Farmers’ Stories

Established: 1960s; introduced regenerative practices in 2017 Farm Size: 250 acres Product/Output: Corn, beans, wheat  Region: Cecil County, MD Favorite Piece of Farm Equipment: No-till drill The words of cover-cropping coach Steve Groff --  “if you’re not scared,...

In 1938, Wilbert Paul started out as a dairy farmer with “three cows and one blind pony,” as the family puts it. After just a couple of years, Wilbert purchased his first tractor—a 1938 Allis Chalmers B., which is still in his family today. Wilbert’s son Jim eventually took over the farm with the help from his daughter Amanda and her husband Sam White.

For fifth-generation dairy farmer Ron Holter, change comes from the inside out and from the ground up. When he took over his father and uncle’s 250-acre farm in Jefferson, Maryland, they were a conventional Holstein dairy, housing their cows in large buildings and feeding them grain grown on the rest of the land.

Taste is Oksana Bocharova’s measure of success for her produce grown in Chestertown, Maryland. “When I’m selling at the [farmers] market, people say, ‘Your vegetables are so tasty!’ And I know I’m doing something right,” says Oksana.

After 20 years of the “typical” Washingtonian life, Judy Gifford decided it was time to go back to her roots. She had grown up on a small dairy farm in Connecticut, but, after college, Judy pursued a career in government. She worked on the Hill and for different agencies over two decades, until she realized she belonged back on the farm. 

Growing a few vegetables on an apartment balcony might be a hobby for some people — but for Emma Jagoz, it was the first step down a path that would change her life. She decided to grow some arugula after she read it could boost a baby’s brain development. She was pregnant with her first child, and figured it was worth a try.

Farming has always been a part of Stephen Kraszweski’s life. He grew up on a small cattle farm in upstate New York, so he didn’t have to travel far to attend Cornell University, where he studied “just a little bit of everything” related to agriculture and the environment. 

Farmers and doctors might seem like very different professions, but to Nazirahk Amen, combining the two makes perfect sense. 

Born and raised in rural Louisiana, where his family grew produce and practiced animal husbandry on their land, Nazirahk began his professional career as an EMT and a medic in New Orleans. He later moved to Seattle to pursue a degree in alternative medicine and became a licensed naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in Maryland.

A mere 2,000 feet from the Chester River on Arnold Farms, Bob Arnold gently pet his dog while gazing over an eggplant harvest. Since an early age, his love for the outdoors and comfort with the natural world has inspired his longtime commitment to farming.

Amanda Cather never planned to be a farmer. She thought she wanted to work inside, as a doctor, in an office environment. All that changed during college – especially once she learned about food insecurity.