Hey y’all! Welcome to The Freckled FarmHer! My name is Bailey, I am a 19-year-old gal who loves Ag, oh, and I have lots of freckles! While most of my post will be educational and show you the realities of agriculture, I wanted to take the time to introduce myself first and why I created this blog.
I live in a small town in Southwest Virginia. I come from a line of agriculturists who have sparked my passion for agriculture. My family runs a small, beef cattle operation where we raise Simmental, Angus, and SimAngus cattle (If cattle isn’t your thing, I recommend looking up these breeds; the Simmental breed is one of my favorites). About 8 years ago, my Momma decided she wanted to get sheep; so now, we raise a small flock of Suffolk sheep, too!
My passion for agriculture comes from being raised in production agriculture and being involved in 4-H and FFA clubs. Throughout high school, I was involved in these clubs while playing volleyball, basketball, and softball. (Yes, I was a busy gal!) Growing up, I played on travel teams for all three sports. All of my friends wanted to play at the collegiate level, and if you know anything about sports nowadays, you HAVE to play travel to get recruited by college coaches. I was in 7th grade when my parents sat me down and asked me if I wanted to continue to play travel sports and play at the collegiate level. I knew that was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to go to Virginia Tech and pursue an agriculture degree like my parents did. And here I am, at Virginia Tech, pursuing a major in Animal and Poultry Sciences with a Livestock emphasis!
I love capturing pictures of my family’s life on the farm and other events that are happening in my life that involve agriculture. I have always wanted to start a blog to show the world the realities of agriculture and the impact it makes on ALL of our lives. I kept saying, “One day I will do it, but not today, I am too busy.” Well, one day I was talking to one of my best friends who shares the same passion for agriculture I do. I was telling her how I would like to do it, but I wasn’t sure. Let me tell you, this girl pushes me to be the best version of myself, and she told me, “Bailey…do it! If you don’t tell our story, someone else will, and that story will not be an accurate representation of what we do!” So, here I am, creating a blog and finding a way to impact the largest amount of people that I possibly can.
Here, you will be able to find educational post about agricultural issues along with behind-the-scenes posts about what happens in our industry. Additionally, I will introduce you to my family and our farm and the interesting things we do. I don’t want to always post the beautiful pictures of the cattle grazing out in our fields peacefully. I want to show you the hard work we have to do to get that peaceful picture. When it comes to farming, you have about five chaotic days to every peaceful one. I want you to see my family fighting to keep a calf alive on the coldest days of winter. Some days this calf will fight and survive, but some days, we can’t save it. But this is what I want the world to see. I don’t want to have to post the “ideal” picture just so we don’t get a bad reputation. I want you to see the reality. Farming isn’t easy. Sometimes it feels like there are more bad days than good, but let me tell you, those good days make it all worth it!
I ask that all of you take the information I post into deep consideration. I am publishing material to help you become more familiar with the agriculture industry. It often gets a bad rep, but I can promise you, it is the most sustainable and beneficial industry in the United States, and that is something nobody can argue. I am excited for this new journey, and I hope you enjoy going through it with me.
The Freckled FarmHer 