”We're not six year olds anymore. We're not children anymore. We're adult children and we're trying to raise our families too and continue a legacy. So there has to be grace on both sides.” 

Building a relationship that can handle these conversations when they need to happen is important. I enjoyed talking with Paige Dulaney for this episode of Farming on Purpose and hearing how she is putting this into practice in conversations with her son, her father in law, and her own family in different ways.. 

 ”We're trying to create awareness to critical issues in food production that are important to consumers.”

Farming and ranching come with a lot of responsibility—and even more moving parts. Most of us are juggling land, livestock, weather, business, and family, all at once. It’s a lot to carry, and there’s no one-size-fits-all path through it. 

 ” Every little boy wants to be a cowboy when he grows up and so I think that's kind of kinda where it started.” 

I’ve met a lot of folks in agriculture over the years. Some inherited the family operation. Others married into it. But every once in a while, I talk with someone who’s building it all from scratch. That’s what today’s conversation is about: grit, goats, and growing a ranch when no one hands you the reins. 

Zak Copeland is a first-generation rancher running cattle and a goat grazing business out in Idaho. And I’ve got to tell you—his story hit home for me. 

” Just having the confidence and the know-how that, like if something were to happen like 2020 did we'd be good for a while. And I want other people to feel that way too.”  

Back in 2020, my guest Emmaline Newton had no idea that a couple of ducks and a handful of chickens would spark a whole new way of life. Fast forward a few years, and her family has turned three wooded acres into a thriving homestead, raising their own meat, growing a big garden, and teaching their kids the value of hard work. 

 ” No matter what, if you don't care for your animal, no matter what size of farm, if you don't care for it, it's not gonna produce milk. And if they don't produce milk, then we're out of a job.”  

Farming is in your blood. That early morning routine, the smell of silage, the way the cows know you by your boots. It's not something you do—it's something you live. And if you're raising kids at the same time, you know the line between "work" and "life" is pretty much nonexistent. 

 ”I feel like it's my chance to tell my story because if I don't tell it, Netflix and Amazon and somebody else is gonna tell it for me. So it's my chance to tell the truth about how we do things here.”  

Farming is more than a job—it’s a way of life. It’s early mornings, late nights, and everything in between. It’s raising kids in the middle of it all, teaching them lessons in hard work, responsibility, and the beauty of growing something from the ground up. 

”  That's why I always say things don't happen to you. They happen for you.” 

Growing up in a farm family teaches you a lot—about hard work, responsibility, and what it means to build something that lasts. But it also shows you the struggles that can come with it—conflict, long hours, and the pressure to keep the family legacy alive. 

 ” You have to bring value back to the family operation if you want it to be sustainable for future generations.” 

There’s something about growing up on a farm that pulls you back, even when you think you’ll never return. Maybe it’s the land, the family history, or just the way life feels simpler when you’re working with your hands. But for a lot of people, moving back home isn’t as easy as just packing up and showing up. The farm has to be able to support another family, and that’s where creativity, resilience, and a little business sense come in. 

That’s exactly what Lettie Nickell did when she found her way back to her family’s operation in Southwest Kansas. She didn’t just come home—she built something of her own to make it work.

 ” So what we're doing is just teaching farmers, ranchers, anybody really, how to utilize money correctly so that we can make the bank plan B instead of plan A.” 

The reality of farming today is that it takes more than grit and hard work to keep an operation going. The numbers matter. The way we handle money matters. And, unfortunately, a lot of farmers and ranchers find themselves navigating uncertain financial waters when the banking system shifts. 

“I get to pass on a legacy of skills, just like my parents did for me, and just like their their family that taught them and I get to take it on to the next generation and I hope at the very least they'll teach their next generation.” 

Janelle Anderson grew up in rural Wisconsin, where her family raised animals as much for necessity as for the love of the lifestyle. Life was practical—they ate what they grew, and the lessons learned in the fields and barn stuck with her. But she never imagined how deeply those roots would shape her journey as an adult. 

