I am a farmer.

Hello, my name is Carla, Mrs. Debbie has mentioned me a few times in her past posts and I wanted to introduce myself. I am the daughter-in-law. The birther of the grand-babies. The city girl as my MIL has called me. I want to start writing some entries for our blog and it won't always be about cows, but about agriculture in general, about farmers, maybe even some recipes. Things I have learned while embracing this farm life. I wanted to give you a little insight about me first, so when you read my future post, you will understand where I may be coming from. 

 I didn't grow-up on a farm or knowing much about agriculture. I didn't participate in 4H or FFA.  I did, however, marry into a farming family. A cattle raising family. A family that has multiply generations of 4H and FFA. I married a farmer. 

 Now for those that have known me for many, many years, know I wanted out of this small town. I wanted a city life. I wanted to live in Birmingham or Atlanta or Jacksonville. I wanted to work for an advertising firm. I was determined that once I graduated from college I was moving. Well I moved out of my small town, Cantonment, FL, and went north about 12 miles to an even smaller town, Molino.  I got married roughly one month after my college graduation to a man that has a family business and a farm locally. A man that wasn't leaving his small town for a city.

For nearly nine years I have been a member of farm family. At the beginning of our relationship, and really for the first 6 or so years of our marriage, I wasn't all that involved in the farm. I would go out to the farm sometimes to check cows with Jacob, but to me I was looking at the same cow over and over. They were all big, they all smelled and they were all black. It wasn't until about 3.5 years ago that I started taking an interest. We got involved in our local Young Farmers and Ranchers program and then we had our babies. Twin girls. I decided then that I needed to embrace the agriculture life. I knew I wanted the girls to grow up on the farm. For them to love and appreciate agriculture, and to respect their elders, the animals, the weather, and the land. So now I embrace agriculture. 

Over the past year and half Jacob and I have served on the Florida Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Group for the state. It has opened my eyes to so much in farming and ranching. I am excited about it now. I have started spending more and more time at our farm learning about AIing, palpating, genetics, what makes one cow more appealing then another and so much more. 

That is just a snapshot of who I am and how I got to where I am.. I did not grow up on a farm, but now, I am a farmer. 

I look forward to learning more and sharing it with you. Until then I leave you with this: