Female Farmers Highlight Agriculture Experience on Social Media

Midland Radio has been working with three sisters who are farmers in New York. The family uses Midland MicroMobiles and walkie talkies to communicate on their farm as they share their agriculture experience with others on social media.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK FARM GIRLS

 Evelyn, Claudia, and JoJo Lebuner live with their family on a farm in the Finger Lakes region in the state of New York.

The farm has over 1,000 cows, 1,800 acres of crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, and also 70 acres of pumpkins.

Of the over 1,000 cows, there are 500 milk cows part of the Lebuner family dairy operation. 

JoJo is 17, Claudia 20, and Evelyn 23. 

WORKING ON THE FAMILY FARM

Claudia has just returned from college at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She has since decided to take class online and work on the family farm.

“I always knew I would stay within the farming realm, but I just didn’t think I would be coming back to our home farm this early. They always say that you’ll come back home once you leave your roots. I didn’t believe them, but they’re definitely right," she said. 

She loves getting to be around her family as much as possible. 

“As much of a struggle it is somedays, I really do enjoy working with my family. It’s definitely brought us closer and some days are better than others, but I really do like that part of it," she added.

Claudia also appreciates the challenges that come with working on the farm.

“Farming is such a satisfying job. You plant things in the spring and then harvest in the fall to make a living. I think having your whole life in Mother Nature’s hands and having to trust in that is something that is really unique.”

With 70 acres of pumpkins, the family has turned the patch into an agri-tourism hot spot. That's where Claudia originally imagined she would make her mark on the farm.

“We have our pumpkin farm so I’ve just been planning on working on that since we’ve turned it into an agri-tourism space so we have a brewery, bakery, different mazes, and pumpkins of course. Now, I’m working on the crop and equipment portion of our dairy side.”

Once the fall comes and the pumpkins are ready, busy season begins.

“It’s all hands on deck.”

CONNECTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The Lebuner girls started their social media efforts, "New York Farm Girls" in 2015.

“We just had all these pictures on our phones. We all started in the calf barn in middle school so we were always together, goofing around. We knew none of our friends and followers from school didn’t care about cows so we decided to make a whole separate account.”

Claudia loves connecting with others in all aspects of agriculture from all over the country and world. 

“It is so cool to be in a community where everyone is so alike, but also so different. You’re able to talk about farming without people getting bored. You also feel a lot less alone when you’re getting to know others in the agriculture community online.”

She also said social media is a great way for people to learn from one another and offer up any necessary support.

“In New York we don’t really live in an area where there are tons of farms so it’s cool to meet people who have your back and understand what you’re going through.”

The Lebuner sisters have over 145,000 followers on Instagram. 

USING WALKIE TALKIES AND MICROMOBILES ON THE FARM

Before working with Midland Radio, the Lebuners never had any sort of radio communication on the farm. 

"We used to just use hand signals and hand gestures. It drove me up a wall. I could not understand anything anyone was trying to communicate. It was confusing and our communication was just terrible.”

Cellphones weren't working well between spotty service and an inefficiency when people were unable to answer.

The Lebuners have MXT500AGVP3 Farm Bundles, MXT115AGVP MicroMobile® Two-Way Radio Bundle, and X-TALKER T71VP3 walkie talkies. 

“We all have radios in our tractors and trucks. We’re able to have way better communication. It really went from 0 to 100. They’ve been life changers," Claudia Lebuner said.

Push to talk communication has made their lives on the farm much easier and organized. The MicroMobiles® have solved the issue of whether or not people are able to answer their phones.

“Some of our fields don’t have reception. My dad would have been trying to call me and I couldn’t answer because I had zero bars. Now, we have radios and we can reach each other anywhere. It makes a difference.”

Walkie talkies are especially useful for the team as they are able move around easily, improving efficiency on the farm.

“We all kind of grab walkie talkies in the morning. Sometimes the people in the cow barn will even grab them because the barns are so long you don’t want to have to walk all the way back and forth just to talk to someone.”

The Lebuners also feel that the MicroMobiles® and walkie talkies have lent a hand in improving safety on the farm. 

“When nobody knows what is going on, it can be dangerous. When we use the radios we’ll tell one another if there is a low hanging wire, a car coming on the road, or which cows might be acting up a little that day. Midland’s products have been making our farm a lot safer.”