FarmHouse

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're welcoming in Jane Kaminski.

Kaminski, along with her husband, operates John-Paul's Farm in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, where they grow vegetables, small grains and hay, as well as raising laying hens.

Kaminski is also a Land Advocacy Fellow with the National Young Farmers Coalition.

While she had agricultural experiences growing up, a lack of land made it seem like farming was not a viable career path.

"It always seemed like more of a dream to me, and not something that I was able to really obtain," Kaminski said. "It wasn't really until I had a clear land access opportunity that I was able to dive in and start farming."

Kaminski's husband, John-Paul Runyan, co-owns their farmland with other members of the Runyan family, and Kaminski and Runyan operate the farm.

While Kaminski and her husband had their own struggles securing their access to the family land, she said she knows she comes from a place of privilege, having access at all.

"Land access has been a systemic issue for a long, long time," she said. "In an effort to improve access to land, policy is really what we need to help make those shifts."

A policy Kaminski is hoping to see in the upcoming Farm Bill is the The Land Access, Security and Opportunities Act, which is a bipartisan act that could help provide funding to help farmers and ranchers afford and acquire land.

Kaminski has traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the LASO act with the Young Farmers.

"It has made some progress, but there isn't a true, clear path for it making it into the Farm Bill," Kaminski said. "I do think that it would be a great time — especially as we're seeing some more movement on the Farm Bill — to really advocate for it if this is something that speaks to you."

While farming is a difficult job, Kaminski said it is also a rewarding one, and one that many young people do want to be involved in.

"I hear time and time again, especially from elders, that young people don't want to farm. Young people don't want to work hard. And I completely disagree with that," she said. "People do want to work. People just want to be able to make their way in the world. It's a really challenging thing to try and farm. If you don't have access to land or access to capital or access to markets to actually get going, that's a huge barrier."

For Kaminski herself, it took a little bit of time for her to recognize that she truly was a farmer and to feel like she was supposed to part of the agriculture community.

"There's a little bit of an elephant in the room, in that my farm's name — that I decided to name — is called John-Paul's Farm. That's my husband's male name," Kaminski said. "Being a woman in ag to me, I think has been about learning how capable I am and how much I truly belong in the field of farming."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking to Lacie Evans, a beef cattle farmer and social media influencer whose videos about life with her cows have attracted 2.5 million followers on TikTok and over 600,000 followers on Instagram.

Evans' ag journey began with youth beef cattle showing. After aging out, she turned to breeding cattle for children interested in showing. Eventually, she found her way to TikTok, which she initially joined without any plan to create content.

After a video of Evans and her cow, Snow, went viral, she realized there was an audience for cute cows and her unique comedic insights on life with animals. She has been creating popular videos featuring her cows and the family farm ever since.

But it's not all jokes and adorable animals. Evans uses her platform educate her audience on agriculture and dispel misinformation about farming.

"I like to do this thing where I make learning fun and I also am like, look at these super fluffy cows that are so well treated by me," Evans said. "Then I'm like, let's learn about the ag industry though also, because a lot of farmers treat their cows like this."

Her message through social media has been effective. People reference her videos in online forums where agriculture and animal welfare are debated.

While she is proud that her efforts to entertain and educate have landed well with an adult audience, her younger fans have a special place in her heart.

"The first comment that ever made me bawl like a little baby, it was (from) a mom. And she said, I let my 9 and 11-year-old daughters watch your videos religiously because you show them that they can do anything," Evans said. "I don't really see the impact until I have moms reach out to me like that, or until I had one girl dress up as Farmer Lacie for Halloween."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we welcome Christa Barfield, a Philadelphia-based produce farmer who owns FarmerJawn, the largest Black woman-owned regenerative organic produce farm in the U.S.

Barfield farms 128-acres in multiple locations in and around the city. The farm's focus is on five key areas: production, access, education, awareness and lifestyle.

"It really all connects," Barfield said. "It's about how we build a food system that makes sense for people."

