We’re Chris and Jennie Simms of Southeast, Virginia. Our household is diverse in that one member grew up in a rural community while the other was raised in an urban setting. One’s rural upbringing gave them a love for the land and for agribusiness at a very early age. The other learned to appreciate agriculture in college by joining agriculture related clubs and taking classes that promoted the development and advancement of agriculture and agribusiness. These two varied backgrounds give us a very diverse and passionate love for sustaining our farmlands and promoting their necessity for future generations.
To tell you a little more about us….
Chris was raised on a peanut and cotton farm in southeast Virginia. He spent many hours driving tractors, cultivating crops and living the “country life” on the land that his grandfather and father worked for years to acquire and maintain as stewards of the land. His rural upbringing gave him a love for the land and for agribusiness at a very early age. Chris planned on returning to the family farm after college, however, while his father recovered from a heart attack during the summer of 1996 and Chris became responsible for the daily operations of the farm, he realized that farming on a full-time basis was not necessarily for him. He still wanted to be closely connected with agriculture and have a significant impact on production agriculture therefore he pursued a career in the Agriculture lending industry, where he’s been since 1999.
Jennie grew up in subdivisions of Georgia and North Carolina. Prior to college, her agriculture background consisted of her family’s seasonal flower and vegetable gardens. Upon meeting Chris in college she was introduced to agriculture related clubs and classes that promoted the development and advancement of agriculture and agribusiness, here she learned to appreciate agriculture too. Jennie worked in administrative roles within the pork industry for the past eight years allowing her to be directly involved in production and promotion of the pork industry. She is a licensed Realtor® focused on working with buyers and sellers of rural properties.
We currently reside on Chris’ family’s farm, were the production of row crops continues on an annual basis. We also have 9 acres of established wildlife habitat plots consisting of a mix of clover and annuals, such as grain sorghum, forage soybeans and turnips.
We jointly serve as one of the Southeast District representatives on the Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmer committee and work to actively promote the positive aspects of agriculture within our district and beyond. We’re both extremely active in our community holding leadership positions within multiple organizations.
The purpose of this blog….
Our passion for agriculture drives us to spread the positive message of agriculture. Today, there are too many negative stories about agriculture that are simply not true. It is our belief that sharing the true stories of agriculture will overcome these negatives influences, and correct the misconceptions that exist today.
We hope to share with you the stories from our daily lives of living in the country; true stories of some remarkable people…our local farmers and their families; recipes featuring locally grown agriculture products; corrections of misinformation/misrepresentations being spread by anti-agriculture activist groups; and information on books from the Agriculture In The Classroom program that we’re donating to our local public libraries.
Agtually…promoting agriculture for future generations.
Tags: Farm, love, production agriculture, seasonal flower