Texas rancher Tucker Brown explains how he harnessed social media to promote his family’s ranching business and advocate for the beef industry during a presentation at the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association convention and trade show at the Clarion Hotel in Minot Friday, Sept. 26,.

A Texas rancher known for his social media presence told members of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association on Friday, Sept. 26, to think inside the box by embracing tradition along with technological advances to secure the future success of their businesses.

The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association has been in Minot this week for its 96th Annual Convention and Trade Show at the Clarion Hotel, featuring a number of speakers and vendors. Tucker Brown, a sixth-generation rancher from Throckmorton, Texas, explored how social media content can be used by ranchers to grow and diversify their businesses.

Brown said while he is a rancher first, most people probably know him because of his social presence, but he isn’t just some “Tik Tok cowboy.”

Brown said he believes tradition alone can’t guarantee success in the beef industry, and in some cases can hold certain family ranches back.

“The reality is, we don’t have to change. But the thing that’s true is you will have to compete with those who do,” Brown said. “When the downfall comes, we need to do more than what grandad did.”

Brown used the various technologies and products on the conventions showroom to illustrate the innovations available in the industry, saying, “Ag has never moved this fast, but it will never move this slow again.”

Brown said his social media journey and marketing began during the COVID-19 pandemic and has grown into a steady following, generating millions of views across a number of social media and networking platforms. Brown said his success was due to his focus on telling his own story, and presenting an authentic view of his family’s ranch to an audience largely removed from the agricultural experience.

“It’s a people market. You have to get to know them and have what they want to buy. But how do I get to know more people if I’m stuck at the ranch driving a truck and feeding cows? We have to spend all that time with our customers to make them friends so they’ll call us when they want to buy something,” Brown said. “Instead of spending that time with people, how do we invest that time with people? There’s a cheat code. That cheat code is social media.”

Brown’s social media content focuses on spreading awareness on topics ranging from the best way to cook beef to facts around antibiotics and hormones, but in a way, his posts are as entertaining as they are educational.

“If we don’t tell our story, someone else will, and that’s been going on for far too long,” Brown said.

Brown said this was his second time visiting North Dakota, after attending a NDSA convention his father was speaking at when he was 13 years old in 2006.

“I was being pushed out of the net. My dad was like, ‘I have some meetings, go people.’ So I have North Dakota to thank for getting me pushed out there,” Brown said.

He explained the ethos that has driven the R.A. Brown Ranch’s success came from his grandmother, and it is to “keep the ranch in the family, and the family in the ranch.” Brown said he and 14 other grandchildren are involved in the business, which is primarily focused on seed stock cattle and quarter horses.