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On "Farmtok," agriculture gets its moment in the spotlight. What would it mean if that disappeared?

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On "Farmtok," agriculture gets its moment in the spotlight. What would it mean if that disappeared?
News

News

On "Farmtok," agriculture gets its moment in the spotlight. What would it mean if that disappeared?

2025-01-22 23:32 Last Updated At:23:41

BUCYRUS, Ohio (AP) — Zoe Kent hopes people get a little joy out of her talking about farming on the Internet. In one of her latest videos, she compares pesticide application to dry shampoo. “Farming is for the girls,” she quips.

On Instagram and TikTok, under the handle “farmwithzoe,” Kent films herself putting on boots to load corn into a massive truck bed, posts memes about the price of grain and documents just about everything else about farm life from getting rocks stuck in her equipment to eating lunch on long days out in a combine.

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Zoe Kent stands inside her machine shop while editing a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent stands inside her machine shop while editing a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent edits a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent edits a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent uses a hair brush as a prop while filming a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent uses a hair brush as a prop while filming a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent poses for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent poses for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent drives back to her farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent drives back to her farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Snow blankets fields at Zoe Kent's farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Snow blankets fields at Zoe Kent's farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks back to her truck after running an errand at a local grain elevator, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks back to her truck after running an errand at a local grain elevator, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks into a machine shed, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks into a machine shed, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent prepares to create a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent prepares to create a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Now, the future of TikTok — and “Farmtok,” as some creators call the ecosystem of farm-related influencers online — has become more uncertain, thanks to a ban the U.S. government briefly implemented on TikTok over the weekend. That was followed by the new Trump administration rescinding that ban, at least for now, but farmers are all too aware that things could change, and with them, the ways that they share farm life with the rest of the world. But most say they’ll keep adapting to whatever the platforms throw their way.

“It’s building your business on rented land, if you will,” Kent said. “It’s not guaranteed to be there.”

Even before the uncertain threat to TikTok’s future, farm creators had to contend with social media’s evolution. As algorithms changed, they faced greater challenges communicating with a public that many see as increasingly disconnected from agriculture.

But most say they’ll keep adapting to whatever the platforms throw their way. Some producers make extra money by building a following on TikTok or Instagram. Others use social media to advertise to local customers like restaurants or farmers’ markets. Perhaps most importantly, they want to continue to build community with other farmers in the face of industry challenges like the toll of the profession on mental health, economic pressure and climate change.

Multiple farmers said that disconnection has grown over the years as social media algorithms have changed. “I know for a fact our social media reach is greatly diminished now,” said Beth Satterwhite, who has been posting about her small organic vegetable farm in McMinnville, Oregon on Instagram for over a decade now. “On the ground stories of people working in agriculture are a little less interesting to the consumer — I don’t know if it’s actually less interesting or just less visible,” she said.

Neil Denton, who farms corn, soybeans, wheat and rye in Barlow, Kentucky, shared a similar sentiment. He thinks that many of his over 80,000 followers on Instagram and 33,000 followers on TikTok are fellow producers, not members of the public. He calls that “disappointing" and worries about how little people know about the food that ends up on their plates.

But he does think there's a silver lining: “Farming is a lonely occupation because you’re not with a lot of coworkers,” Denton said. “I think some farmers use social media as an outlet...to be able to express yourself and to be able to feel like you’re not lonely.”

Within the farming community, it can also be useful to learn from other farmers, many producers said. Megan Dwyer, who grows corn and soybeans and raises beef cattle in northwest Illinois, uses social media, especially X and Facebook, to gauge what matters to other farmers. “It's a great source for information, especially rapid information,” she said.

However, all that rapid information does have a price. Satterwhite described a “language soup” around agriculture, saying it could be hard for an outsider to tell what farming practices are legitimately better for the climate or environment. “I see a lot of greenwashing,” said Satterwhite, referring to the practice of falsely portraying a product or practice as eco-friendly to market it to an environmentally-conscious audience.

“There’s definitely a lot of misinformation out there,” Kent said. “I try to sift out who has genuine questions versus who just already has a stance and they’re not willing to hear me out."

That's something many farming influencers agree on — that they still want a place to have the conversation.

As Dwyer put it: “You never know who you’re influencing there or or what may happen.”

Follow Melina Walling on X @MelinaWalling and Bluesky @melinawalling.bsky.social. Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram, Bluesky and X @joshuabickel.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Zoe Kent stands inside her machine shop while editing a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent stands inside her machine shop while editing a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent edits a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent edits a social media video on the TikTok app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent uses a hair brush as a prop while filming a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent uses a hair brush as a prop while filming a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent poses for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent poses for a portrait, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent drives back to her farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent drives back to her farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Snow blankets fields at Zoe Kent's farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Snow blankets fields at Zoe Kent's farm, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks back to her truck after running an errand at a local grain elevator, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks back to her truck after running an errand at a local grain elevator, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks into a machine shed, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent walks into a machine shed, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent prepares to create a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Zoe Kent prepares to create a social media video, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at her farm in Bucyrus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

MUGHRAQA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces were withdrawing from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday, Israeli officials and Hamas said, part of Israel's commitments under a tenuous ceasefire deal with Hamas that is moving ahead but faces a major test over whether the sides can negotiate its planned extension.

