Daily Inspiration: Meet Leah Sowers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Sowers

Leah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our farm has been around since 1840 but I didn’t take on an active role with the farm and our registered shorthorn herd until 2020 when Covid hit.

I married into the farm when I married my husband, Dakota, in 2015. I helped out occasionally here and there. When 2020 hit, I was at home after schools were shut down. It just so happened that the shutdown occurred right about the middle of calving season, which has always been my favorite. With my husband still working, I had to step up and help around the farm to get things done. Come to find out I LOVED all aspects of the farm, not just the babies. I then took over our beef sales to take some of the burden off of everyone else, since our beef sales went from a handful of customers to well over 40 customers to date.

After taking over the beef sales, I created social media platforms for our farm to document “life on the farm”, registering all of our cattle/calves and marketing what we were selling. Today, our farm sells beef shares, and individual cuts directly from the farm, as well as, breeding stock and show calves. Along with our farm’s beef production, I have recently implemented educational experiences on our farm and through a free Adopt a Cow program for schools. We have had 4H groups, educators, and others come out to the farm to learn all aspects of beef production and life on the farm.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With anything that you do, there are always going to be obstacles to overcome. With the way we have decided to “divide and conquer” the different jobs on the farm things have been rather smooth sailing for us. This year has been challenging on its own, with the weather being brutally hot and the lack of rain for our crops and pastures. We have had to devise a plan to keep cows on pasture longer without risking the amount of hay we have for winter.

Aside from the challenges with the weather, something that I feel that I have personally experienced as a Woman in the Agriculture industry, especially the beef and cattle side, is that it is typically male-dominated. More times than not I find that I have to step up and use my voice to let people know that I am knowledgeable and can answer questions that they may have. My husband has been great at telling people “You’re going to have to talk to my wife about…. because that’s her expertise.” Most people want to talk to the “man” in charge when as of late, the “man” in charge is a woman.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
From the last week of August to the end of May, I am an Intervention Specialist and CDL instructor at John Glenn High School. I try to incorporate agriculture across the English content that I teach. I find that my students take an interest in my life outside of school and they enjoy it when I can mix up the mundane English content with some fun real-life experiences that I have had.

I feel that my educational background has helped build the educational piece that I have recently added to our farm with the Farm Tours and Adopt a Cow Program. I love teaching, especially when I get to teach about cattle, beef, and farm life.

I think having an educational background and using it not only in the classroom but also on the farm is what sets me and our farm apart from other farms that are similar to ours. As well as, teaching my children the different sides of beef production.

How do you think about luck?
I would say our luck is in finding the right customers who greatly enjoy our products, who then encourage and promote our farm and beef, through their experiences with us. If it weren’t for our amazing “lucky charms” we wouldn’t have grown our farm into what it is today.

We have had our fair share of bad luck, as anyone does. I think the bad luck we have endured makes us stronger and opens a different avenue for us in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sowers-farms-since-1840.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sowersfarmssince1840?igsh=NHdwYWhnZ2FsN2hm&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sowersfarmssince1840?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Laura Grace Photography