Hannah Weiman

Currently, I am midway through my second semester of college at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. Graduation seems a long way away, but even now I am beginning to plan what I want to do after my time in college is over. After graduation, I am going to return home to my parents’ dairy farm. I was born and raised on this farm, and I have been an official employee there since I was 15. I hope to be able to share the knowledge I have gained while at college to improve the way we do things on the farm. I already know that living up in Wisconsin, a state famous for its dairy farms, is going to teach me a lot about dairying. I hope to be able to help my family improve milk production per cow, grow better quality forages, and take better care of transition animals. When I return home to the farm, I will also probably get an additional job working in some field of agriculture in order to bring in some extra income. Since there are few dairy farms in my area, dairy is sometimes underrepresented in agricultural companies. I would love to be a voice for dairy in the agbusiness world. Making sure that producers have the tools they need to succeed is very important to me. I want to be able to help and support other dairymen and women in my future career. After a few years of doing this and working on my parents’ farm, I want to start up my own dairy farm. This has been my dream for as long as I can remember. Dairy farming is really all I have ever wanted to do. By owning my dairy farm, I will be able to personally contribute to America’s milk supply. I will be helping to feed the world, a job I take very seriously. I also plan to continue to ‘agvocate’ for farmers to the world. I believe that it is very important for all farmers to be open about what they are doing and to educate consumers on why they are doing it. In the end, however, I believe that the most important thing I will be doing in the future will be raising my family on our farm. I want my children to grow up exposed to farming and the valuable lessons it teaches. Whether they grow up to be dairy farmers or not, I believe that giving them a foundation of life skills and a strong work ethic will enable them to be successful wherever they go. To me, that is a real legacy.