Social Media Strategy

Fall 2017

Presented by:
Kasey Heath, Katie Welch and Tara Barton
 Table of Contents

About 2

Objectives and Key Messages 3

Audience 4

Facebook 6

Instagram 7

Profile Graphics 8

Hashtags and Themes 9

Content Calendar 10

Suggested Content 23

Competition and Inspiration 27

Measurement 29

Management 33

Policies 34

Feature Story 36

Infographic 39

1
About

Platforms

www.texasranchergirl.com

Texas Rancher Girl

@texasranchergirl

Brand
Texas Rancher Girl is a lifestyle blog and source of industry information for ranchers and those who
are advocates for the ranching lifestyle. Content is nostalgic and relatable for those who understand life on the
ranch, and informative for those who are seeking advice or information.

Overall Goal
Texas Rancher Girl’s main goal is to share pertinent, enjoyable information and stories focused on
producers that inspire, unite and educate its readers. Users can visit Texas Rancher Girl’s website and social
media for inspiration and information on relevant ranching topics. In the short term, the brand hopes to in-
crease followers and user engagement on social media. In the future the brand hopes to become more recog-
nizable among social media users in the ranching industry, and become a primary trusted resource on ranch
life topics.

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 Objectives and Key Messages

Objectives

This plan is designed to guide Texas Rancher Girl’s social media to achieve the following objectives:

• To drive the intended audience to the Texas Rancher Girl website through two social media platforms

• To gain more followers and reach a broader audience on Texas Rancher Girl’s social media platforms

• To encourage engagement and facilitate more conversation on social media platforms

Key Messages

Share-Inspire-Connect

Texas Rancher Girl’s key message is “Share-Inspire-Connect.” This message draws on Texas Rancher
Girl’s main goal: to share inspiring stories and pertinent information from trusted ranch brands and
organizations.
If the ranching industry is plagued with a challenge, Texas Rancher Girl engages industry leaders to
help find the solution. If one ranch has an inspiring story of survival, persistence or tradition, Texas Rancher
Girl wants to tell that story. Texas Rancher Girl functions as a source to unite the ranching industry under the
shared goal of caring for cattle and continuing the western tradition.

Voice

The voice of the Texas Rancher Girl social media platforms will mirror its established tone of strong,
nostalgic emotion and inspiration.
For the informational pieces of content, Texas Rancher Girl’s voice will stay consistent, portraying
experience and knowledge through easily understood terminology for the average consumer.
Texas Rancher Girl’s social media content is meant to unite the audience under a shared passion for
ranching, and the voice of all content will aim to reach this goal by using emotion and words of inspiration.

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 Audience

Primary Audience

According to Facebook Analytics, Texas Rancher Girl’s primary audience consists of females ages 35-
65. Ideally, they have a vested interest in ranching and the ranch lifestyle; these women are either the owners
and primary decision makers at their ranch, or are closely related to the primary decision maker, either per-
sonally or professionally.

Facebook analytics show that most of Texas Rancher Girl’s current audience is located in the greater
Houston, Texas area, but the blog’s reach is certainly not limited to just this area or even Texas as a whole.
Because Texas Rancher Girl’s content is focused on ranching and ranch lifestyle, it is important to cater to all
areas where ranching exists.

Texas Rancher Girl’s ideal primary audience speaks English and is mostly working class. Members of
this audience have received some sort of post-secondary education, through a college degree, technical school
or knowledge earned on the ranch. This ideal audience values family, hard work, and tradition; its members
come to Texas Rancher Girl for valuable ranching information and inspiring stories about life on the ranch.

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 Audience

Secondary Audience

Texas Rancher Girl’s ideal secondary audience is broader than the primary audience, encompassing
males and females ages 25-40 years old. The members of this audience have varied levels of experience with
ranching; they range from the seasoned rancher looking for new information to the novice looking to grow
their passion and understanding of the ranch lifestyle.

