Guest Blog

New Year’s resolutions made a few months ago may seem like distant memories, after the fierce and what seemed like a never-ending winter we are just now emerging from.

We all need people. Without other people, there would be no market for the large quantities of high-quality food we produce. Without people, it would also be nearly impossible to produce all that food, process it and get it delivered all over the world. We need people, and for many more reasons than just to help us produce and consume our product.

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of blogs Rebecca Shaw will be providing about female entrepreneurs and what the dairy industry can learn from them.

“My best successes came on the heels of failures.”

In 2016, dairymen and women were among the agricultural coalition that helped flip traditionally blue states red – places like Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio – during Donald Trump’s journey to the White House.

Each year, for eight days in January, hundreds of thousands of people flock to Harrisburg to visit the Pennsylvania Farm Show. This event is known across Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region for its delicious food, animal shows and family-friendly exhibits but, mostly, it’s where city people go to learn about farming.

Some things that happen on our farm are difficult to write about, especially what happened here recently. But in farming, like in life, things don’t always go nice. There are hard times and disappointments.