Barfield, a Philadelphia native, took inspiration from the city in the farm's creation and name.

Jawn is Philly-area slang term that can be used in place of any noun.

"It was a love story first to my city," Barfield said. "And to that anybody can farm, because people that look like me typically aren't the farmers."

Barfield's experience working in the healthcare industry helped lead her to agriculture. She wanted people from urban communities to have better access to fresh, healthy food.

"This was really going to be a reincarnation of my healthcare career because of all the health disparities in our communities where food is scarce and food lacks nutrition," Barfield said. "And that is what I wanted to see changed and impacted."

One way Barfield is hoping to increase access to healthy food is through her soon-to-be opening CornerJawn, which is a play on the popular corner stores in cities.

The first CornerJawn is slated to open this summer in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, which Barfield said is the unhealthiest section of the city.

"No matter what walk of life you come from, you still deserve good, delicious food," Barfield said. "And we have it for you."

When it comes to unhealthiness in urban communities, Barfield said much of it boils down to a lack of education, which is something that FarmerJawn works to provide.

FarmerJawn has programs for students of all ages — from elementary school to college — held both on the farm and in the classroom.

These programs are hands-on in order to give students real agricultural experience and knowledge.

"A lot of people that live in urban communities never thought that they would put their hands in soil," Barfield said. "If you don't want to be a farmer, that's perfectly fine, but FarmerJawn is about people understanding that if you don't farm, at least you know who your farmer is."

A phrase that Barfield uses often in her work is "agriculture is the culture."

She uses this phrase to highlight that everyone has agriculture somewhere in their history, regardless of color or culture.

"Agriculture is a part of all of our backgrounds," Barfield said. "I think about how people don't understand that agriculture is responsible for not only what you eat, also for what you're drinking, and then also the houses that you live in and the clothes that you're wearing. 'Agriculture is the culture' is a reminder to folks that you could not operate in your daily lives without a farmer, and you should thank a farmer every single day."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we talk with Laura Zoeller, owner of a calf-cow operation in Western Pennsylvania.

Zoeller's road to farming has been an emotional one with unexpected twists and turns. She grew up on a dairy farm, but said she truly got into agriculture after meeting her late husband, a calf-cow farmer, with whom she had two daughters and a son.

Throughout their marriage, Zoeller assisted her husband in the barn while maintaining a full-time off-farm job.

Everything changed in 2021 when her husband died. Zoeller and her son were suddenly left with the emotionally and physically demanding job of keeping the farm going.

"Everything that I'm touching is something that we built together," Zoeller said. "We built it into something, and there's the fear of losing what he spent his life building for us."

Zoeller and her son quickly realized they had a lot to learn, but committed themselves to the task of keeping the farm running. Working together and frequently learning on the job, the two of them have wrestled with runaway cows and taught themselves how to bale hay.

Along the way, Zoeller has found support from the farming community and has been touched by the willingness of her neighbors to step up when she needs a helping hand.

"Sometimes farming can feel like you're alone in the trenches, but you're really not," she said. "(Farmers) know that we're better together. We're able to help one another and be safe and be successful in an industry that already beats us down so much."

Though it's been challenging balancing her farm work with her off-farm job, Zoeller has been able to find the joy in maintaining her cow-calf operation and said it has shaped her into a more resilient person, even if it wasn't what she saw for herself.

"I have found that I am stronger than I thought I was. I'm more capable in a lot of ways than I thought I was," she said. "I would 100% hands down choose to be the farmer's wife if given the option."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we talk with Sarah Mitchell, an industrial hemp sales specialist with King's AgriSeeds.

Mitchell initially studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin and worked in the greenhouse industry.

Working with industrial hemp farmers was new for her, but the industry has turned out to be a good fit.

"Really, we're at the birth of a brand new industry, which for me, it suits my personality perfectly," Mitchell said. "There is a lot of investigative work that has to be done. You need to talk to a lot of people, different types of people. And I find people really interesting. I often say, I don't know what I like better, people or plants."