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 Facebook

Justification

83%
of women are on
84%
of people aged 30-49
72%
of people aged 50-69
Facebook1 are on Facebook1 are on Facebook1

Existing Texas Rancher Girl Facebook Page

963 likes
73%
of current Facebook
43%
of current Facebook
following is female followers are females
aged 35-65

Profile Information

Name: Texas Rancher Girl

Profile Bio: Uniting and connecting the ranching community through ranching knowledge
and inspiring stories of faith, family and hard work.
About: Texas Rancher Girl is your resource for pertinent information and enjoyable stories
focused on ranching producers that are sure to inspire and open your eyes to our ranch life
passions.
Contact info: http://texasranchergirl.com
Milestone Recommendations: Founded date

Posting Times

Content posted on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. gains the most
attention from followers.2 It is recommended that Texas Rancher Girl posts to Facebook once a day between
the hours of 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

1
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#facebook
2
https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook-twitter-instagram/
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 Instagram

Justification

38%
of women are
33%
of people aged 30-49
18%
of people aged 50-69
Instagram users3 are Instagram users3 are Instagram users3

Existing Texas Rancher Girl Instagram

150
followers

Profile Information

Username: texasranchergirl
Profile Bio: Uniting and connecting the ranching community through ranching knowledge
and inspiring stories of faith, family and hard work.
Website Link: http://texasranchergirl.com

Posting Times

Content posted Monday through Friday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. gains the most attention from fol-
lowers. It is recommended that Texas Rancher Girl posts to Instagram on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
4

between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00 p.m.

3
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#instagram
4
https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook-twitter-instagram/

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 Profile Graphics

Facebook

Profile Picture
Using the Texas Rancher Girl logo as the Facebook
profile picture will help keep the audience remain aware of
the brand and its values. This profile picture should remain
constant in order to make the Texas Rancher Girl Facebook
page recognizable by followers at all times.

Cover Photos
Cover photos should remain relevant and in agreement
with the Texas Rancher Girl brand. Cover photos can be
changed to coordinate with events, seasons and other themes.
Below are several examples of cover photos that can be used or
changed any time.

Texas Texas
Rancher Rancher
Girl Girl
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 Hashtags and Themes

Hashtags

Why use hashtags?

According to HubSpot, hashtags tie public conversations from all different users into a single stream,
which can be found by searching for the hashtag.5 By using common hashtags that social media users are
likely to search, the brand will start appearing in more searches and gain a greater reach. Hashtags can also be
used to engage in similar conversations to your posted content.

Brand Specific Hashtags General Hashtags

#BeTheInspiration #Ranch #Ranching

#YourRanchYourStory #RanchLife #FarmToTable

#UnitedInPassion #Brangus #AgChat

#RaisingBrangus #Agriculture

Themes

#WesternWearWednesday

Linda’s background in the fashion world served as the inspiration behind this weekly theme. Every
Wednesday, Texas Rancher Girl’s Facebook and Instagram will feature a fashion item or trend seen on the
ranch. This theme is an opportunity for Linda to share her fashion background with her followers and
support western wear dealers that endorse Texas Rancher Girl.

5
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hashtags-twitter-facebook-instagram

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 Suggested Content

April

• Inspirational posts about Easter (April 1)

• Photos of spring time on the ranch
• Relevant tax information and deadlines (April 17)
• Ladies of Texas Tradition Spring Ride (April 27-29)
• Continue to encourage followers to submit #YourRanchYourStory content

May

• IBBA (International Brangus Breeders) Convention (May 4-7)

• Mother’s Day celebrations and recipes (May 13)
• Photos of spring time on the ranch
• Partner with sponsors to promote giveaways and other contests
• Continue to encourage followers to submit #YourRanchYourStory content

June

• Father’s Day celebrations and recipes (June 17)

• Begin #WesternWearWednesday campaign
• Partner with sponsors to promote giveaways and other contests
• Continue to encourage followers to submit #YourRanchYourStory content

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 Suggested Content

Curated vs. Created Content

According to Hootsuite, content can be categorized as curated or created. Curated is content gathered
from trusted sources relevant to your industry, and created is content produced within your organization.6
We recommend Texas Rancher Girl to maintain a ratio of 70 percent created content and 30 percent curated
content.

Created Content Suggestions

#YourRanchYourStory feature series

Conducting video interviews with ranchers to highlight their ranch story is a great way to generate
relevant content and encourage engagement. These videos should be around 30 seconds in length, and should
be posted on both Facebook and Instagram.
According to Cincopa, video content is the most powerful way to engage consumers and create
meaningful relationships, because the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text.7 Therefore, visual
content is easier to remember, and will help boost brand recognition.

#WorkHardWednesdays

This weekly hashtag can be used as an opportunity to report on the background of each cowboy on
the ranch. Giving Texas Rancher Girl’s audience a closer look at the people on the ranch will help them feel
more connected to and involved with the brand.

Live Streaming via Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are a great way to capture live footage of exciting moments on the ranch or at other
events. Taking live videos of what Linda is doing and experiencing adds value for followers and makes them
feel more connected to the brand.

