This week we welcome Kyle Brisendine to share her story with us for Female Farmer Friday! Kyle and I share the same struggle of finding enough hours in the day to get things done with full time, off farm jobs. She also won me over with the picture of the precious Hereford calf!
• Sara Beth

Please briefly introduce yourself.

My name is Kyle Brisendine, I’m 24 years old and live and farm in Southwest Michigan. I work along side my parents to run our 92 acre grass based farm. We work raising grassfed beef and lamb, pastured poultry and pigs, and bees. We also have a Great Pyrenees named Cerin who protects the sheep from the coyotes and a barn cat. To make things a bit more complicated I have a full time off farm job and recently moved about twenty minutes away from the farm when I got married and moved in with my husband.

What type of farm do you have?

On our farm we raise grassfed beef and lamb, pastured poultry and just this Spring we were able to add bees and pastured pigs. We sell meat and wool through our on farm shop that we opened nearly two years ago.

How long have you been farming?

I have been farming for my entire life, growing up on my parents farm and going to farming things like auctions and field days in my stroller. So it’s something I grew up doing and went to college in England to be able to learn even more.

Do you have an off-farm job?

I have an off farm job working for an agricultural irrigation company running the front office.

Please share with us one of the biggest struggles you have with farming.

Right now my biggest struggle is having enough hours in the day. With an off farm job and recently moving off the farm I’m not there near as much as I’d like to be.

What is something about your farm life that you think would surprise most people?

Farming isn’t quite as idyllic and as peaceful as you’d like to think. It certainly has beautiful moments, but those tend to be shattered by whatever crisis pops up next: weather, livestock out, sickness, etc.

Can you share one of your long-term goals for your farm?

One of my biggest goals for the farm is to be able to move back to the farm and have it be my full time job.

If you had the chance to tell one thing to someone without any first hand knowledge of the farming industry, what would it be?

What is something you are deeply passionate about?

Cooking! I love taking the food that I’ve grown and seeing what I can create with it.

If people want to follow your farm journey, where can they find you?

www.willowfarmwool.com
Farm Instagram @willowfarmllc
My Instagram @khbrisendine
FB: Willow Farm LLC