Farmers today have access to so much information about weather and farm markets, it can be easy to get lured into believing something you want to be true instead of what’s actually reality, says Ryan Martin, a meteorologist and soybean buyer for Louis Dreyfuss in Indiana.

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can provide insightful information, when they’re used properly, he says. But they can also become an echo chamber that establishes a false narrative.

"Twitter is one of these things that is as useful as you make it," says Martin. "It can be wildly entertaining."

It...