Polls

Giveaways and Contests

6
https://hootsuite.com/education/courses/social-marketing/content/creation-vs-curation
7
https://www.cincopa.com/blog/5-reasons-why-videos-are-the-future-of-content-marketing/
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 Suggested Content

Created Content Suggestions

Canva

Canva is a free tool that can be used for all basic graphic design needs. Because users respond better to
visual content, interesting photos and graphics are essential to grabbing the attention of Texas Rancher Girl’s
followers. Canva allows users to select preset dimensions for the specific content being created; for example,
Canva has preset dimensions for Facebook and Instagram posts, which eliminates any question about what
size the graphic should be.
Once a size has been selected, users can pick a design from a set of pre-made layouts offered by Canva,
or create a completely original design. Photos can also be uploaded and modified with text, shapes and more
within the software.
We recommend the use of Canva to generate all visual content for Texas Rancher Girl’s social media.
The software is free to use, and the interface is simple and easily accessible. Canva can be accessed at
www.canva.com.

Curated Content Suggestions

Repost App

Repost for Instagram is a free app that makes it easy to repost your favorite photos & videos on
Instagram while giving credit to the original Instagramer. This is a tool that can be useful for curated content
from accounts you follow. Repost app is available on both iPhone and Android. We recommend using Repost
App for all curated content on Instagram to avoid legal risks involved with using content from other accounts.

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 Suggested Content

Reader Submitted Content

Start a campaign to gather content from followers. Reader-submitted content such as stories and
photos will help followers feel more connected to the brand. Arable Media is a platform that functions solely
off of contributor content.8 See below for an example of a contributor submission page.

Content Recomendations

Facebook

• Include link to website on posts to drive audience to website

• Post photos if the main goal is engagement.
• Make conversation by asking questions, and respond to questions or comments.
• Include fun and interesting information, not just promotional
• Give the audience an action to follow through with after engaging with the post, such as “like if you agree”
or “share what you think.”

Instagram

• The shorter the caption, the better. Sometimes the photo can tell a better story than words can.
• However, some posts can be longer to further explain what is taking place in the photo for the user who is
not familiar with ranching processes.
• Posts can be the same on Facebook and Instagram some days, mainly to achieve consistency in messaging.

8
https://arable.squarespace.com/contribute/

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 Competition and Inspiration

Successful Social Media Campaigns

44 Farms - #KnowYourRancher

44 Farms does exceptionally well at maintaining consistent messaging through their hashtag. On
Facebook, they provide a great example of how to respond to questions promptly and succinctly. All of their
visual content promotes their brand, and users interact with their posts on all platforms.

“...we believed it was important

for our retail customers, chefs and
foodservice providers to know the values
and expertise of those to whom they
entrust to provide food for their family,
friends and customers. We want them to
know us – who we are and what drives us.
We believe it is just as important for our
customers who invest in 44 Farms Angus
genetics to know the quality and science of
the genetics they are purchasing, why we
believe these genetics produce profitable
results for producers and the people that
stand behind these genetics.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association - #RanchingLegacy

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association

ran a campaign that utilized submitted content
from followers around the United States showing
the daily activity and life of beef cattle raisers in
different regions of the country. The submissions
explained who submitted the post, what activity
was taking place, and where the photo was taken.
This campaign created a sense of unity and
familiarity among beef cattle raisers all over the
U.S. through shared experience.

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 Competition and Inspiration

Competition

Buzzard’s Beat - www.buzzardsbeat.com

Brandie Buzzard Frobose is a female rancher from Kansas who blogs about her daily life on the ranch,
in the rural community, and in the kitchen cooking her favorite recipes. Most of the content focuses on
sharing information about the agriculture industry, including hot topics like GMOs and animal vaccinations.
Buzzard’s Beat aims to create and facilitate conversations about agriculture.

The Pinke Post - www.thepinkepost.com

Family, food, farming and faith are the main topics of The Pinke Post, a blog by Katie Pinke. Pinke
is a farm wife and mother who lives in rural North Dakota. She is a professional speaker and has extensive
industry knowledge and marketing experience.

