Growing up, my 10 siblings and I did chores on my family’s dairy. When I was five, I started out bottle feeding baby calves with my older sisters, Jessica, Rachel, and Roxann. Once I was tall enough to plug in milkers in our tie stall barn, I milked our cows with my parents and sisters, Emily and Annie. As I got older, my family’s farm expanded and I took on more responsibility. Before leaving for college, my older brother, Jacob, and I oversaw mixing and feeding of our total mixed ration to 2,000 lactating and dry cows.
My parents currently dairy farm and have a heifer growing operation in southwest Kansas. I have four younger brothers, Nick, John, Jack, and Joe, who are now running the show.
Growing up a dairy farmer is hard, and even though I loved it some days and hated it the others, the experience has been my greatest education. Knowing firsthand the work and commitment that goes into dairy farming, I developed a passion for communicating with others what my family and I did.
All through elementary and high school I was known as the girl who loved cows. I would invite my friends over and teach them how to milk a cow or show them a mother cow birthing her calf. In high school, I took pride in teaching 4-H and FFA students who came from different backgrounds about dairy farming, so they could compete on Dairy Quiz Bowl and judging teams.
Presently, I am a senior at Utah State University studying agricultural communications and journalism. This summer I am working with Hoard’s Dairyman as their editorial intern. I applied for this internship because I admire Hoard’s ability to stay relevant and share timely information with the dairy community.
