I took the plunge last week and joined Pinterest. I know, I’m behind the social media curve, but I wanted to see what it was all about. Confession: I’m already addicted.

If you’re like me and just breaking into the Pinterest scene, here’s a little background. The website was started in 2009 as a place to virtually bookmark things you like, similar to an online scrapbook of personally selected items. This includes items you can buy online (think: clothes, shoes, electronics, household goods), along with recipes, fitness instructions, event-planning ideas, thrifty tips … the list of items is endless. Each item has a photo and a description, which you can catalog however you want. The site continues to grow in popularity, touting 3.3 million unique users and 421 million page views in October 2011.

As I began my Pinterest journey I carefully admired friends’ boards and created my own galleries of thrifty do-it-yourself projects, inspiring quotes, healthy recipes, exercise tips and travel plans.

And then I realized there a vacant spot in my interests: agriculture. This got me thinking, “Is agriculture keeping pace with Pinterest?”

After some searching for some basic ag terms—including “agriculture,” “farmer,” “farming,” “livestock” and “food”—here’s what I found:

• Few pins exist directly related to production agriculture. Few pins related to the process of raising and harvesting today’s food, fuel and fiber were on the site. I was able to find a few ranchers and their pins of the animals and their day-to-day work. However, the vast majority of pins under these topics focused on urban farming, organic food production and the new age food revolution.
• Food is the common ground between Pinterest and the ag industry. The amount of information about food—selecting the right foods, preparing meals and enjoying the feast—has expanded exponentially on Pinterest. Just logging in, 11 of the first 20 pins are related to eating. Therein lies the gap and the opportunity: connecting the process to the bountiful food on the table.
• There’s an opportunity to close the gap. Pinterest is a great place to showcase what farming is about. Even one photo a week highlighting how farmers care for animals and provide a safe food supply can promote agriculture to Pinterest users.

If you’re a Pinterest user, help further agriculture’s reach to this growing and interactive audience. If you’re new to Pinterest (or have never heard of it) take a look around at all of the items the networking site has to offer. While there’s so much more than agriculture, it’s another way to tell our story where consumers are congregating.