Sarah Thomas, 2019
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Sarah Thomas served as the 31st Hoard’s Dairyman editorial intern. As part of our team, Sarah contributed weekly to our HD Notebook blog, compiled the top 50 dairy co-ops list, helped prepare the 2019 World Dairy Expo supplement, wrote Farm Flashes, and prepared other articles for the magazine based on farm visits and meetings she attended.
Sarah came to us from Pittsboro, N.C. Her parents are Brenda Bullis and Donald Thomas. She has has one older brother named Logan.
Although Sarah’s first agricultural experiences were on her family’s beef cattle farm, she followed in her brother’s footsteps and began showing dairy cattle when she was 5 years old. Besides doing chores on her family’s farm, Sarah also worked at Car-J Holsteins.
At school, she is majoring in dairy science with minors in agricultural economics, communications, and Spanish. Beyond her class work, Sarah keeps busy with many extracurriculars. She served as president for the Sigma Alpha-Pi Chapter, vice president for the Virginia Tech Dairy Club, and secretary for the Young Farmers chapter. Last fall, she was a member of the Virginia Tech dairy judging team that placed second at the intercollegiate contest at World Dairy Expo. Beyond campus, she served as an area representative for the National Junior Holstein Association, and she was that group’s chairperson for the 2019 National Holstein Convention. She also works at Southern States, a feed and seed cooperative, as a cashier and animal health consultant. Last summer, she interned at Harvue Farms in Berryville, Va.
After graduating from Jordan-Matthews High School, Sarah chose to further her education. She just completed her junior year at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in the dairy industry, hopefully supporting youth. She would also like to maintain her own herd of show cattle.
