FarmHouse

This week on the FarmHouse, we're talking to Becky Collins Brooks, a farmer and cheesemaker in the Catskills region of New York.

Collins Brooks and her husband own Hilltop Farm, a Wagyu beef operation and micro dairy. She uses milk from her herd to make her own cheeses.

Additionally, Collins Brooks helped organize the Meeting of the Milkmaids, a gathering of female cheesemakers.

The herds at Hilltop are closed herds, meaning that all of the cattle on the farm are bred there, and no outside animals are brought in.

"It's very important to us to keep tight control over the genetics in that Wagyu herd," she said.

Having closed herds also helps with biosecurity to keep any potential diseases off of the farm.

"We've invested years in breeding this herd into what we really want it to be," Collins Brooks said.

While Hilltop Farm is primarily a beef operation, the dairy aspect of the farm — particularly the cheesemaking — is still very important.

Collins Brooks began making cheese with her husband as a date night activity. This inspired her to take a cheesemaking short course through Penn State.

"I say to a lot of people that was life changing," she said.

The love of cheese is what inspired Collins Brooks to organize the Meeting of the Milkmaids.

Along with a team of fellow women cheesemakers, Collins Brooks hosted over 30 women on her farm where they were able to try each other's homemade cheeses and discuss all things cheese.

"Our store counter was completely covered with the most gorgeous cheeses," Collins Brooks said. "We had a really great time."

While the organization process included the help and support of some men, the meeting itself was only for women in the industry.

"I wanted everybody to come together as equals. As women first," Collins Brooks said. "And then just with a passion for cheese, however that manifests itself in their lives."

Emma de Long, owner of a women-run farm in Chester County, is the guest on this week's FarmHouse podcast.

De Long talks about creating a culture at Kneehigh Farm where she and her employees can be themselves.

"I really enjoy the dynamic of farming with women," she said. "We're able to get mad and cry and be frustrated, but also laugh. And I just feel like there's more space for the emotions that come up with farming or in any challenging situation, and also the joys that go with it. But there's just a little more ease, having it be all women."

De Long and her husband also own and operate Red Dog Market, a farm market specializing in hyper-local food from Kneehigh and neighboring operations.

"I think it's a really important component to a growing food chain and community where someone can get everything that they want from the local producers in one location," de Long said.

Her passion for this mission isn't exclusive to food. She's a co-founder of the PA Flax Project, a movement to bring flax farming back to Pennsylvania and reinvigorate the American linen industry.

She and fiber artist Heidi Barr founded the project after de Long approached Barr about making her wedding dress. During that conversation, Barr convinced de Long to grow flax for linen.

"It's really interesting to think about these large-scale farms including flax into their rotation and what it means for a climate-beneficial, plant-based fiber to hit the market," de Long said.

She admits that her operation may not always be 100% women-run, but she maintains her firm belief that women play a crucial role in agriculture.

"It's really important to show your community that this is a role that should be normalized for women, and that there is a woman out there succeeding," de Long said. "I think the more that women pursue agriculture and succeed, then the better our planet is for it."

This week on Lancaster Farming's new podcast, FarmHouse, we're talking to Lolly Lesher, a dairy farmer from Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Lesher and her family run Way-Har Farms, along with Way-Har Farm Market.

"Not only do we do the on-farm work with the cattle and the land and the water and those resources, but we also sell our products to consumers every day in our farm market," Lesher said.

The Leshers milk about 260 cows at the farm. The farm market offers Way-Har's own bottled milk, along with 90 different home-made ice cream flavors.

"Ice cream is such a great product," Lesher said. "It's fun to manufacture, it's easy to make and you can even eat your mistakes."

In addition to the farm and market, Lesher is also the first female chair of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program.

She's found over the years that marketing dairy products is all about keeping up with the consumers.

"Consumers in many ways are so much more sophisticated and a lot dumber all at the same time," she said.

But, at the end of the day, Lesher said her favorite part of Way-Har is getting to interact with her customers every day, whether it's to educate them about dairy, share with them what's going on at the farm, or thank them for supporting a local dairy farm family.

In addition to promoting dairy directly to her consumers, Lesher has testified in front the House Ag Committee to lobby for the dairy industry.

She said it's important for legislators to hear straight from the source about dairy farming.

"If I don't tell our story, somebody else is going to tell a story," Lesher said. "And it may not be as accurate."

All four of Lesher's children are working in the dairy industry, with three of them now back to work at their home farm.

Lesher said her three daughters should have no problem succeeding in the dairy industry as women, and that she's always felt like her voice has been respected, even in rooms full of men.

"As a mother and as a dairy farmer, it is my tendency — my nature — to nurture," Lesher said.

On this week's episode of Lancaster Farming's new podcast, FarmHouse, we're talking to Lisa Boltz, an animal science teacher and FFA adviser in the Shippensburg Area School District.

In 2023, Boltz was honored with a National Association of Agricultural Educators Ideas Unlimited Award for her innovative wool processing lab, in which students learn about the process of using wool to create fibers and textiles.

Over the course of the project, Boltz's students follow wool through shearing, grading, skirting, scouring, carding, and spinning before using it to make dryer balls.

The project is hands on, relatively inexpensive and adaptable to most animal science curricula, making it ideal for programs that need to get creative with limited resources.