Accounts to Follow
Facebook Instagram

• 44 Farms • National FFA Organization • @julietomascik

• Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo • Agriculture Proud • @nationalcattlemensbeef
• John Deere • National Beef Quality Assurance • @granddrive
• International Brangus Breeders • Certified Angus Beef • @arablemedia
• Ranch House Designs, Inc. • Wrangler • @nationalffa
• Texas A&M AgriLife • M.L. Leddy’s • @certifiedangusbeef
• AgriLife Today • ShowChampions Photography • @wrangler
• Texas Farm Bureau • @cavenders
• Beef Loving Texans • @showchampions
• Julie Tomascik • @rfdtvamerican
• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association • @gobrangus
• Drovers Magazine • @44farms
• Ruby Uhart • @rodeohouston
• Williams Ranch Co. • @johndeere
• Buzzard’s Beat • @ranchhousedesigns
• GrandDrive by Arable • @texasfarmbureau
• Arable Media • @texasheritageforliving
• @beeflovingtexans
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 Measurement

Metrics and Analytics

The following recommendations for metrics draw on the three main social media goals established in
the brand section, found on page two of this plan.

Goals for Social Media:

• To drive the audience to the Texas Rancher Girl website through its different social media platforms
• To gain more followers and reach a broader audience on its social media platforms
• To encourage more engagement and facilitate more conversation on social media platforms

Facebook
Drive to website
• Clicks: If you post content that links to your website, Facebook Analytics measure how many people click
the link. This will show you how effective your social media is at driving users to your website.

Gain more followers and reach a broader audience

• Likes (Page): This is the number of people who follow your page. Positive values show that your following
increased during a time period, and negative values show a decrease in followers. Try to see what content
leads to more people liking your page, and post more of that content.
• New Likes (Page): This metric show how many new users have liked your page in a given period.
• Shares: This measures the number of times your post was shared on a user’s own Facebook page via the
share button.
• Organic Reach (post): Post reach is the number of people who have seen your post. Your post counts as
reaching someone when it’s shown in News Feed.
• Paid reach (post): This is the same as Organic Reach, but it measures the number of people who have
seen your post after you have paid to boost the post with advertising.
• Total reach (post): This combines Organic Reach and Paid Reach.

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 Measurement

Facebook
Encourage engagement and facilitate conversation
• Likes/Reactions: This reveals how users feel about content, and is an important indicator for how your
audience feels about what you post.
• Comments: This measures how many people have left feedback on your content, and what that content
says. Pay attention to amount of comments and what users are saying.
• Mentions: This measures people or pages that have mentioned your page. This is useful to see who your
influencers are and helps if you are trying to gain exposure through others.
• Engagement: This measures the number of people that reacted to, shared, clicked or commented on a
specific post.
• Engagement rate: This is found by dividing the number of uses who saw the post by the number of
individuals that reacted to, shared, clicked or commented on a specific post.

Instagram
Drive to website
• This is only available if you pay for Facebook advertising.

Gain more followers and reach a broader audience

• Top Follower: This metric designates which one of your followers has the greatest number of followers on
their own. This is important to recognize because they have a large potential audience.
• New Followers: This number will show how well your campaigns are doing at helping you gain followers.
• Instagram reach percentage: This measures total impressions divided by total number of followers. You
can use this to make decisions regarding reposting content in a new, fresh way if only a small percentage
of your audience saw the post.

Encourage engagement and facilitate conversation

• Engagement: This metric analyzes the number of times users interact with a post. It will show you what
posts are most interactive and which ones aren’t.
• Engagement rate: This rate determines the number of engagements - including likes, mentions and
replies - divided by impressions (how many people actually saw the post). This measure will show you
what percentage of your audience is actually engaging with your content.
• Top mention: This selects the post with the most impressions in which another Instagrammer mentions
your username, helping you find your top influencers you will want to reach out to.
• Top post: This is the post that received the most impressions in a month. Over time, this will tell you what
kinds of content your followers enjoy most.

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 Measurement

Recommended Measurement and Tracking Tools

Free Tools
• Facebook Insights: Insights are viewable from your Facebook Page when you initially log in. This can be
used to schedule posts and measure various performance metrics.
• Union Metrics (Instagram): Union Metrics offers a free version of Instagram Account Checkup that
offers a wide range of metrics. You can see your number of posts, followers and following, and the
recommended time to post based on previous post performance. You can also see who your most popular
follower is, number of interactions, top hashtag and top post.
• Squarelovin (Instagram): This tool allows you to analyze growth, engagement, and number of followers.
You can see the best and worst times to post and whether you’re using top hashtags. You have the option
of viewing daily, weekly and monthly analytics, as well as for individual posts.

