Alice Hodges (@thecalfgirl)
Alice Hodges is originally from the UK, but now lives in Kildare, where she works as a relief milker and contract calf rearer. While she didn’t grow up on a farm, her Instagram account @thecalfgirl shares her alternative entry route to agriculture and also challenges myths around farming. She is also on Twitter @thecalfgirl
When Alice first decided to pursue a future in farming, some people were, well, less than understanding.
“There was definitely people that turned around and were like, ‘Oh, are you sure you wouldn’t rather be a hairdresser?’” she recalls. “But I was pretty sure in my own mind that that was what I wanted to do.”
While Alice Hodges didn’t grow up on a farm, her Instagram account @thecalfgirl shares her alternative entry route to agriculture. \ Claire Nash
While Alice grew up in “dairy county” in the UK, she was not raised on a farm. As a teenager, however, she used to babysit for her neighbours who were dairy farmers, which was where she caught the bug after they invited her to try milking. “I went down one Sunday and that was that,” she recalls. “I never felt nervous around cattle, it always felt quite natural to work with them, be around them and it just felt like it was the right fit for me.”
After school, Alice completed a diploma in agriculture, followed by a degree in agri-business management at the University of Reading. While she was definitely “in the minority” having not grown up on a farm, she was reassured that this should not hinder her.
Alice did a placement in New Zealand, which was where she met her Irish boyfriend, Sean
“I remember them saying in some aspects they’d rather people come in with no experience but the determination to learn, so you’re not coming in with bad habits or pre-conceived ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong and you can learn everything the proper way from scratch,” says Alice.
As part of her degree, Alice did a placement in New Zealand, which was where she met her Irish boyfriend, Sean, and decided to move to Ireland two years ago. At present, she is relief milking on two dairy farms in Kildare, but come springtime, will go full-time into calf rearing. She especially enjoys this role, as “you can see when you’ve done a good job: you’ve got healthier, happier and strong-growing calves.”
She set up her Instagram account @thecalfgirl last spring to share her day-to-day life in dairying as she was “so sick and tired of seeing posts on social media bashing farming”. Last February, for instance, she took part in the #Februdairy campaign where she asked non-farming friends and followers for their questions eg why they use AI, how calves are reared, and wrote posts on the topics.
I’ve had it said to me before, ‘Oh you can’t teach someone how to farm, it’s in your blood and if it’s not in your blood, then you’ll never be any good’
Long-term, Alice and Sean – a beef manager – hope to farm together.
“That’s definitely the dream, whether it’s through leasing a farm or a share-farming agreement or whether we go in as joint managers somewhere,” she says. “Something along those lines is definitely more achievable and attainable than the hopes of being able to buy our own land.”
Until then, she hopes that by sharing her journey on social media, she can show that you don’t have to be born into a farm to work in agriculture.
“I’ve had it said to me before, ‘Oh you can’t teach someone how to farm, it’s in your blood and if it’s not in your blood, then you’ll never be any good’,” she says.
“I think you can’t have that kind of a mindset; otherwise the industry is not going to progress forward.”
Ruth Parkes (@ruths_farming_life)
A pharmacy dispensary assistant by day, Ruth Parkes is also a proud fifth-generation farmer.
Ruth Parkes lives in Drumhillery, Co Armagh. She set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life after starting her own pedigree beef Shorthorn herd in 2019, and has since co-founded the Agriwomen blog. She is also on Twitter @RuthParkes
A pharmacy dispensary assistant by day, Ruth Parkes is also a proud fifth-generation farmer. But while her parents, Eric and Shirley, have a Limousin suckler herd, she was determined to start something in her own right when she set up Parkview Shorthorns in August 2019.
“Limousins are a great breed of cattle; but they’re just not the breed I wanted to have,” says Ruth, who “fell in love” with Shorthorns due to their temperament and dual purpose.
“So I ended up buying eight pedigree Shorthorn heifers and then I bought another four in the space of a couple of months, so I had 12 at Christmas… the goal was to have two or three!”
Ruth explains that while she and her sister did all the normal jobs growing up on the family farm, her studies took precedence as a teenager and it was only in her twenties that she rediscovered her love for farming.
Ruth Parkes set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life after starting her own pedigree beef Shorthorn herd in 2019, and has since co-founded the “Agriwomen” blog.
“It was me coming into farming in my own right,” she reflects. “It was me doing it by myself, for myself. It was me creating a future for me.”
Along with starting her herd, however, Ruth also set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life to share the highs and lows of life on the land with others on the same journey.
