Whitney Larson

WLhitney arson

Tell us a little about yourself.

I grew up in an amazing family full of athletes. My parents both played college ball- baseball and volleyball. And we grew up on all things ball. Softball, Basketball Volleyball and when my brother was born football. My summers were spent in the weight room and in gyms all across kansas and surrounding states. I was taught hard work, resilience, determination and dedication at an early age. My parents not only spent countless hours but a lot of money to help is travel and play on AAU and Club teams in others states to get recognition for our college careers. To say basketball taught me so much about life may sound silly to some. But unless you are an athlete and are taught the same morals and life lessons I was you may not. It shaped me for the future, it paid for my schooling, it gave me some of the best friends and memories i could have ever asked for. My childhood was anything short of amazing and i can only thank my two amazing hard working parents for that. I got something many kids did not have the opportunity to have and that was at LEAST one parent at every single sporting event at home or away. And to top that off grandparents that were alwats in the stands supporting us. My mom or my dad were always there cheering for me (and in later years my siblings), or in my dads case whistling. We laugh now but he had the most attention grabbing whistle, and he only used it when we need an adjustment of some kind on the court. Whether that be our crappy attitudes, a simple clap to get our butts in gear and hustle harder or a head nod that yes you are rocking it girl. After highschool I got an offer to play Juco basketball at a college near home. I was dating my husband Bart at the time and definitely didnt want to stray too far from where he was living. I found in college i felt lost in the school aspect and excelled in my sports like i was determined to do. I just could not pin down what i wanted to do with my lilfe and felt like spending all this money was so hard to do when i could not find it in my soul to pick a major. I started in nursing. And after completeing my CNA courese and working in a long term care facilitu for a summer, i quickly realized nurses and cnas are gods gift to earth and i was simply not cut out for it. So here i was with all my pre reqs done to start the nursing program and switched again. This time I thought vet tech would be my absolute path, but you cannot do that program and play sports. Which was a downfall as a I was doing so well in basketball that I wasnt ready to hang up my shoes. So i continued forward with achieving my associates with no major. I graduated and that was all that matters, especially considering that college algebra was maybe the cloeset i have ever been to death haha. I moved home after turning down some prestigous offers to go play higher level basketball to start my life with Bart. I landed a great job as an assitant to an optometrist. I worked there for four years, while bart worked for a local farmer. We were married in those four years and i was expecting our first son. Barts passion has always been farming and he loved his job as a hired man. But his boss being the amazing man he was knew bart was

cut out for more and could do more with his life. So he pushed him to buy a ground spray rig and start his own business. Thats when Larson Ag came to life. We moved to his hometown about an hours south of where we currently lived. I had a fresh baby, was a stay at home mom since the move and drive to work didnt make financial sense, and i missed my family so much. Anyone that is a farm wife can probably agree the hours are insane. But try coming from the city like me; where we ate supper together every night, we had weekends together traveling or at home, i saw my parents everyday sometimes more than twice and I lived in a short driving distance to a walmart and so much more. Now I was plopped in the middle of nowhere (or so i thought) with no friends, none of my family and smacked into farm life all at once. I struggled and would be lying if i said i didnt. For about a year and a half i had to adjust, learn and grow as a farm wife and mother. The hardest part for me was i knew nothing about farming. We never had more than a dog when i grew up, i couldn’t even back up a trailer or drive a stick. But i wanted to learn, i was eager to live in my husbands passion and dream and not outside of it. We then took on some custom farming and rented farm ground and life got a lot busier. I got alot more brave and asked all the questions and wanted to learn and learn some more. Thank the good Lord that my husband didnt give me much of an option, this was our life together and i was apart of it. He has taught me

absolutely everything i know. I can now drive a semi, i run our grain cart in harvest seasons, I operated the combine picking corn last year for quite some time, I can back up trailers, handle the farm books and even attend classes for women in ag when i get the chance. He gave me a sense of worth and wings to be the farm wife i had always dreamed of. When i said i couldn’t find my soul in school what to do, i think thats because it wasnt there. Where i was meant to be is right here, next to my farmer husband raising 3 little kids to live a lifestyle only some dream of. God knew where i was meant to be and it may have taken several years after college to get here, but im here and thats all that matters. When i say you are never too young or too old to learn, I mean that whole heartedly, I am still learning new things and thrive on information and learning new things. I now serve on our county farm bureau as a board member, advocate for the ag industry, have a podcast with a fellow farm wife and am 100% involved in our operation. Im proud to say im city girl turned farm wife, and I hope it inspires someone to know that just because you arent from the ag world does not mean you cannot get there. Anyone can get involved in Ag, there are so many sectors of agriculture its amazing. Why is Agriculture so important to you?

