Hey friends 👋🏼

Can you believe The Rural Woman Podcast has been on the air for NINE months already? I can’t believe it either!

I was working on episode number 36 and getting it ready to hit your earbuds on Friday, December 13 and I was thinking about how many great stories I’ve gotten to share so far. Each and every story is so different and yet we all have those similarities that tie us together. The community of Women in Agriculture is simply like no other. 

Out of my 36 episodes of The Rural Woman Podcast, I have had the privilege of interviewing FIVE dairy farmers. I wanted to highlight these resilient ladies here today in case you missed any of their great interviews or maybe wanted to hear their stories again! 👇🏼

Tara Vander Dussen || @newmexicomilkmaid

Tara is a 5th generation Dairy Farmer, Environmental Scientist, President of the United Dairy Women, Wife to Milkman Dan and Mama to two little Milkmaids

Hannah Vander Poel || @iddairygirl

Hannah is a 4th generation dairy farmer originally from California now residing and managing her families second dairy operation in Castleford, Idaho. Hannah and her crew milk around 1,000 cows two to three times a day in 14 parallel parlors.

Allison Aikins || @five_mile_farm

Allison Akins is a 7th generation dairy farmer working alongside her grandparents, parents, brother and sister-in-law. The Akins family is one of the 800 farm families that own Cabot Creamery Cooperative, having the milk from their farm made into “The World’s Best Cheddar”. After graduating from university and working at an agricultural finance company for a few years, Allison returned to the farm to continue their almost 200 year legacy.

Jess Peters || @seejessfarm

Jess Peters grew up on a dairy farm in Meadville, PA where she still lives and works today. Along with her parents and brother, they own and operate a Jersey farm caring for almost 500 animals. A few years ago, seeing all the misconceptions about agriculture being shared around the internet, Jess decided to do something about it. She started sharing her life on the farm on social media via Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.

Katie Dotterer-Pyle || @cowcomfortinndairy

Growing up as part of the 3rd generation on her family dairy farm in central PA, Katie Dotterer-Pyle is now a first-generation farmer with her husband, David in Union Bridge, Maryland when they decided to leave Katie’s family dairy in 2009. At 23, she signed a $300,000 loan to buy 90 cows. Eleven years later, Cow Comfort Inn Dairy is home to 800 total cattle (mostly Jerseys), 380 of which are milked twice a day.

Dr. Marissa Hake || @vealvet

BONUS EPISODE Dr. Marissa Hake is a graduate of Michigan State University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and a Masters in Public Health.  Her interests include young-stock care and handling, pre-harvest food safety and antibiotic mitigation strategies. She is currently the staff veterinarian for Midwest Veal, LLC and is responsible for the welfare and health of over 30,000 veal calves. 

The Rural Woman Podcast is available for download wherever you listen to podcasts or stream it over on WildRoseFarmer.com