Agri-Business of the Year
Well hot dog!
Feeling pretty incredible over here.
Gotta be honest, when they notified me via email, I almost deleted it!
Like everyone else, my inbox has been full this time of year. And as a business, I’ve surely contributed to inbox stuffing over the holidays! Luckily they also called and left a message.
Being told you’re nominated for an award has always been a mixed bag for me. Not that I’ve been awarded many things, but it’s always felt like a combo of embarrassment and disbelief.
As you know me through this blog — I’m not one to shy away from promoting, sharing and advocating. It’s part of being a business, and for me, it’s also natural when you’re passionate about what you’re doing.
But the whole honorary part of awards is uncomfortable for a girl who was raised on humble pie.
Ever the realist, I looked at who else was nominated — and it was Northwest Grain Growers.
If you’re not local to our valley — this is a 2000+ farmer member co-op that is almost 100 years old. And “grain” is mostly wheat out here. To me, those are real farmers.
Not some gal from the Northwest Region of Indiana who wasn’t raised on a farm and didn’t even have her first dog until 30, growing of all things…alpacas.
The awards banquet was held in the lobby of a 155 year old bank downtown (where we have all our accounts). I went expecting to graciously congratulate the Grain Growers and was totally shocked when they called our name.
I shared the news on our social media that night and was completely overwhelmed by the immediate and kind congratulations.
Growing this business has been the single greatest endeavor of my life. This year I hit the 10 year mark, with the last 5 of that being my sole occupation and livelihood. I’ve learned so much about myself, economics, livestock, marketing, and so on.
The farm business is in constant evolution and while there are many ways to be a business in the most free country in the world, I’m truly learning as I go.
Standing in the discomfort of being recognized personally was yet another lesson for me this year: it’s okay to appreciate the validation of others.
I’m truly grateful to do this work and although I know in my bones what a privilege it is to do it, it’s also okay to accept recognition and praise.
Thank you for your support these last 10 years. It’s because of your enthusiasm and patronage that this farm still exists.
I plan to be here for another 10!
And with that ;-)