But as a new industry, there can often be struggles with a lack of understanding, a common one being people not realizing the difference between hemp and marijuana.

Mitchell works with farmers growing industrial hemp in a way that doesn't look too different from other agricultural crops, planting crops in rows and harvesting with a combine.

"That part is traditional agriculture, and that is what industrial hemp is," Mitchell said.

While hemp is Mitchell's current specialty, she's also spent years working in greenhouse production, and has seen a lot of technological advancements over the years leading to fully automated planting and growing processes.

"Greenhouse production is really about precision," Mitchell said. "It's really remarkable all the precision that is happening in the horticulture field."

Her expertise doesn't stop there. Mitchell also has a background in specialty fertilizers, and works with her farmers to make sure they get the complicated balance of fertilizing correct.

Similarly with hemp, fertilizer is another aspect of agriculture where Mitchell sees some disconnect between public perception and actual uses.

"The connotation that people have is that it pollutes our waterways," Mitchell said. "So what I would like the general public to understand about fertilizer is just that farmers aren't pouring it on. They are really being as judicious as possible with this expensive resource in order that they use it in the right way."

In this episode Mitchell also shares insights about the world that lives in the soil beneath our feet, the importance of forecrops and cover crops, and some of the many unexpected ways industrial hemp can be used. She also reflects on how her career path has perfectly suited her personality.

"I think being a woman in ag really can nurture your soul," Mitchell said. "Being involved with people and plants, for me, is just the best of both worlds."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking to Danielle Wainwright, owner of Clover Valley Farm in Vincentown, New Jersey.

Wainwright and her husband raise Angus and Wagyu beef and chicken, and also run The Point Market where they sell directly to consumers.

One of the challenges of selling local beef in New Jersey, Wainwright said, is that there are no USDA-inspected butchers in the state. Every other month, she makes the two-hour trip to her processor in Pennsylvania.

"There's so many USDA grants that they're trying to take advantage of, but it's finding the land, townships not wanting a butcher shop or a slaughter," Wainwright said. "There are all these buzzwords. 'Oh, I don't want that in our town.'"

Despite these challenges, Wainwright said her community has been supportive, giving her plenty of encouragement to keep providing local, farm fresh products to her customers.

Wainwright is also the chair of the New Jersey Farm Bureau Women's Leadership Committee and the president of the Burlington County Board of Ag Women's Committee.

Both committees advocate for farmers and educate the public while providing resources and support for women involved in agriculture.

While working with these committees, Wainwright has observed a steady increase in the number of women interested in ag and a shift in women who may have previously called themselves "farm wives" now calling themselves "farmers."

"Farm women are seeing what other farm women are doing and that go-to spirit and (think) 'Hey, if they're doing it, I can do it,'" she said.

Times are changing, she said while discussing what it means to be a woman in agriculture.

"We can do it. We can make these hard decisions," she said. "This male-dominated industry is maybe cracking a little bit and letting us in there and showing that we can do it, and it's an awesome time. I'm very proud to be a woman, and I'm proud to be a farmer."

This week's episode of Lancaster Farming's podcast, FarmHouse, is extra special.

Our latest episode features a roundtable discussion about the reality dating show "Farmer Wants a Wife."

Each week, members of our Lancaster Farming news team watch the show and provide commentary about each episode both on our website and on our TikTok page.

Our "Farmer Wants a Wife" coverage team came together on the podcast to discuss the show, from whether the women are cut out for farm life to which of the farms we would most want to work on.

The dating show, which is in its second season, airs Thursdays on Fox at 9 p.m. and also streams on Hulu.

Six episodes have been released so far, averaging 1.8 million viewers weekly.

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're taking a road trip to speak with attendees of the 2024 Women in Agriculture Conference in Stevensville, Maryland.

Hosts Stephanie Speicher and Candice Wierzbowski joined women from across the Mid-Atlantic as they gathered to discuss current agricultural issues and bond over what it means to work in a field that is often male-dominated.