“It’s great to be able to talk to other women – not just in Northern Ireland, but from all over the UK and Ireland,” she says.
“As a farmer, you are always under so much pressure. It’s long hours, it’s a very isolating job and even in my line of work – yes I see people as a dispensary assistant – but the girls I work with who don’t come from a farming background don’t necessarily want me to talk all day about my cows!”
I think sometimes women play so many hidden roles on the farm
Through Instagram, Ruth met Kathryn Taylor, a dairy farmer in North Wales. Initially, their plan was to collaborate to share their farming journeys, but their #agriwomen24 social media campaign took on a life of its own last June as many other women joined in. This has since led to their blog, (agriwomen.weebly.com) profiling women in the industry.
For Ruth, it’s important “to show the variety of roles” that women fulfil on farms.
“I think sometimes women play so many hidden roles on the farm that maybe they don’t think they’re an important part of the farming industry; but they are,” she says.
“And it’s just connecting more women, for them to have friendships and just to inspire each other. Because women have been farming for generations and for women to be a talking point at this point, it really shouldn’t be happening; but it is.”
Something I’m passionate about is producing local beef
Ruth’s herd continues to grow: she bought her first Shorthorn stock bull in April, and also has five calves. While currently embarking on a two year pharmacy technician course, her long-term ambition is to establish herself as a Shorthorn breeder and eventually look at farming full-time.
“I would love to maybe do my own beef boxes,” she says. “Something I’m passionate about is producing local beef.”
In the meantime, she hopes to encourage more women to share their farming stories.
“You never know whose day that could change,” she says. “Some days you could think, ‘Oh I don’t think I’m really cut out for this’, but it just takes that one post for someone to say, ‘Look this is where I started and this is where I am now. You can do it’,”
Miriam and Rachel Hastings
(@keeping_up_with_the_hastings)
Sisters Rachel (left) and Miriam (right) Hastings are both teachers and live on a beef and sheep farm in Ballyforan, on the Galway-Roscommon border. \ Claire Nash
Sisters Miriam and Rachel Hastings are both teachers and live on a beef and sheep farm in Ballyforan, on the Galway-Roscommon border. During lockdown, they set up their Instagram account @keeping_up_with_the_hastings to share their life on the farm in springtime to bring some positivity to social media.
With Keeping Up With The Kardashians coming to an end, could Keeping Up With The Hastings fill that gap?
Well, if you’re interested in the beef data and genomics programme or farm safety in the west of Ireland (as opposed to the Kardashian-Wests), it certainly will.
The Instagram account is a joint venture by sisters Miriam and Rachel Hastings sharing their life on the family farm, where they live with their parents, Claude and Monica. Together, they operate a mixed beef and sheep enterprise, which also includes a Charollais pedigree herd.
“We are a bit Charolais-obsessed on this farm,” laughs Miriam, “but just because both of them are easy lambing and easy calving.”
The sisters explain that as their mother Monica is the full-time farmer at home, it was always a given that they would be involved, though career wise, they both pursued education: Miriam is a primary school teacher in Edenderry, while Rachel teaches home economics in Ballinasloe.
Once the schools closed in March, however, they were inspired to set up their Instagram account to share some much-needed positivity.
“We wanted to show that life was still going on and no better way to showcase that than during springtime,” says Miriam. “We had our lambs, we had our calves and we also had our vegetable garden.”
Miriam and Rachel Hastings operate a mixed beef and sheep enterprise, which also includes a Charolais pedigree herd. \ Claire Nash
Since their first post, the sisters have shared their insights into everything from animal husbandry to the best wet gear for outdoor work. And while they are now back in the classroom, evenings and weekends on the farm are sacrosanct.
“We feel it gives great balance to our lives,” says Rachel, who like Miriam, feels that her experience on the farm allows her to engage with her students and bring her subject to life in the all boys’ school that she teaches in.
“A lot of the students come from a farming background, so to be able to link it to farming really engages the students,” she explains.
There’s no one definition of a farmer
“For example, this week I’m going to be teaching about milk and the processing of milk and to link it back to who has a dairy farm here and where does your milk go?”
They have also connected with other young women in agriculture through the social media platform, which they say has helped their “drive” to inspire the next generation in agriculture.
“There’s no one definition of a farmer,” says Miriam. “As long as you have a love for what you are doing and you’re passionate about it like myself and Rachel, it’s a very enjoyable job.”
