A NEW social media craze has brought business success to the door of a north Dorset farmer.

Fiona Gerardin, pictured inset, who rears Cashmere X Boer goats for organic meat on her 80-acre farm at Bere Marsh, near Blandford Forum, sells half her produce to contacts on networking site Twitter.

But she was surprised to see a picture of her and her goats in national newspapers after featuring on a website dedicated to farming selfies, or “felfies”.

“I knew the photo had been added to the site but I certainly did not expect it to get so much attention,” she said.

The “felfie” craze was reported in national newspapers and websites from around the world.

Fiona, who also runs woodland burial and wild camping sites on her land, said the popularity of “felfies” is down to farmers showing they can “have a bit of fun”.

She said: “I'm only a small farmer but people who have more than 1,000 sheep work so hard, and this and other sites like Twitter take away that seriousness. It can be quite isolating if you're on your own but, with social media, you have that connection with other people.”

Fiona was born in the area and grew up on a dairy farm.

She turned her hand to goat farming five years ago and said social media has helped her reach customers of a wider demographic.

Her advice for farmers wanting to use social media is to keep posts brief and interesting.

Follow Fiona on Twitter @BereMarshFarm or visit farmingselfies.com.