California grown, Stephanie Nash, talks about her family moving from the Golden State of California to Tennessee to pursue a life in agriculture and what her life looks like now.
When it comes to agriculture and country music, you won’t find anyone more passionate than Stephanie Nash. You’ve seen her on Fox News with Tucker Carlson and you’ve heard her on the radio. She is a force to be reckoned with and stands with and for American farmers and ranchers across the country. It was an honor to do this interview with her to learn a bit more about her journey and what we can expect to see from her moving forward.
Krysta: To get us started, can you give our audience a little bit of background on yourself and your story?
Stephanie: My family and I are originally from Central California and I was born and raised in the valley my whole life. We had a dairy farm in Selma, California and my dad was on pretty much every farm and dairy board you can imagine. In 2010, we started to look for an exit strategy for getting out of California. We talked about selling the cows and doing almonds or walnuts, but I was not very interested in the crop side, I really wanted to stay on the livestock side of things. We started looking at places in Texas, but they started having problems with drought so we didn’t think it would be a good idea to go from a state that already has problems with water to another one. In 2013, we found an old walking horse farm in Shelbyville, Tennessee, which is the walking horse capital of the world and we’ve been milking there for about nine years now.
In 2019 we started to build the creamery and by 2020 we opened the creamery to the public. We make and sell our own ice cream, and grilled cheeses, and then add our own cheese from our cheese plant in 2021. We also created an agritourism spot for people to come out from the city and learn about agriculture and have access to locally grown products.
Krysta: You’ve been in agriculture your whole life, but how does music play a role in that?
Stephanie: I always knew that I wanted to have a career in agriculture as it’s something I’ve always been connected to. I found, when you’re in agriculture, a lot of people listen to country music and a lot of artists I listened to growing up like, Dolly Parton, Reba, Ronnie Dunn, and George Strait grew up on cattle ranches or had cattle at some point in their life. So I really connected with 90’s music because of the stories and lifestyle portrayed in the songs. My goal for my own music was to capture that lifestyle of growing up on a farm, write my own music, and share it with the world.
Krysta: Did growing up in agriculture help shape your career in music?
Stephanie: Growing up in agriculture makes you a hard worker and that has definitely carried over into my music career. I’ve always been a fighter for what I believe in and so when I have conversations with publishers or recording producers, I really want to know if they are going to try to change me down the road or encourage my artistic values and what I believe in.
Krysta: What did the beginning of your journey in agriculture advocacy look like?
Stephanie: I went to Fresno State and had some amazing professors that were also advocates for agriculture, working to strengthen California agriculture. So when I moved to Tennessee, I wanted to do the same thing and make sure agriculture wasn’t going to be an afterthought. During Covid, there was a big shift in funding being taken away from livestock farmers, enough so that a lot of them were going out of business. So when it got hard for farming families and friends, I saw an opportunity to promote our lifestyle and started advocating online. I’m really passionate about people working in the livestock industry and also having a say in what they do. Our jobs are hard enough and then, in addition, we are sacrificing a lot of time and money to be a voice for agriculture. Our purpose is to educate the public about where their food comes from and to help them understand that we’re not the enemy, we are just working to try to increase our food security here in the United States.
Krysta: Where has your advocacy journey led you?
Stephanie: When it comes to my local advocacy in Tennessee, it’s a little bit different because I really have a passion for kids. While I don’t have any myself, I grew up with such great mentors and I want our state to have that as well. I’ve really taken on the opportunity to connect with families in regard to where their food comes from. I’ve held about six farm camps, and they get to milk the cow, where the babies come from, and their health. Tennessee has been one of the best states we could have moved to because we have so many farmers’ markets and people moving from other states that are excited to buy local and support family farms.
Krysta: Advocacy can be a tough subject for farmers and ranchers to talk about. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start advocating for agriculture?
Stephanie: For people that want to start sharing, I think it’s really important for us to start getting our information from the farmers and ranchers that are working to educate us. There are so many great advocates out there doing the best they can, speaking at events, going to conferences, and really getting back to having the conversation about where our food comes from and how to make the food system better. Getting on national news has been life-changing for me because it has created so many new relationships and I’m helping get other farmers on TV to talk about what’s going on in their own communities. Now Americans have the opportunity to see how they can help their rural communities when they need it most. I think people like to hear the stories of those feeding America and sharing the correct information is so important for our country and our future.
Krysta: Where do you hope to see the future of agriculture go?
Stephanie: I truly hope that people start to see the value of the family farmer and rancher, because they bring a lot to the table. We want you to know where your food is coming from and that’s going to go away if we continue to dismiss the conversation. Close to 97% of the farms in this country are family farms and there’s massive value there, but people need to be able to appreciate that statistic.
Krysta: What can music and ag fans alike expect from you in 2023?
Stephanie: I have a series called The Life of a Farmer that I’m really working to get back up and running and I also took on a big position with Turning Point to be their Agriculture Ambassador. Music has been on the back burner for me but you’re gonna be seeing some new music from me this year as well.
If you want to follow along with Stephanie Nash and her journey in agriculture and her career in music, you can find her on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook or follow her cheese journey at NashCheeseCo.com.
All images were provided by Stephanie.
Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine
This article with Stephanie Nash was created for the Spring Issue of the Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine which was released in April 2023. You can catch this article and many more by checking out the full issue. For more information on Cowboy Lifestyle Magazine, visit the website here.
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