Read more
International Women’s Day: inspiring women to follow on Instagram - part one
There’s something about Mary
Alice Hodges (@thecalfgirl)
Alice Hodges is originally from the UK, but now lives in Kildare, where she works as a relief milker and contract calf rearer. While she didn’t grow up on a farm, her Instagram account @thecalfgirl shares her alternative entry route to agriculture and also challenges myths around farming. She is also on Twitter @thecalfgirl
When Alice first decided to pursue a future in farming, some people were, well, less than understanding.
“There was definitely people that turned around and were like, ‘Oh, are you sure you wouldn’t rather be a hairdresser?’” she recalls. “But I was pretty sure in my own mind that that was what I wanted to do.”
While Alice Hodges didn’t grow up on a farm, her Instagram account @thecalfgirl shares her alternative entry route to agriculture. \ Claire Nash
While Alice grew up in “dairy county” in the UK, she was not raised on a farm. As a teenager, however, she used to babysit for her neighbours who were dairy farmers, which was where she caught the bug after they invited her to try milking. “I went down one Sunday and that was that,” she recalls. “I never felt nervous around cattle, it always felt quite natural to work with them, be around them and it just felt like it was the right fit for me.”
After school, Alice completed a diploma in agriculture, followed by a degree in agri-business management at the University of Reading. While she was definitely “in the minority” having not grown up on a farm, she was reassured that this should not hinder her.
Alice did a placement in New Zealand, which was where she met her Irish boyfriend, Sean
“I remember them saying in some aspects they’d rather people come in with no experience but the determination to learn, so you’re not coming in with bad habits or pre-conceived ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong and you can learn everything the proper way from scratch,” says Alice.
As part of her degree, Alice did a placement in New Zealand, which was where she met her Irish boyfriend, Sean, and decided to move to Ireland two years ago. At present, she is relief milking on two dairy farms in Kildare, but come springtime, will go full-time into calf rearing. She especially enjoys this role, as “you can see when you’ve done a good job: you’ve got healthier, happier and strong-growing calves.”
She set up her Instagram account @thecalfgirl last spring to share her day-to-day life in dairying as she was “so sick and tired of seeing posts on social media bashing farming”. Last February, for instance, she took part in the #Februdairy campaign where she asked non-farming friends and followers for their questions eg why they use AI, how calves are reared, and wrote posts on the topics.
I’ve had it said to me before, ‘Oh you can’t teach someone how to farm, it’s in your blood and if it’s not in your blood, then you’ll never be any good’
Long-term, Alice and Sean – a beef manager – hope to farm together.
“That’s definitely the dream, whether it’s through leasing a farm or a share-farming agreement or whether we go in as joint managers somewhere,” she says. “Something along those lines is definitely more achievable and attainable than the hopes of being able to buy our own land.”
Until then, she hopes that by sharing her journey on social media, she can show that you don’t have to be born into a farm to work in agriculture.
“I’ve had it said to me before, ‘Oh you can’t teach someone how to farm, it’s in your blood and if it’s not in your blood, then you’ll never be any good’,” she says.
“I think you can’t have that kind of a mindset; otherwise the industry is not going to progress forward.”
Ruth Parkes (@ruths_farming_life)
A pharmacy dispensary assistant by day, Ruth Parkes is also a proud fifth-generation farmer.
Ruth Parkes lives in Drumhillery, Co Armagh. She set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life after starting her own pedigree beef Shorthorn herd in 2019, and has since co-founded the Agriwomen blog. She is also on Twitter @RuthParkes
A pharmacy dispensary assistant by day, Ruth Parkes is also a proud fifth-generation farmer. But while her parents, Eric and Shirley, have a Limousin suckler herd, she was determined to start something in her own right when she set up Parkview Shorthorns in August 2019.
“Limousins are a great breed of cattle; but they’re just not the breed I wanted to have,” says Ruth, who “fell in love” with Shorthorns due to their temperament and dual purpose.
“So I ended up buying eight pedigree Shorthorn heifers and then I bought another four in the space of a couple of months, so I had 12 at Christmas… the goal was to have two or three!”
Ruth explains that while she and her sister did all the normal jobs growing up on the family farm, her studies took precedence as a teenager and it was only in her twenties that she rediscovered her love for farming.
Ruth Parkes set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life after starting her own pedigree beef Shorthorn herd in 2019, and has since co-founded the “Agriwomen” blog.
“It was me coming into farming in my own right,” she reflects. “It was me doing it by myself, for myself. It was me creating a future for me.”
Along with starting her herd, however, Ruth also set up her Instagram account @ruths_farming_life to share the highs and lows of life on the land with others on the same journey.
