Nicole Harrison Shares Her Passion for Farming
Nicole Harrison raises pigs, corn, soybeans and wheat on her family farm in Onaga. Nicole was kind enough to take time out of her busy farm life to share her background and passion for agriculture. Here's what she had to say.
Why are you passionate about agriculture?
Agriculture is such an innovative industry. We use so much technology in everything we do; whether that is raising livestock or growing crops. The methods we use are also constantly evolving along with the technology. We can analyze our decisions and adapt our methods based on the results. That may mean we try a different temperature on a room to help the pigs eat better or try a different feed ration that is more efficient. We may also use a different fertilizer rate, planting rate or variety to get better yield results. It is fun to apply new information you learn to your operation and then see if that information benefitted you or not.
What's your favorite part of your job?
I love that every day at my job is something different, and I am constantly learning. I also directly get to see the outcome of the decisions I make each day, whether that is in how well our pigs grow up or how our crops yield. Plus, I get to see baby pigs every day and they are pretty darn cute.
What brought you into your job?
I grew up on a family farm, but it was always my intention to do something else. I actually ended up at the farm through a lot of figuring out what I didn’t like. I started off college moving to Kansas City, Missouri, and attending the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) to be a genetic counselor. After some trial and error, I ended up transferring to Kansas State University and later out of a biology major into agronomy in the Plant Science and Biotechnology program. I chose to pursue a master’s degree in plant pathology with the intention of being a sales agronomist for a seed company. As I was finishing writing my thesis, I worked at our family farm part time because it was convenient. It was then that I learned there was so much more to running our farm than even I realized, and I had grown up around it my entire life. It was, and still is, a fun challenge to put everything together and to do it well.
What else would you like to share?
My main hobby currently is raising our three girls. They love farming with me and helping with the baby pigs. It is a blessing to be able to share what I do with them and for them to enjoy it as well. I hope that continues as they grow up and that eventually at least one of them finds their way back to the farm after college.
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