How did you get interested in agriculture? And what are you hoping to gain from your apprenticeship?
May 2025
When reflecting on when I first became interested in agriculture, my mind goes to the ranch where I learned how to ride. Diamond D Ranch is located in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida and is a working cattle ranch that also offers trail rides. I first started taking riding lessons there when I was about 8 years old, after begging my mom for weeks. As I continued to ride there, I began to think more and more about the cattle that were raised. By the age of 14, I came to the conclusion that most cattle are not raised how they are at Diamond D, and furthermore that their environmental impact was detrimental to increasing global temperatures. So, my naive entry into 7 years of vegetarianism began.
Fast forward 7 years, I am a biology student in college. After numerous ecology centered classes, I began to gain an interest in agriculture and how it interacts with the environment. After some research, I discovered the topic of “regenerative agriculture.” This is obviously a subjective and vastly generalizing term, but it is what drew me in. I could consume meat that I knew was raised in an ethical manner for the animal and often was actually helping to heal the land and create carbon stores, thus mitigating the rising climate. I could also support the farmer or rancher who put time and effort into raising that animal. All of this clicked for me. Soon, I decided I wanted to be part of the producing end of it. I am interested in agriculture because I want to raise animals that are healthy and help the land by being put back into their natural disturbance regime. I want to do away with the stigma that I leaned into at the young age of 14 that all cattle ranching is detrimental to the planet and accentuating global temperatures.
After finding the Quivera apprenticeship program, I have spent hours upon hours daydreaming about what it will be like and what I hope to gain from it. The most concise answer is that I hope by the end of the apprenticeship to be a sponge full of water ready to be squeezed. I want to gain information and practical skills that I can take with me wherever I go. I have not come from an agricultural background, so this is my first hands-on experience. I want to take full advantage of all the learning there is to be done. I hope that through this apprenticeship, I will be able to gain a better understanding of the direction I want to take my life in, and if ecologically-minded production agriculture is truly my passion.
Final Reflections
November 2025
I can clearly remember sitting in my college dorm room reading through previous apprentices’ reflections posted on Quivira’s website. This was only 8 short months ago. To think that I am now the one writing the reflection carries a real level of significance to me.
I came into this apprenticeship knowing that it was going to be one of the hardest things I have done. I thought I knew what a challenge was. I thought I knew how to fully commit to a lifestyle. I did not truly understand any of these things until coming to the Veebaray. Apprenticing here has been the hardest but most rewarding thing I have ever done.
Each day that I am here working under my mentor Jim Spinner, I learn something new. Along with learning something new, I also feel as if I come into my own a little more each day. I believe that these two things correlate with one another and are largely due to my mentor. Jim has taught me things I never would have thought I would know how to do: welding, torching, fixing leaks, dealing with electric fences. He also has taught me things that I came in knowing I wanted to learn, such as low stress stockmanship and managed grazing strategies. I can easily say that I am coming out of this apprenticeship with confidence, knowledge, and practical skills because of Jim.
When I think back to my hardest days during the summer, they almost all involve water. Water is a limited resource, which proves inconvenient when the cows need it to survive. I don’t know how many times I have said the words “I hate water” this summer. While it has proven difficult, dealing with the issues that come along with water has taught me that it all works out in the end. The cows will survive. They may have to go back to a paddock they previously grazed in order to have access to water, but it will be okay. It is worth it to pick and choose your battles and weigh the level of significance of the issues at hand.
I have learned to find the good in each and every day, even the ones where you have to search high and low to find it. Looking back on the best days of my apprenticeship, most of them include riding alongside Jim to move cows. The land at the Veebaray is special. There seems to be endless wrinkles. Getting to experience this on horseback, learning stockmanship, with good company- what else could a girl want? The highlight of my summer was our head and heel branding. It was amazing to get to see how horsemanship and stockmanship can work in unity during a stressful experience such as branding. I was able to learn so much from such wonderful people over only the two days that we branded.
Next, I am planning to do a second year apprenticeship at Mannix Ranch. I am greatly looking forward to learning how a larger operation functions and expanding my skill set through another season of the NAP program. I am excited to continue to learn and make meaningful connections with those I work alongside. Further in the future, I am interested in going to graduate school for rangeland management. My long term goal is to manage intensive grazing of an operation. That goal feels very far away, but I know I am taking the correct steps by finishing up apprenticing at the Veebaray and continuing on to do a second year at Mannix.
This summer has been an investment in myself, and I could not be more content with it. I owe it all to my mentor, Jim Spinner, as he invested in me as well. To anyone reading this contemplating applying to the NAP program, take the jump. Invest in yourself. I promise you it will be one of the hardest yet most rewarding seasons of your life.