Maryland Livestock Farmer Took Alternate Route to Agriculture

Jamie Tiralla didn’t expect to be a farmer, even though she grew up close to Monnett Farms, her livestock farm in Prince Frederick, Maryland.

Instead, she went to the Geological Institute of America in California to study gemology.

It was only after moving back to Maryland to work in a local jewelry store and meeting her husband, Benson, that Tiralla and her family decided to raise cattle, sheep and goats for meat on Benson’s family farm. They’ve been doing that for 17 years.

“It was a learning experience for me. I was pretty optimistic about what being a farmer would be, so I’ve learned a lot over the last 17 years about the challenges and the joys,” Tiralla said while standing at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s booth at Ag on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

One of several farmers who’d come to D.C. to share their stories and experiences, Tiralla said she’d started with the Farm Bureau as a way to learn about agriculture and build a support network.

Read more from Lancaster Farming.