SO YOU'VE heard a lot about Twitter?

Well, consider me sucked in.

Recently I signed up too.

I'd been to a conference where a social media advisor to BBC journalists advised that it was a great news gathering tool and not to be under-rated.

But how could I use it in the rural world of farmers and small country towns where relations with internet technology are soured by poor pick-up signals and an ageing population?

Were there farmers tweeting out there and what were they tweeting about and how could it help me in my work? (A tweet is a 140-character message sent from and to mobile phones and computers.

It's like sending your personal message out to an audience.)

Could it be good for farmers and country communities or would it make idiots of us all, shortening our ability to concentrate on anything longer than a 140-character tweet?

Would I bury myself in tweets and become a real life social moron?

Turns out that I'm a slow adopter.

Farmers such as Willaura grain and grass-fed beef, lamb and pork producer Anthony Kumnick (Greenvale Meats) and South Australian lucerne grower Leanne Isaacson are marketing their produce using online methods including Twitter.

Instead of hefting their stock and produce off to the saleyards or the lucerne trader, they're selling online, picking up followers by sending messages or tweets either from their phones or computers telling people about what's going on at home on their farms.

Through tweets, their followers can find their websites.

Farmers in the US are installing webcams (online cameras), so they can show their consumers what's going on at the farm.

As people get more curious about where their food comes from, a website on which they can read about and view for themselves how their food is produced, how the animals they eat are treated and the soil and water and land is looked after will be a bonus. (Sceptic's view: beware the faux farm!)

Anthony, 45, worked in the world of internet technology and still owns an IT company in Toronto.

He says Twitter is one of the internet's most powerful networking tools.

His recent tweets include one about how he was feeding 300kg of organic apples to his grass-fed pigs.

Think that's irrelevant? His followers who want to eat good healthy food don't. "It creates a happy feeling about food," he says.

Last week he tweeted that a pack of his Greenvale Meats beef would be a nice present for Father's Day.

He has 150 followers, signed up to receive his tweets.

Among them are foodies Alla Wolf-Tasker and Sarah Robins who re-tweeted his message and before he knew it a message he thought was going to a mere 150 people was reaching 1500 people at least.

Leanne tends to compile lists of mobile phone numbers and sends one message to many this way, but with hay production rising she wants more customers, so she may use Twitter to boost her marketing power.

Last year Deb Bain used Twitter to market Farm Day, (which matches farmers with visitors), to keep her host farmers and their visitors updated on matches.

"You're not going to get all your farmers through social media but the ones you do pick up this way tend to be a little bit more forward thinking," Deb says.

The message here is clear: Farmers who use Twitter well and constructively are forward thinkers.

Now let me just check my tweets to see if I've found some of them.