Paid Tools
• TrueSocialMetrics (Facebook and Instagram): Measures account performance, content analytics,
audience analytics, provides a competitive analysis, and additional perks such as custom reports that can
be easily downloaded to a printable file.
Small Plan
$30/month
Three Facebook, three Instagram pages
Spreadsheets export plugin
Google Analytics Integration
1 year data history
All reports
3 users
• Sprout Social (Facebook and Instagram): This tool offers complete social media management that allows
you to monitor profiles, keywords and locations; publish, schedule, and draft posts; create a social content
calendar using a given template; and report on group, profile and post-level performance.
Premium Plan
$99 per user/month
10 social profiles
Social content calendar

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 Measurement

Recommended Measurement and Tracking Tools

Paid Tools
• Hootsuite: This tool is a full-service social media platform that has scheduling and analytics features;
content curation tools to help you easily find, manage and share content; monitoring features that allow
you to explore related topics and respond to comments; team management, contest generation, and
security tools to make management and creation easy
Professional Plan
$19/month
10 social profiles
One user
Bulk scheduling
Real-time analytics
Social sweepstakes
Team Plan
$99/month
20 social profiles
Unlimited scheduling
Three users
Six content template
Team management
Custom analytics report
Custom branded URL

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 Management

Time Estimate
Depending which social media management tools you use and the number of posts you plan to create
in a given week, managing Texas Rancher Girl’s Facebook page should take one to two hours per week. As
with Facebook, Instagram planning and management should take about one to two hours per week.

Much of the planning can take place over the weekend or on days when the ranch work is slow. You
can also plan weeks in advance if you anticipate your schedule to be hectic. These time estimates include
content creation and searching for content to curate from sources.

Engagement Strategy
Be sure to respond to all questions and comments on your posts. Address the questions or comments
directly on the post to assure your followers you are knowledgeable and want to interact with them.
Comments of any kind should never be deleted; address the situation and provide a solution within your
response. If a solution can not be reached in the comments, encourage the author of the post to message you
directly.

Crisis Management
During times of natural disasters, national crises, and times of mourning, be cautious of the emotion
and sensitivity of your followers. If necessary, interrupt your social calendar plans with a post expressing your
condolences for the situation, or refrain from posting until the situation has subsided. If you choose to post,
make sure you only post once to avoid dwelling on the situation at hand.

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 Policies

Rules and Regulations

The following policy recommendations were sourced from Hootsuite9

Brand Guidelines
• When talking about the brand and its functions, always refer back to Texas Rancher Girl to reinforce
brand recognition
• All correspondence about the brand should portray positivity, and remain neutral in our biases
• Employees should refrain from posting opinions on personal social media, but if they so desire, they
should provide a disclaimer that states “All opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of Texas
Rancher Girl.”

Étiquette and engagement

• Following and liking pages that conflict with the views of Texas Rancher Girl is permitted to remain
informed about opposing viewpoints.

Confidentiality
• Business records, employee information, and all other information deemed confidential, be it written or
verbal, cannot be shared publicly through social media or other resources.

Roles and Responsibilities

Message Approval
• All messages (captions, posts, shares, blogs, and photos) must be approved by Linda.

Social Engagement
• Employees should maintain constant engagement with any comments or messages on all social media.
Any negative comments must be responded to professionally and promptly.
Response time range is between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

9
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-policy-for-employees/

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 Policies

Potential Legal Risks

Crediting Sources
• If facts or figures are represented in posts or messaging, the source must be cited. Links to the information
should also be included if the messaging allows.

Privacy and Disclosure

• Assure your employees know what information is confidential and non-shareable.

Employee Disclaimers
• Require employees to include a disclaimer when publicly commenting on content related to your business
that identifies them as an employee. Typical disclaimers of this kind read something to the effect of,
“views expressed are mine and don’t necessarily reflect those of my employer”. You may also suggest
employees add such a disclaimer to any publicly accessible bio.

Security Risks

Employee Awareness
• Make sure employees understand how to create secure passwords; avoid scam, spam and other malicious
attacks; and respond accordingly to security breaches or attacks

Accountability
• Employees are responsible for what they publish online, on personal and business accounts.

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 Feature Story

The Next Generation

The average age of the American farmer has recently been of great concern within the agriculture
industry. According to a report by Agricultural Economic Insights, the most recent census data collected in
2010 shows that only 31 percent of American producers are under the age of 35. As the producer population in
the U.S. grows older every day, the question looms: who will fill their shoes?
Ivy Robinson, an agricultural communications and journalism major at Texas A&M, said her early
involvement with youth agriculture programs such as 4-H and FFA sparked her passion for agriculture. Over
the years, that passion has flourished into entrepreneurship; Today, Ivy owns and manages her own herd of
purebred Red Angus cattle.
Programs such as 4-H and FFA have served as a springboard for a lifetime passion and commitment to
agriculture for thousands of kids just like Ivy.
As concern grows in the agriculture industry in the wake of the aging farmer epidemic, it is critical that
organizations such as these continue to receive support, encouragement and recognition.

