from rural southwest Minnesota and live on an acreage just a few minutes from the farm I grew up on. I am blessed to farm with my family daily on our cow/calf, feedlot and row crop operation as well as run my own business involved in content creation, personal training, business consulting and public speaking.
I grew up on my family’s farm and I am the fifth generation! I was feeding bottle calves before I could even walk as a toddler. It’s my first love and I’m honoured to be so involved in the industry.
Tell us more about your geographical location and how it influences farming.
In southwest Minnesota, it’s the land of rocks, cows and flat land. We don’t have many trees other than around farms or acreages. There are some small hills, but it’s generally really flat and because of that, we have a lot of wind on a regular basis. It’s a very rural area, but we do live about an hour from a larger city. If you drive around, you’ll see a lot of fields of corn and soybeans, hog barns and feedlots. There are small pastures where the creek or river bottom land is, but otherwise everything that is tillable has been turned into farm acres. I love that I live rurally, but also appreciate being close to a city for essentials! It’s nice to be far enough away that we do not deal with heavy regulation or the city growing in our backyard.
When did you decide to share online about agriculture, and why this decision?
I didn’t intentionally set out to do what I do now. I started sharing my fitness journey online to hold myself accountable. At the same time, I had failed to get into veterinary school and was feeling really lost. I ended up purchasing some bred heifers that last spring of college and would go home on the weekends to help calve. As I was home, I would share some snippets and received a lot of questions and feedback. I always knew the disconnect between consumers and producers was real, but I had no idea how much of a big issue it was, even outside of the larger cities. From there, I started sharing more about agriculture and sharing day to day farm life. I found a passion and I slowly found myself and my voice again after some mental health struggles. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else now!
What are your online sharing style and your goal in sharing about agriculture on social media?
I’ve been sharing online since 2018, so things have changed some throughout the past 7+ years, but sharing agriculture is still at the forefront of everything I do. It’s easy to want to throw facts, data and information out there to try and convince consumers that what we do is right. However, I’d rather SHOW them what we do on a day-to-day basis. I really enjoy ‘day in the life’ style content and I think it can do a great job of advocating for agriculture because of it being such a casual glimpse into what farmers and ranchers do on a daily basis. I’m not here to convince people of what we do, I’d rather show them how much we care, how hard we work and how incredible the industry is — and let them make their own opinions from there. I’ve always made my page a place that’s open for questions and conversations too. I’m not afraid to ruffle some feathers or talk about uncomfortable or hard topics!
How do you respond to negative comments or perception towards agriculture in your comment sections?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we can’t convince everyone. I focus on what is called the ‘moveable middle’ when I’m sharing content. I’m never going to convince the loud and crazy animal activists of anything, nor will I speak to the ‘we’ve always done it this way farmer/rancher’ online. I focus on the middle. The ordinary people who are curious. The ordinary people who are open to learning and asking questions. Those are my people. I will not add attention to any far-fetched content as it only boosts the algorithm for them, but I will stand up in my own comments or on content that is good for the industry to boost that and get the real facts out there! It’s always better to create something off of bad content that’s turned correct than add to already bad content that’s circulating.
“Women in agriculture have been around for generations, but it’s become much more apparent and loud with the latest generation and the world of social media”
Do you feel you have changed the way people see agriculture because of what you shared? What are some positive comments and reactions you got from your audience?
I’ve had so many great conversations over the past 7 years, which makes it all so worth it. I remember the first comment I had about labelling on meat and dairy at the grocery store with a single mom in my DMs. She had always ‘seen online’ that the only safe meat or dairy at the grocery store was the stuff with all the fancy labels. Things like all natural, organic, non-GMO, hormone free, antibiotic free, etc. However, as a single mom, she struggles to be able to afford some of that to feed her family. I had recently made a reel about food labelling and how some of it is all marketing to make more money off products.
Do you notice differences in perception towards women (compared to men) in agriculture or online? How do you handle those? What could be done to get to more equality?
99% of the time, no. Unfortunately it’s the rare ones that seem to be the loudest in our heads and world. Women in agriculture have been around for generations, but it’s become much more apparent and loud with the latest generation and the world of social media. I think there’s value in showing up and standing up for ourselves, while also working alongside men with no issues or dramatics. Majority of the time, there isn’t an issue. However, when there is, I think it’s really important to bring it to light and discuss it, which is what I do on my platform. I’m all about showcasing what we as women bring to the table, but also how we fit in right alongside men in day-to-day life.
If you could give young women who dream of a career in agriculture a piece of advice, what would it be?
Get out there and experience things that peak your interest, even if they’re terrifying and out of your comfort zone! You’ll never know if you don’t just go for it!
If you could give other people in ag who want to share about their work online a piece of advice, what would that be?
You have a voice and it deserves to be heard. For far too long, we let the wrong person share the ‘story’ of agriculture and it wasn’t the correct story. We have work to do to advocate for our industry and your voice can make a huge impact!
You can follow @thatfitagvocate
This article was published in the summer issue of Women in Ag Magazine.