Over the course of the day, Speicher and Wierzbowski interviewed multiple women, from beekeepers to Extension agents to chicken farmers. The attendees shared their personal farming histories, what they were currently working on and what being a woman in ag means to them.

"I have always been in the dirt. I have always been that person who was the rock collector, the bug finder, the caterpillar holder. I've always been in ag in some form or fashion," said Liza Goetz, a flower farmer, reflecting on how she found her way into agriculture.

Sophie Brauns of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission talked about opportunity.

"People — consumers — are starting to ask questions about where their food comes from. More than I think I've ever experienced," she said. "That's really exciting to me, because that means that farmers are going to be highlighted more."

When asked what it means to be a woman in ag, attendees' answers, which can be heard in full throughout this episode, were wide ranging.

"To be a woman in ag, it's about standing up in a room full of men sometimes and just saying we're equal and 'Yeah, I'm here,'" said beekeeper Lauren Pascarella.

"I think that women in agriculture have different responsibilities and roles than men in agriculture," said Julianna Burns of the Maryland Department of Agriculture. "I think a lot of being a woman in agriculture is also taking care of people."

Or, as seed product development specialist Laken Bankert put it succinctly: "It means I'm awesome."

This week we're keeping it in the FarmHouse and talking with Taylor Pool who, on top of being a farmer, works on the sales team here at Lancaster Farming.

Pool is part owner-operator at Fantasyland Holsteins in Berks County, Pennsylvania. She farms with her mom, dad and sister.

In addition to the dairy herd, the Pools also have a herd of Wagyu beef cattle.

"We chose Wagyu for diversity," Pool said. "To try something different and to branch out to a different commodity."

She also works a part-time, off-farm job as a hairstylist.

"It's definitely a delicate balance," Pool said. "But we have made it work."

But farming is always on Pool's mind regardless of what job she is doing. She makes a point to keep photos of her cows at the salon to help foster conversation with her clients.

"I have a huge passion for talking to consumers and educating the public," she said. "And when you have somebody in your chair, you're one-on-one with them and it's fun and great to be able to educate them."

Pool also advocates to consumers by helping with the fair queen program at the Berks County Fair. As a former fair queen and dairy princess, she knows the passion that these young people have for the agriculture industry.

"It's more than just the pretty crown and sash," Pool said. "They do it because they love it, and it's their way of getting out into the public eye and talking to people of all ages."

This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking to Krystal Snyder, a Penn State Extension educator who specializes in horticulture and floriculture.

Snyder works at the Penn State trial gardens in Manheim, Pennsylvania, where she and her team trial thousands of plant varieties every year to see how they'll perform in the Mid-Atlantic region.

This year's trial plants are due to start arriving soon, and Snyder discusses some of the varieties she's excited about, including larger-than-average Colocasia, or elephant ears, and a sized-down version of Joe Pye weed that's more manageable for smaller gardens.

Snyder also digs into some changing plant trends, like the practice of moving houseplants outside for the warmer months or the fact that certain staples of home gardens or potted plants tend to fall in and out of fashion.

"Our parents and our grandparents had always bought geraniums for their front porch," she said, citing one example. "When I walk around our neighborhood, I see people with pots on their porches or plants in their gardens, but I don't see geraniums that much anymore. And I've seen that trend of breeders not pushing out as many geraniums now."

Snyder also speaks about hydroponic farming and gardening. While she has her doubts about large-scale vertical farming and its ability to disrupt the current market, she's still excited about what it could mean for smaller operations and home growers.

"Lettuce, hydroponically, you can grow in six weeks and if you have a continuous cycle going, you can support a lot of restaurants and a lot of businesses very, very fast," she said.

Snyder's enthusiasm for floriculture and horticulture is something she hopes to pass on to future generations of women.

"I just hope that I can be a better mentor to these young females coming in than my guy mentors were to me. Not that they weren't fabulous, but they don't always get what it's like to be a woman," she said, recalling her early career.

"So, (I'm) showing this younger generation that it is possible and it's OK to be the only girl at the table. And it's OK to be a little loud about it, too."