The Government's country-side department, Defra, is monitoring social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to help tackle badger cull protests.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is seen as being at the forefront of so-called "horizon scanning" software, which gains "early warning" of public protests.
Other Whitehall departments have been encouraged to use the tactic, which was revealed in the Government's communication plan for this year.
But a Defra spokesman made clear the department is completely transparent about the technology it uses. It said it adopts communications techniques used by many public relations companies to engage with people.
Two pilot badger culls have been given permission to start in the South West this month as part of a policy to curb the spread of TB in cows, which is rife in the region. The culls have divided the community.
Defra is also monitoring Interent traffic from farmers in the Westcountry who might be planning dairy depot protests. A number were heavily involved in protests against the tumbling price of milk paid by processors and supermarkets.
In July last year, about 100 farmers descended on the Robert Wiseman Dairy in Bridgwater as part of a group blockade in protest at dramatic reductions in milk prices.
In the communication plan, Defra is indentified as a "centre of excellence" for its use of horizon-scanning software, a technique more often deployed in the private sector as companies attempt to protect their brands against online backlashes.
The document reads: "Defra... uses social analytics to act as an early warning of emerging issues (anti-badger culling demonstrations, public farmer protests) that affect the Department by reporting on social network discussions and hot topics in real time so that the communications team can respond quickly.
"Insight from this scanning has enabled effective low-cost, high-impact campaigns, for example more than 24 million followers across communities and stakeholders on a day-long forestry tweetathon, and an innovative take on ministerial announcements with #chipmydog."
Defra's "incident response team" also uses the software, which is developed with commercial partner Gorkana, to "ensure that the right information (floods, horsemeat, disease outbreaks) is delivered to targeted audiences quickly and effectively".
It goes on: "The need to prevent public panic during incidents and emergencies (food shortages, flood evacuations) is high on Defra's agenda, and so their social media monitoring has been crafted to meet exacting standards."