Test results 'Social Media & smartphone use in agriculture, horticulture'

Dutch agriculture and horticulture growers are daily the most active on social media compared to their Flemish and German colleagues. 52.8% of the Dutch grower uses social media every day. Facebook is in all three countries the most commonly used media.

These are the result of a research on the usage of Social Media & smartphones in agriculture and horticulture in Flanders (Belgium), The Netherlands and Germany. About 325 Flemish, 570 Dutch and 300 German growers joined the study and answered a couple of questions about their social media use.

Presentation
Last week, AgriDirect presented the results of the online study. During this presentation, Marc Strijker and Anke van Oerle from AgriDirect discussed the trends in the social media use of the growers. They also showed how many of the growers own a smartphone and/or tablet.

Social media mainly integrated among Flemings
Most of the Flemish farmers use social media (75,4%). In The Netherlands 69.8% of the growers are active on social media and in Germany 53.4%.

Daily usage highest among Dutch growers
Although social media is mainly integrated among Flemish growers, the Dutch growers are daily more active; 52.8% of them use social media on a daily basis. In Flanders this is 44.0% and in Germany 30,1%. Facebook is in Flanders (61,3%) as well as in The Netherlands (61,3%) the most commonly used social media.

Social media for private and social use
Mainly in The Netherlands, social media is used for both private and business purposes (71,4%). When it comes to business, social media is mainly used for following growers news and to keep track of actualities about new products and machines.

Tracking suppliers via social media
Flemish farmers are most interested in following their suppliers via social media (36,0%). They're also the ones who are most open for receiving information from their suppliers via social media (44,3%).

German farmers number one in possession of smartphone and/or tablet
The percentage of growers that own a tablet or smartphone is highest in Germany (60.5%). In The Netherlands 58.6% of the growers own one of these devices and in Flanders 24.6%. 44.8% of the German growers are planning on purchasing a smartphone of tablet, followed by 36.8% of the Dutch and 24.3% of the Flemish growers.

For more information:
AgriDirect BV
Ilse Gielen: ilse@agridirect.nl
+31 (0)475 492549
www.agridirect.nl