Livestock farmer stories, tips, and resources for success.
Choosing to Farm: New Generation Stories
1
Jan. 6, 2024

John Roberts Part 1: Falling in Love with Farming

We'd rebuilt the milking parlor, which hadn't been operating. We've done all of this sort of stuff. When we came to close the sale we had two years of numbers to show that we actually knew-vaguely knew--what we were doing. We were off and running. We were here from 1977. We’re still here. We sold the farm, and we kept 10 acres, but we farmed until 2012. John Roberts was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Verm...
Guest: John Roberts
18
Oct. 21, 2023

Cameron Pedigo Farms for the Right Reasons

“I'd watch the deer, how they would interact with the cows and turkeys and, you know, other animals. I've always been a keen observer of nature. That started young. That's kind of like the foundation. I didn't realize that's what laid the foundation, except for like, 20 years later.” Currently Cameron is the farm manager of Anchorage Farm - Registered Romneys. For the past 6 years, he’s been farming the Hudson Valley, NY, following 4 years of service in the Navy and then pursuing his bachelor...
17
Sept. 30, 2023

Chris & Samantha Kemnah Find Less Labor in Dairy

“Neither one of us came from a farm family or any kind of money in our background. We've just kind of done it on our good credit. We've leased the farms that we've been on. We are hoping to be able to buy the farm we're on now.”—Samantha Kemnah “The seasonal intensity of growing vegetables got old. My seventh year, I was like, I should quit last year. Because it was just, between the weather--the hot weather--I run hot as it is just temperature wise.--and my attitude is hot. I'm short temp...
3
April 1, 2023

Brent Beidler Chooses Not to Farm

“I am very delightfully holding on to the things that I hold dear about myself that are a part of my life as a farmer, and not integrating that into my life going forward, where I'm not commercially farming. I really appreciate being remembered, and that people still value the thoughts that I've had over these years.” After falling in love with farming as a young boy on his grandparents farm in Pennsylvania, Brent Beidler dreamed of starting his own dairy farm in Vermont. He worked on many fa...
Guest: Brent Beidler
14
April 2, 2022

Ep. 1.14 Abbie Corse

“Since coming back, it's been sort of this really challenging and interesting evolution to understand how a working mother who is not farming with her partner can take over an operation that has traditionally been run by four to six people. “ Abbie Corse grew up hating cows. She went to school for journalism and got involved with arts administration. Then she realized what a lack of seasonal work and attachment to a land base was doing to her mental health. She and her husband chose to move h...
Guest: Abbie Corse
6
Feb. 5, 2022

Ep. 1.6 Austin & Maggie Troyer

“I think for me, my pre-farming life had little experience in farming, but I think the way my parents raised me, it’s just being honest. It’s working hard and trying to build something bigger than you.”—Austin Troyer Austin and Maggie Troyer of Crossroads Land + Livestock in Ohio figured out pretty early in life what they didn’t want to do, which led them to farming right out of high school. Austin started by working on a beef ranch for several years and then out on his own with custom cattle...
1
Jan. 1, 2022

Ep 1.1 Marc & Cheryl Cesario

“I would say the overarching of all of this is actually understanding that this is a business. Right? It’s great, it’s farming, it’s pastoral. It’s all these things., but at the end of the day, this is a business and a business needs certain things to exist and function.”—Cheryl Cesario Thanks for joining our inaugural episode, featuring Marc and Cheryl Cesario of Meetingplace Pastures in Cornwall, Vermont. Marc and Cheryl have been farming at their current location since 2009, joining their ...
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