Israel agreed as part of the truce to remove its forces from the 4-mile (6-kilometer) Netzarim corridor, a strip of land that bisects northern Gaza from the south that Israel used as a military zone during the war.

At the start of the ceasefire last month, Israel began allowing Palestinians to cross Netzarim to head to their homes in the war-battered north, sending hundreds of thousands streaming across Gaza on foot and by car. The withdrawal of forces from the area fulfills another commitment to the deal, which paused the 15-month war.

However, the sides appear to have made little progress on negotiating the deal's second phase, which is meant to extend the truce and lead to the release of more Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sending a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the sides, but the mission included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won’t lead to a breakthrough in extending the truce. Netanyahu is also expected to convene a meeting of key Cabinet ministers this week on the second phase of the deal.

Separately on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that two women in their 20s, including one who was eight months pregnant, were fatally shot by Israeli gunfire in the northern occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been carrying out a broad operation.

Since it began on Jan. 19, the ceasefire deal has faced repeated obstacles and disagreements between the sides, underscoring its fragility. But it has held, raising hopes that the devastating war that led to seismic shifts in the Middle East may be headed toward an end.

On Sunday, cars heaped with belongings, including water tanks and suitcases, were seen heading north through a road that crosses Netzarim. Under the deal, Israel is supposed to allow the cars to cross through uninspected, and there did not appear to be troops in the vicinity of the road.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said the withdrawal showed Hamas had “forced the enemy to submit to our demands" and that it thwarted “Netanyahu’s illusion of achieving total victory.”

The Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss troop movement with the media, did not disclose how many soldiers were withdrawing. Troops currently remain along Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt and a full withdrawal is expected to be negotiated in a later stage of the truce.

During the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for a pause in fighting, freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid to war-battered Gaza. The deal also stipulates that Israeli troops will pull back from populated areas of Gaza as well as the Netzarim corridor.

In the second phase, all remaining living hostages would be released in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” But details beyond that are unclear and repeated stumbling blocks throughout the first phase and the deep mistrust between the sides have cast doubt on whether they can nail down the extension.

Israel has said it won’t agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capabilities are eliminated. Hamas says it won’t hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops from the territory.

Netanyahu meanwhile is under heavy pressure from his far-right political allies to resume the war after the first phase so that Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack on Israelis in their history, can be defeated. He is also facing pressure from Israelis who are eager to see more hostages return home and want to deal to continue, especially after the gaunt appearances of the three male captives freed on Saturday stunned the nation.

Complicating things further is a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to relocate the population of Gaza and take ownership of the Palestinian territory. Israel has expressed openness to the idea while Hamas, the Palestinians and the broader Arab world have rejected it outright.

The suggested plan is saddled with moral, legal and practical obstacles. But it may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic by Trump, to try to ratchet up pressure on Hamas or as an opening gambit in a bargaining process aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That grand deal appeared to be rattled on Sunday as Saudi Arabia condemned remarks by Netanyahu who said Palestinians could create their state in that territory.

Saudi Arabia said his remarks “aim to divert attention from the successive crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to.”

In an interview Thursday with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu said: “The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 taken hostage, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians according to local health authorities who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Vast parts of the territory have been obliterated in the fighting, leaving many Palestinians returning to damaged or destroyed homes.

Violence has surged in the West Bank throughout the war and has intensified in recent days with an Israeli military operation in the north of the territory. The shooting of the pregnant woman, Sundus Shalabi, happened in the Nur Shams urban refugee camp, a focal point of Israeli operations against Palestinian militants in the territory. The Palestinian Health Ministry said another woman, identified as Rahaf al-Ashqar, 21, was also killed there Sunday.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday the expansion of the Israeli military operation, which started in the city of Jenin several weeks ago. He said the operation was meant to prevent Iran from establishing a foothold in the occupied West Bank.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Isabel DeBre in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

An Israeli tank is loaded onto a transport truck near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli tank is loaded onto a transport truck near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli tank takes a position near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli tank takes a position near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli tanks at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli tanks at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers take positions near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers take positions near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli tank near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

An Israeli tank near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers take positions near destroyed buildings inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli soldiers take positions near destroyed buildings inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

FILE - Israeli soldiers drive near the northern Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers drive near the northern Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers wave to the camera from an APC as they cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers wave to the camera from an APC as they cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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