“It’s great to be able to talk to other women – not just in Northern Ireland, but from all over the UK and Ireland,” she says.
“As a farmer, you are always under so much pressure. It’s long hours, it’s a very isolating job and even in my line of work – yes I see people as a dispensary assistant – but the girls I work with who don’t come from a farming background don’t necessarily want me to talk all day about my cows!”
I think sometimes women play so many hidden roles on the farm
Through Instagram, Ruth met Kathryn Taylor, a dairy farmer in North Wales. Initially, their plan was to collaborate to share their farming journeys, but their #agriwomen24 social media campaign took on a life of its own last June as many other women joined in. This has since led to their blog, (agriwomen.weebly.com) profiling women in the industry.
For Ruth, it’s important “to show the variety of roles” that women fulfil on farms.
“I think sometimes women play so many hidden roles on the farm that maybe they don’t think they’re an important part of the farming industry; but they are,” she says.
“And it’s just connecting more women, for them to have friendships and just to inspire each other. Because women have been farming for generations and for women to be a talking point at this point, it really shouldn’t be happening; but it is.”
Something I’m passionate about is producing local beef
Ruth’s herd continues to grow: she bought her first Shorthorn stock bull in April, and also has five calves. While currently embarking on a two year pharmacy technician course, her long-term ambition is to establish herself as a Shorthorn breeder and eventually look at farming full-time.
“I would love to maybe do my own beef boxes,” she says. “Something I’m passionate about is producing local beef.”
In the meantime, she hopes to encourage more women to share their farming stories.
“You never know whose day that could change,” she says. “Some days you could think, ‘Oh I don’t think I’m really cut out for this’, but it just takes that one post for someone to say, ‘Look this is where I started and this is where I am now. You can do it’,”
Miriam and Rachel Hastings
(@keeping_up_with_the_hastings)
Sisters Rachel (left) and Miriam (right) Hastings are both teachers and live on a beef and sheep farm in Ballyforan, on the Galway-Roscommon border. \ Claire Nash
Sisters Miriam and Rachel Hastings are both teachers and live on a beef and sheep farm in Ballyforan, on the Galway-Roscommon border. During lockdown, they set up their Instagram account @keeping_up_with_the_hastings to share their life on the farm in springtime to bring some positivity to social media.
With Keeping Up With The Kardashians coming to an end, could Keeping Up With The Hastings fill that gap?
Well, if you’re interested in the beef data and genomics programme or farm safety in the west of Ireland (as opposed to the Kardashian-Wests), it certainly will.
The Instagram account is a joint venture by sisters Miriam and Rachel Hastings sharing their life on the family farm, where they live with their parents, Claude and Monica. Together, they operate a mixed beef and sheep enterprise, which also includes a Charollais pedigree herd.
“We are a bit Charolais-obsessed on this farm,” laughs Miriam, “but just because both of them are easy lambing and easy calving.”
The sisters explain that as their mother Monica is the full-time farmer at home, it was always a given that they would be involved, though career wise, they both pursued education: Miriam is a primary school teacher in Edenderry, while Rachel teaches home economics in Ballinasloe.
Once the schools closed in March, however, they were inspired to set up their Instagram account to share some much-needed positivity.
“We wanted to show that life was still going on and no better way to showcase that than during springtime,” says Miriam. “We had our lambs, we had our calves and we also had our vegetable garden.”
Miriam and Rachel Hastings operate a mixed beef and sheep enterprise, which also includes a Charolais pedigree herd. \ Claire Nash
Since their first post, the sisters have shared their insights into everything from animal husbandry to the best wet gear for outdoor work. And while they are now back in the classroom, evenings and weekends on the farm are sacrosanct.
“We feel it gives great balance to our lives,” says Rachel, who like Miriam, feels that her experience on the farm allows her to engage with her students and bring her subject to life in the all boys’ school that she teaches in.
“A lot of the students come from a farming background, so to be able to link it to farming really engages the students,” she explains.
There’s no one definition of a farmer
“For example, this week I’m going to be teaching about milk and the processing of milk and to link it back to who has a dairy farm here and where does your milk go?”
They have also connected with other young women in agriculture through the social media platform, which they say has helped their “drive” to inspire the next generation in agriculture.
“There’s no one definition of a farmer,” says Miriam. “As long as you have a love for what you are doing and you’re passionate about it like myself and Rachel, it’s a very enjoyable job.”
Read more
International Women’s Day: inspiring women to follow on Instagram - part one
There’s something about Mary
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