Agriculture is important to me because it is literally how we are all feeding ourselves and our families. I challenge my kids at meal time who can we thank for this today? Lettuce, A burger, buns, ketchup, pickles, potato chips. Just there thats 6 farms raising those products, not to mention the amount of folks, time, money and care it takes to get it to our plates. I grew up not knowing how we had food in our freezer or pantry. And i think its so important with todays technology that we are all sharing out stories in Ag so there arent kids like me who arent sure. I would love for everyone to know where their food comes from and much more that we all work so hard and with so much passion to do what we do. Agriculture is far from easy, and i don’t think some folks understand that. So we kind of take advantage that theres always food in the stores, but its so much more than that. In what ways are you advocating?

I advocate through my instagram profile and with our podcast; Midwest Farm Wives who i cohost with Kylie Epperson in MO. I not only share farm facts; I share why we farm the way we do, I share the amount of time it takes, I share the hard stuff because thats real life. I share marketing myths in the store and even throw in some motherhood and farm wife tips and hacks. I love connecting with other women and learning about their farms and ranches as well. To be honest I have learned so much from other farmers on ig in the last two years and i am so proud of everyone sharing their story for others to learn from. I feel I am also advoating by attending conferences, meetings and reading up on whats trending in ag to share with others and to gain the knowledge myself. Tell us a little about your farm?

We row crop farm corn, sorghum and wheat. Our operation is diverse in the fact that we offer custom work. Meaning we spray, plant and sometimes harvest other farmers’ crops. We are both generational farmers on our first generation farm. It hasnt been easy and weve had no handouts, but it has made us more proud and we have had to work harder for all we have. To see where we have come from 7 years ago makes me proud. We have grown our family and done this all together. We have amazing hired men who make alot of what we do possible. Between them, Bart and I we are usually always on the go. Its definitely not easy, but if it was wouldnt everyone be doing it? Some may call us farmers crazy but it isnt for the money its for the lifestyle we get to lead. Its a hell of a life as john dutton says. What is the biggest misconception in Ag in your opinion?

I think that the biggest misconception is that food is unsafe in some way. Whether that is GMO, Organic, Antibiotics, Hormones etc. When the brutal reality is that ALL FOOD IS SAFE. It is just a matter of options that we are blessed to have. America has the largest securest safest good supply in the world, we are extremeley blessed and seem to lose sight of that in the blame game of who is trying to harm us. Farmers and Rancher care so much about the food we grow and raise and we are eating the same things and given the same options in the store as a producer, we too are consumers! What skills do you try to instill in your kids?

I would be lying if i said i didnt want them all to be able to drive peterbilts by the time they are ten! But really we are just trying to show them that if you work hard in life you can make a living. Bart always tells the kids the harder you work the more money you can make. He also tells them cool isnt cheap, so we could be in trouble there too haha! Them growing up working with us, i hope they learn that we arent quitters, when life gets hard we get tougher. I want them to learn that when you start something you finish it, and that they can absolutely do anything they put their mind to. Independence is an important one to me as well. Having a husband that farms sort of means i dont have a honey do list, hes busy and when hes home he wants to be with us and relax no conquer a mile long list. So i have learned that google and youtube are my best friends. I want my kids to do the same and know they can do it even if they dont quite know how. I hope they grow into adults that respect others, that they are determined, that they know its ok to mess up but you must get better afterwards, that they are allowed to share their feelings no matter how bad. I wan them to be happy at whatever they do, life is too short to settle or be in a job or relationship that doesn’t bring you joy. And lastly I want them to know they have to work hard at everything they commit to. Farm kids are pretty amazing little ones and i foresee their futures will continue in the path of their daddies. Barts parents did a phenomenal job raising him, he is one of the hardest working most determined person i have ever known and i’m so proud to call him my husband.

If you could give a young farmers wife a piece of advice what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to try the hard stuff. And ask a million questions until you understand. Get involved in your operation. Figure out your role and its ok if its different than the gal down the street or the lady on instagram. Knowledge is power, and so is knowing you are just as capable as any other woman or man out there. Let your hands shake and your heart beat fast, but take deep breaths and know you can do anything you put your mind to. Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader and thats ok, you can do it! What is the most challenging thing you have had to encounter on the farm and advocating?

Haters. Folsk that want to shame or judge me. But to advocate we have to be strong in our story and realize we are not going to be for everyone and that our job is to show people WHY we do what we do and i am proud to be out there doing just that. I think that no matter how small or big your operation is it IS worth sharing. If we dont share our stories someone else out there may and it could be false info. What is the most rewarding (in regards to question above)

The most rewarding thing is when folks reach out and tell me they learned something new. Whether i reach 1 person or 1000 i am doing my job in trying to educate for my industry! Helping others gain knowledge and courage is my main goal on my platforms! What are ways you plan to agvocate in the future?