Why I Share my Dairy Farming Journey
Hello, I am Grace Peckham! I am the seventh generation on my family’s farm, Elm Farm, located in eastern Connecticut, and I am a social media Ag-vocate. You are probably wondering what I mean when I say that I am an “Ag-vocate.” I have a simple answer for you; I am an advocate for agriculture
and dairy farming. I feel that it’s so important to share my family’s story with you to help you better understand how we care for our cows, land, and community.
Growing up as a farmer’s daughter, I spent most of my childhood outside. Whether I was sitting in a tractor, while my dad was working in the fields or watching someone milk the cows, I was always very observant of the busy schedule of daily life on the farm. I always knew that my dad had a “cool” job because I can remember in my first-grade year of school, he picked me up when school was over one day in one of our silage trucks. I told my friends, “Yeah, that’s my dad, he’s a farmer”. Ever since then I have become quite proud of my farm and my family’s hard work.
Moving forward to the beginning of my high school years, I realized just how little people knew about dairy farming. I was baffled by how many people I met that had never seen a cow in real life. I even had a girl come up to me and ask, “So are you like one of those slaughter farms?” that really opened my eyes and showed me that people don’t know the reality and truths of family farming. This is when I decided to start an Instagram account just to talk about life as a farmer and the truths behind the scenes of farming.
In the beginning, I didn’t know what I was doing, I posted cute cow selfies occasionally, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to use my social space for. I slowly started posting more about cow health, what a cow’s life is like, and the benefits of eating and drinking dairy. I never thought that I would evolve into becoming an influencer for the dairy industry and agriculture, but here we are!
My passion for farming is something that I consider worth sharing with you through social media and the positive feedback has been so heartwarming. Being able to see that you and others are learning from my posts and are excited to hear more is so moving for me. It is so important as a farmer to help educate our communities about farming because that is the only way people can learn the truth about the dairy industry and can see into the lives our cows live. Using social media, I feel, as a farmer, it helps people realize the hard work that goes into caring for the cows. Social media is the link that connects farmers like me, to folks like you.
I appreciate that people love hearing about my life on the farm whether I am chasing a cow that has gotten out of her pen in the middle of the night or a video of me explaining how to milk a cow. It is the everyday happenings on the farm that people seem to enjoy watching the most. What I love is that everything I am sharing with you and others on social media is simple, authentic farm life. That is why I continue to post and educate because I can share the truth about dairy farming in an authentic way right from the source.
As for what my future will look like, I am going to pursue my interests in dairy marketing and communications throughout college. I will be continuing to share on my social media pages about farming and the cows. My hope is that other farmers will feel inspired to “Ag-vocate” and help educate their communities and share their passion for dairy farming. And I hope that you’ll continue to check out my posts, we farmers love what we do, and we want to share it with you.
Grace Peckham
Elm Farm
Woodstock CT
