What chapter: South Willamette
RFC Host Farm: Deck Family Farm
What year: 2014
Where are they now: Crew Leader, Hermit Creek Farm, Ashland, WISCONSIN
After Rogue Farm Corps, Alex did the FIELD program up in Washington for a season and then headed to work at Essex Farm in New York. Alex began working at Essex as an intern, but stayed on as an employee for another season. At Essex, Alex worked primarily with the livestock, as well as helped with vegetable work, maple sugaring, food preservation, and butchering. At Essex, she managed their two flocks of 650 laying hens, worked with roughly 50 pastured beef cattle, 80 feeder hogs, 7500 broiler chickens over the season, about 100 sheep, 7 draft horses, two ponies, and a Jersey herd. She also worked regularly in the dairy where they milk 20 Jersey cows and raise their own replacement heifers. Wanting to learn more about the vegetable side of things, Alex is now working at Hermit Creek Farm in Ashland Wisconsin. Reflecting back on her time as an RFC intern, Alex writes:
“One element of RFC that is potentially under recognized, but possibly one of the most important benefits of the program, is the community that you build. An understanding of how invaluable this community of fellow farmers, extension agents, investors, and eaters is, is something precious and applicable to a future in farming, no matter where an RFC graduate may end up!”