“ I sometimes pinch myself. It's hard. Ranching isn't easy. It's not easy and I don't want to give that impression, but to get to do what you love so much and are so passionate about it…” 

On this episode of Farming on Purpose, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Laura Hicks, a remarkable rancher who, alongside her husband Mike, built their operation from scratch starting at just 19 years old. Their story is one of grit, faith, and family working together to create something lasting. 

“I think the most important thing is focusing on what our priorities are, because those priorities give us a purpose even when goals become unattainable or the course shifts or something happens in life that changes our trajectory. If we know what our priorities are.  We can choose to focus on those every single day.” 

“Some years you're going to make more money than other years and I think as long as you  don't outpace your budget, then you'll end up being just fine.” 

Starting to farm isn't easy, especially when you're juggling a full-time job. But for Brenna Beard, a beginning farmer from central Indiana, the pull of continuing her family's 200-year farming legacy was too strong to ignore. 

“Teaching classes and being able to plant the seed itself for other people to get excited for things that have been lost in our generation has also just been something that has brought  tons of happiness and joy.”  

City girl turned farmer Jessica Lewis shares how she built Back to Roots Farm in Thomasville, Georgia, starting with bottle baby goats and growing into a thriving business teaching homesteading skills. With her seven-year-old daughter already sharing her passion for farming, Jessica shows how starting small and being willing to pivot when markets change can lead to success in agriculture, even without prior experience. 

 “This is what I describe simple living as, it’s figuring out what you want to focus on and doing more of that while figuring out what you want to focus less on or there’s a distraction and eliminating those things.” 

Creating a life that aligns with your values is important. That's why I was thrilled to chat with Ryan Mitchell on the Farming on Purpose podcast. Ryan's journey from city living to homesteading offers valuable insights for anyone dreaming of a simpler, more fulfilling life on the land. 

“What is so understood to you is not understood to the average person. And I know that sounds really silly as especially multiple generations. Like it's just. It's so ingrained in everything, that outside perspective, like you're missing it. And that's one of the things that I will say as coming in from a total outside perspective, what I didn't know, I realized somebody else didn't know too. So I had to figure out how to communicate it.” 

“Buying the farm is probably the best not only personal but financial decision. Best decision for my family. It’s really opened up a quality of life that we wouldn't have had otherwise.”

Growing up on his family's dairy farm in Utah, Derek Penrod always knew he wanted to be a farmer. But with no clear path to take over the family operation, he had to forge his own way. Now, Derek runs a first-generation farm in Idaho, growing alfalfa and raising Scottish Highlander cattle.

In this week’s episode of the Farming on Purpose podcast, Derek shared his inspiring journey of becoming a self-made farmer while balancing family life and a full-time job.

“I think we have to figure out what makes sense for ourselves. And for the amount of effort that we're putting in are we going to reach our goals? Are we going to get there realistically on a timeframe that makes sense? And how does that impact other people in our lives? That can be a very challenging conversation to have with yourself, but I think it is one that is worth having.”

As farmers and ranchers, we're no strangers to hard work. But these days, many of us are finding ourselves working even harder - both on and off the farm. Let's talk about this growing trend and what it means for our families and our futures in agriculture.

“You have to believe in what you’re doing and everyone involved has to believe and agree.”

Join us in this powerful episode of Farming on Purpose with Harry Frederick. Harry shares about the journey to start their sheep operation in Kentucky. Sheep were not common in their area when they got started so there were some snags they had to iron out, but now they get to help out other sheep farmers with their knowledge and working dogs. Border Collies are utilized on the farm to help corral and drive the sheep and they are trained on the farm as well. Harry talks about finding your market and being transparent to teach and connect with others. Listen in as we dive into some of the aspects of being a sheep farmer and training dogs to being transparent in your operation.

“I just have a passion for putting farm-fresh products on people’s tables.”

Join us in this informative episode of Farming on Purpose with Joseph Blakeslee. Taking us behind the scenes of his butcher shop, Bare Bone Butchering as well as his farm, Blakeslee Acres. Joseph shares about how he knew he wanted to be a farmer from a young age, how he and his wife started their farm, and some of the things Joseph learned along the way. Joseph touches on a very important topic in agriculture, mental help, and shares some tools that help maintain his mental health. Listen in as we delve into a variety of topics from first generation farming, butchering and farmer burnout.