"I wanted something tangible for the kids to interact with," Boltz said. "And wool is a great example of how we do that."

Boltz didn't grow up in a farming family, but developed an interest in agriculture when she participated in a rabbit breeding project in high school. From that point on, she knew she wanted to be involved in ag.

As an FFA adviser, Boltz now uses that drive to guide students through the FFA program, where she encourages them to organize and run their own projects.

She said programs like FFA help motivate girls and young women to get involved with agriculture.

"(The girls) see opportunities in the FFA and they see very few barriers for those opportunities because we are setting them up for success and they can see that we're helping them through those challenges," Boltz said. "So I feel like even though agriculture as an industry is very male dominated, the girls are getting that leadership side and running with it."

In addition to chatting about Boltz's classroom and FFA experience, we also discuss broader issues facing educators, including the teacher shortage and what that might mean for ag education.

On this week's episode of Lancaster Farming's new podcast, FarmHouse, we dive into the history and excitement of the Pennsylvania Farm Show, with a focus on the contributions of women.

No one knows the Farm Show better than Mary Klaus, a historian and journalist dedicated to documenting the show.

Klaus has written two books about the event, "Hold Your Horses: The Pennsylvania Farm Show at 100" and "Blue Ribbon Patriotism: How the Pennsylvania Farm Show Helped the World War II Effort."

"I started writing about (the Farm Show) pretty early in my career here, and I fell in love with it," Klaus said. "As I learned more and more about it, I realized what a wonderful, wonderful thing the Pennsylvania Farm Show is for our state and I wanted to do more writing about it."

Klaus' research has led her to many interesting stories about the huge ag event, and she notes there have been some significant changes over the years.

What began as a farmer-focused event has transformed into the more consumer-oriented showcase of today.

Women have also come a long way at the Farm Show.

"In the early years, women were simply support for the men," Klaus said. "Now, fast forward and you have women in charge of a lot of things. Women are taking a much stronger leadership role."

In addition to delving into the history of the show and the changes Klaus has seen in the evolving ag industry, she shares a few of her favorite quirky stories — from a governor's mishap, to a surprising change to the butter sculpture, to a chicken named Elvis.

On episode two of Lancaster Farming's new podcast about women in agriculture, we're hanging out with Erica Lavdanski, an organic produce farmer in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

She co-owns B & H Organic Produce, a certified organic farm in Morgantown that has been operating since 2008.

Lavdanski's farming pursuits began in her teenage years and led her to a job with organic farmer Paul Hartz. Despite a generational gap, a friendship grew around their shared passion for organic.

A decade later, they formed B & H Organic Produce.

"He was a mentor. He taught me how to run tractors, fix tractors," she said, recalling her early years working with Hartz. "He did most of the fixing, but he taught me a lot, and just a lot about, you know, the integrity of the soil.

"It's a really treasured experience that I got to have with him."

B & H Organic Produce now serves farmers markets and restaurants in the Reading area and runs a CSA. It also donates produce to Café Esperanza, a nonprofit restaurant that operates on a pay what you can model.

Lavdanski spoke about the challenges many organic farmers are facing, including tight operating margins and consumers who don't always understand why prices for organic produce are higher.

But, she added, it's a lifestyle she's proud of, and she finds that it comes naturally to her.

"As women, we are creators," Lavdanski said. "(It's) a part of our DNA, how we're biologically made, and farming is creation. It's about constantly creating new things. Growth. You're planting seeds, you're harvesting."

Welcome to the FarmHouse — a new podcast by Lancaster Farming that highlights women in agriculture.

Lancaster Farming's digital production editor, Candice Wierzbowski, and social media editor, Stephanie Speicher, are co-hosting the show, welcoming women across the agricultural industry to talk about the work they're doing on farms, in classrooms, and in the halls of our capitol buildings.

For our first episode, we're talking to Shelby Watson-Hampton, a farmer and writer from Brandywine, Maryland. She co-owns Robin Hill Farm and Vineyards with her husband, Wade Hampton II, and her aunt and uncle, Susan Watson White and Bob White. The farm also hosts weddings.

In this episode, we discuss Watson-Hampton's work on her farm and her recently published first book, "Grace, Grit and Lipstick: Wit and Wisdom for the Modern Female Farmer and Her Farm-Curious Friends."

She wrote her book both for farm women and rural women, along with people who might just be interested in farming.

In addition to Watson-Hampton's own farming story, her book features over a dozen other farm women across the U.S.

"The theme through it is for womanhood," Watson-Hampton said. "Any woman can relate."

Watson-Hampton is also a columnist and correspondent for Lancaster Farming. In her weekly column in Lancaster Farming, Talking by the Tailgate, Watson-Hampton often writes about what being a woman in ag means to her, and she summed up some of those thoughts in this episode.

"It's basically everything. It's my family, it's our land, it's our legacy," she said. "It's my love for working with others in this space. For promoting agriculture, advocating for agriculture, and being a part of this community, because it is special."

FarmHouse is a place where the hard-working women in agriculture share their stories and find common ground.

Podcast hosts Candice Wierzbowski and Stephanie Speicher talk with women across the agricultural spectrum. These are the women who are out there every day doing the work in barns and fields, in classrooms, and even in the halls of our capitol buildings.

Hear the stories from the women making a difference in agriculture.