The Twitter25 of 2016

It can be hard to know what makes a good Twitter account. Is a good Twitter account one that tweets daily? Is it an account that’s witty and engages with its followers? Or is it one that values quality over quantity?

However, the truth is that there isn’t one type of Twitter account that is better than others. What matters in the Twitterverse is tweeting in a way that is both genuine and beneficial to your audience. That also means trying a few different styles out before finding the one that fits you and your company best.

To develop your Twitter identity, it’s wise to learn as much you can by checking out other accounts, picking out best practices you like, and then adapting them into your own style that reflects your company’s voice and values.

To help, Greenhouse Management has assembled 25 of the best Twitter accounts- from growers, to breeders, to associations and universities- for you to follow and/or use to gather ideas. Our Twitter25 accounts are grouped by category and listed in no particular order.

Be sure to join the conversation on Twitter by following #Twitter25 and tweeting your thoughts on our picks.

On behalf of the Greenhouse Management team and Nufarm, congratulations to all 2016 Twitter25 honorees!

1. Lufa Farms: @lufafarms

Who they are: A urban rooftop greenhouse located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Why they made the list: Lula Farms incorporates photos of peaches, plums and other fruits via Instagram.

2. Green Valley Garden Center: @greenvalleygc

Who they are: A full-service garden center located in the north suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Why they made the list: They utilize Twitter to cross-promote their other social platforms like Pinterest and Facebook to increase their social footprint. 

3. Gotham Greens: @gothamgreens

Who they are: Gotham Greens is an urban agriculture company focused on growing high quality, local produce year round.

Why made the list: The rooftop hydroponic grower stands out by making witty and timely pop culture references. For example, they recently re-worked the children’s book ‘Cloudy with a chance of meatballs’ into a tweet.

4. Glover Nursery: @glovernursey

Who they are: Glover Nursery is a nursery based in Texas that focuses on yard and garden needs.

Why they made the list: Glover effectively implements hashtags like “fairygarden” and posts photos of their products to encourage sharing.

5. Grow Ag Leaders - @growagleaders

Who they are: An account with the sole purpose of interacting with students, farmers and educators.

Why they made the list: They regularly tweet links and spark conversation about important topics like food sustainability.

6. Daniel Cunningham - @TXPlantGuy

Who he is: A horticulturist at AgriLife Water, part of the Texas A&M AgriLife research and extension center Dallas.

Why they made the list: Daniel shares the latest industry news and trends, and also makes great plant puns.

7. Alan Windham - @UTPlantDoc

Who he is: A professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee’s extension.

Why they made the list: Alan’s tweets use vivid photos to help him explain disease topics in 140 characters or less. 

8. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service - @txextension

Who they are: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service offers university-based education to the public at large.

Why they made the list: AgriLife shares practical how-to posts that the public at large can easily digest. 

9. Nufarm Greenhouse & Nursery - @NufarmUS-GHN

Who they are: Nufarm’s greenhouse and nursery operation.

Why they made the list: Nufarm harnesses Twitter to share details about its products, including colorful and easy-to-read infographics,  as well as other industry-relevant news and discoveries. 

10. Oklahoma State Division of Agricultural sciences - @okstate_ag

Who they are: Oklahoma State’s division of agricultural sciences and natural resources.

Why they made the list: This service-oriented Twitter account shares disease info, such as phytophthora blight and how it can affect crops, to facts about emerging trends like changes to nutrition labels, to community-supporting posts, like its fundraising for the local 4H club. 

11. Bill Evans - @npkveg

Who he is: A vegetable and horticulture researcher at Mississippi State University.

Why they made the list: Bill caters to his Mississippi-centric audience by sharing new university research and photos from his state-wide travels. 

12. Bright Agrotech - @BrightAgrotech 

Who they are: A Wyoming-based company that partners with farmers to help them grow hydroponic vegetables. 

Why they made the list: Bright Agrotech helps farmers with education services of topics - from irrigation, to hydroponic substrate selection, to its own ZipGrow products - through catchy tweets and original infographics. 

13. Ag Funder - @AGFunder

Who they are: An account that crowd-sources agriculture and agriculture tech investment opportunities.

Why they made the list: AGFunder shares information about investments that isn’t found anywhere else, along with information about successful start-ups and consumer trends and preferences. 

14. Jimmy Turner - @TexanInOz

Who they are: A Texas native who now works at the Royal Botanical Garden in Sydney, Australia.

Why they made the list: Jimmy helps expand its following's plant ID by tweeting photos of beautiful, unusual plants. 

15. Ron Wolford - @urbangarden

Who they are: A veteran horticultural educator at the University of Illinois Chicago Extension.

Why they made the list: Ron is all about sharing offbeat and interesting news -- from where plants go after the Chelsea Flower Show, to how much vegetable oil Americans consume, to research findings about cockroach milk. 

16. Suntech Greenhouses - @suntechGH  

Who they are: A greenhouse growing year-round in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Why they made the list: SunTech promotes its #OttowaGrown veggies from high-res close-up photos of its varieties to fun recipes they can be included in. 

17.  Phipps Conservatory - @PhippsNews

Who they are: A conservatory located in Pittsburgh, Penn. that hosts several ongoing exhibits and exhibitions.

Why they made the list: They keep their followers in the loop by using crisp, high-res photos and story links about what’s happening at the conservatory.

18. Galactic Farms - @galacticfarms 

Who they are: An urban farming operation in Montana that has branded itself as a futuristic company.

Why they made the list: Galactic Farms uses a Sci-Fi theme to promote its products and share news about sustainability and food growing in outer space. 

19.  Urban Plant Life - @urbanplantlife

Who they are: The only garden center in Dublin proper.

Why they made the list: They tweet out daily plant facts about everything from the strength of bamboo, to why floral blooms have patterns, to which plants can provide you with Vitamin D. 

20. Brie Arthur - @BriePlantLady

Who she is: A gardener with a passion for suburban foodscaping, sustainable landscape design and social media.

Why she made the list: Brie uses her Twitter to share horticulture finds from her travel and sparking conversation with trending hashtags. 

21. Greenstock Nurseries - @GreenstockOK  

Who they are: A nursery located in Oklahoma that prides itself on sourcing local products.

Why they made the list: Their floral-filled Twitter feed announces promotions, to recipes with their herb products as well as vivid, colorful photos of their annual and perennial plants. 

22. Local Roots NYC - @LocalRootsNYC

Who they are: Local Roots NYC connects New York City with fresh, organic produce grown at local farms.

Why they made the list: They show love to their fellow CSA members and use Instagram to share photos of their newest products.

23. Green Acres Nursery - @idiggreenacres  

Who they are: A garden center in Sacramento, California.

Why they made it: They share updates daily, offer garden advice and promote their own events such as succulents workshops and "veggie troubleshooting." 

24. Soilborn Farms - @soilbornfarms

Who they are: A non-profit urban farm and education operation that hopes to make food more accessible.

Why they made it: They share mouth-watering recipes, as well as local workshop info and trending articles about topics like food waste and preservation tips. 

25. Organic Valley - @organicvalley  

Who they are: A co-op of family farmers in Wisconsin.

Why they made it: They understand the marketing power of personal touches, including people in almost every photo they share, making them relatable to their followers.