I like to say that I wasn’t born in a barn, but I got there as soon as I could. And what I really mean by this is that I wasn’t born into agriculture, but I became involved in it as soon as I could.
From the Start
As a Wisconsin girl, I’m super proud to say that my start in agriculture began on my grandparent’s dairy farm. While my parents weren’t farmers, I was lucky to have people in my family who were and I was able to experience life on the farm. Which random side note – the game Life on the Farm is one of my favs even though all my friends don’t like to play it, but I digress 
.
I would spend weekends and summers on the farm with my cousins, feeding calves, running through the mud and riding around the fields on four-wheelers. My grandpa called my cousins and I were his “boys” and we literally had the best time. When my grandpa passed away we sold the cows, but my family still owns the farm and we rent it out to a dairy farmer.
What Next?
My ag story didn’t stop when we sold the cows. My mom signed me up for the local 4-H club and I tried literally every project I possibly could – like photography, table setting (literally – I was judged on how good and creative I could make a table setting), woodworking and dairy for a few years. Then, in 8th grade, I joined our local FFA chapter. I wasn’t in an agriculture class yet, but my friend told me if I signed up to help at a field trip with her I could miss class and join FFA so yup – I did that.
FFA is what I truly call my “light bulb” moment where I was like ahhhhh the stars have aligned! In FFA and our agriculture classes I was able to do two of my favorite things – learn about agriculture and flex my gift of gab. Learning about agriculture LIGHTS MY SOUL ON FIRE. I find it so fascinating! I think for me it’s the perfect combination of science, creativity and intuition and I simply just love it.
I also was able to take my knowledge of agriculture and share it with others through field trips, presentations to younger students and more. That’s when I knew that I was meant to somehow make a career and life out of farming and talking about farming.
After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin – Madison where I studied Animal Science (business track, not pre-vet bc ya girl is not good at chemistry) and Life Sciences Communication. Again – the perfect combination of farming and talking about farming.
I graduated in May of 2020 (hahahah – yup you read that right), but the stars aligned and I started a full-time job with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin that combined my two favorites – cows and social media. I was able to work in the area of consumer trust where I used our social media channels to promote Wisconsin dairy to an in-state audience and share why dairy is so good!
Butttt, how'd ya get here?
My ag story took a turn for the best when I started dating my boyfriend, Avery in ??? (we don’t remember our anniversary – lol). Avery and his family farm which gave me the chance to be on actual farm instead of just talking about it and let me tell you – it’s my fav. My soul literally feels like it’s lit on fire when I’m outside on the farm. I feel so much more alive!!!
In May of 2022 I decided to take the big ole leap into entrepreneurship by doing freelance marketing work, spending more time on the farm and selling the beef we raise directly to consumers. Enter – Prairie Raised Beef! Right now we are selling beef locally, but I have BIG dreams to create more ways to bring people to the farm and let them experience agriculture just like I did when I was younger. I want to be the farmer friend that invites you into ag and lets you experience all the cool things about ag!
I’m happy you’re here.
Emily