A lifelong love of agriculture

Ivy’s involvement in agriculture began long before she was born; for three generations, the Robinson
family has maintained a commercial cow-calf operation in Fairfield, Texas. Growing up, Ivy said her father
helped her get started by teaching her about the industry.
“He’s taught me a lot about the industry and why it’s
important,” Ivy said. “I personally feel like it’s a part of me. It’s a
part of my upbringing. I’m very proud of that heritage, and our
operation on the ranch.”
In the fourth grade, Ivy began showing with a Red Angus
heifer purchased by her father.
“My dad decided to start me out with Red Angus because
the cattle are very docile and gentle,” Ivy said. “They are really
great mothers, and their carcass quality is very adequate. They are
a great all around breed.”
Around the same time as her first show, Ivy got involved with her local 4-H chapter. When Ivy’s mother
bought her a point-and-shoot camera, she began entering her photos in contests within 4-H.
“I learned about the photo contests and entered a few pictures of some things I had snapped outside,” Ivy said.
“Really that’s when my photography love began.”
A few years later, Ivy discovered more ways to advocate for agriculture through her involvement in her high
school’s FFA chapter.
“As I got into highschool and started doing FFA events I did a lot of prepared public speaking,” Ivy said.
“Through the prepared public speaking, I kind of found that passion and love for promoting and advocating for
agriculture.”

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 Feature Story

Continuing to College

That love for agriculture inspired Ivy to pursue a degree in agricultural communications and journalism
from Texas A&M.
“I always knew I wanted to come to A&M,” Ivy said. “When I found the agricultural communications
and journalism degree, I was like ‘this is perfect.’”
Through her coursework as a student of agricultural communications and journalism, Ivy has learned
more about photography, writing and marketing. Ivy said she hopes to use the skills she is learning at Texas
A&M to continue advocating for the agriculture industry.
“I love photography, and I could see myself writing and advocating for the agricultural industry through
this major,” Ivy said. “It gives me that agriculture influence, which brings in my ranching history and love for
cattle.”

The herd

Ivy’s love for cattle is reflected in the care she takes with her own herd. Today, Ivy’s herd consists of 10 to
12 purebred Red Angus cattle. Ivy said her goals as a cattlewoman include continuing the commercial aspect of
her family’s cattle operation, while marketing her own herd to the next generation of juniors looking to show.
“I think it’s really exciting to be an entrepreneur, and build your own business and market your own
operation,” Ivy said. “Being able to raise cattle and market them and sell them to juniors, like I was when I got
my first Red Angus show heifer, is something I look forward to.”
Although Ivy has seen great success in growing her
herd, her journey to becoming a successful cattlewoman and
entrepreneur has not come without challenges.
“When you raise cattle, it is always hard,” Ivy said.
“Sometimes the animals don’t breed, and a lot of money is invested
in them, especially the purebred cattle. Say you breed a cow to a
bull and she doesn’t take; you lose that year and that income that
you could bring in.”

Advocating for agriculture

Ivy said she has also faced challenges in the negative

attention the agriculture industry often receives.
“Since agriculture has kind of been portrayed in a negative light, trying to combat those day to day
challenges is hard as well.”

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 Feature Story

In spite of these challenges, Ivy hopes to use the skills she has learned through her industry experience and
studies at Texas A&M to advocate for agriculture.
“Our world depends upon agriculture, and the producers and the farmers who are spending their
everyday lives and time to produce that product and feed the world
ultimately,” Ivy said. “What motivates me is the desire to share what the
industry is all about, and the people who make it up and continue it. It’s
my family. It’s who I am.”

Ivy’s success in agriculture began at a young age when she

developed a love for showing cattle. Ivy said that experience served as the
foundation for her passion.
“Showing gave me a love for the industry and the people,” Ivy
said. “It’s not even just the showing; it’s the people you meet, and the
networking and the things you learn through in the agriculture industry
and through showing.”
Ivy serves as a perfect example of the impact agricultural
organizations and activities can have on youth. As the average age of the
American farmer continues to rise, the agriculture industry can take
comfort in the knowledge that young ranchers like Ivy will be ready to
carry on the tradition.

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 Infographic

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