From Vines to Vision: Shelby Hampton-Watson on Family Farming, Female Grit, & The Surprising Link Between Horses and Hormones

Wednesday, June 11 -  Host and American Family Farmer, Doug Stephan www.eastleighfarm.com shares the news affecting small farmers in America, including a focus on new research from Purdue University suggesting the surge of media coverage had an effect on the price people are paying for eggs. Plus, strong supply fundamentals are pushing cattle and beef prices higher, 70 years after an aerial war against the screwworm — we’re hearing about them again.

Then, Doug introduces us to Shelby Hampton-Watson, owner of Robin Hill Farm and Vineyards in Brandywine, MD. Robin Hill Farm and Vineyards is a family owned farm going back four generations, and is one of the first agri-tourism farms in the 1970s in south Maryland. Shelby went to college for animal science before returning to the family farm and, over the years, diversified the farm to include the vineyards, winery and wedding venue. They are an estate winery, meaning they are a farm-winery and 100% of what they use is produced by them — planted, taken care of, harvested, processed and bottled, and the tasting room are all on the property. Learn more about Robin Hill Farm and Vineyards at https://www.robinhillfarmandvineyards.com.

Additionally, Shelby has several side gigs as an author, speaker, and rural business strategist. She writes for several  agricultural publications, and one of the editorial columns she recently wrote for American Agriculturist is about something she came across during her time as an Animal Science Major in college was PMU (Pregnant Mare Urine) and it’s one of the primary ingredients in hormone replacement therapy for women. It’s a topic that recently came back into Shelby’s consciousness when looking for another topic to write about and decided to share the information with others. You can read the article on https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/horses-and-hormones-the-surprising-link-between-farmers-mares-and-menopause-treatment.

Another venture Shelby has is The Farmed Life (thefarmedlife.org) which empowers women through resources and support to grow; and her book Grace, Grit & Lipstick: Wit & Wisdom for the Modern Female Farmer & her Farm-Curious Friends featuring stories from women in agriculture with their different businesses like entrepreneurs, solarpreneurs, small family farms, backyard and hobby farmers, and anyone linked to the farm-to-table and all-natural-ingredient movements.

Lastly, in Doug’s opinion segment of today’s episode, he discusses the Coalition For A Prosperous America (CPA) that keeps telling us about agriculture and questions a misrepresentation of the agricultural world in America, and why it’s important to get your agricultural news from actual agricultural news sources and not mainstream media.