Charlotte Ashley and Rebecca Wilson: Social media and the farming industry

Farming is often shown negatively in the mainstream media, however, it is quite the opposite when it comes to social media. Many people love farming accounts on Instagram and TikTok, even those who are not from an agricultural background. 

If you follow farming across social media, you might have come across Rebecca Wilson and Charlotte Ashley who each create content to spread positivity and show that farming can be for everyone and feel that it is a position of responsibility. She also wants to highlight that they are doing much more than producing food, they are also looking after the environment and the animals. 

Being on social media, Charlotte also believes that it brings accountability by making sure that everything is done in best practice and that the viewers can see the correct way of doing things. One of the best things Charlotte likes about farming is “being able to feed your children decent food”. She feels like she is able to feed her children higher quality food and avoids ready meals.

Putting a real farmer's view across is very much needed, bringing things from their perspective and allowing the farmers to show what work actually goes in, how important it is but also doing things correctly so it doesn’t damage the environment. 

Rebecca says that “it doesn’t matter how you got there” as no matter if you are from a farming background, or came from no experience, you will be doing the same work in the end. She also believes that although there are some people who spread negativity about farming, social media has also opened doors for many people to get help, get started, and find their way into the industry. 

Earlier this year, Charlotte and her husband Roy took the leap into dairy farming, following their dream. The couple purchased 137 Jerseys and shared the journey, everything from the cows' arrival to the construction of the new shed on social media. 

Rebecca’s family farm in North Yorkshire is a diverse operation, combining sheep farming and arable crops. They lamb around 150 ewes each year, primarily Suffolk cross ewes bred to a Beltex ram, alongside a small number of Scotch half-birds, which are mated with a Suffolk ram.