Hi, I’m Ruth. I’m 16, and I would like to nominate my mom, April Hemmes, for Farm Mom of the Year. My mom IS the farmer in our family. My dad works in town, and mom operates our family’s century farm, totaling 1000 acres, and has a 30-head cow/calf herd. She makes all the decisions from planting to harvest, bulls to banking.
She has a B.S. in animal science from Iowa State University and had various jobs before coming home to farm in 1985. She is a 4-H club and beef project leader, and she teaches 4-Hers Food Safety Quality Assurance (FSQA). Her other activities are the county hospital board, county soil and water commissioner, township clerk, Iowa 4-H Foundation board, plus other state boards and committees. She helped form Iowa Women in Agriculture and served as its first president.
She has recently been chosen to travel to Uganda for a project involving Iowa women farmers helping Uganda women farmers. Mom has teens work on the farm in the summer and shares her love of agriculture with them. She is often asked to speak to groups and share her unique perspective on farming. She enjoyed being a member of an ag-urban leadership class, where leaders of the agriculture and urban worlds met to develop projects to improve Iowa.
Since my mom farms, I know sometimes farming comes first. Fortunately, these times are rare. Most recently she helped me with a project I did for the Youth Institute of the World Food Prize. She also found time to raise funds for my junior prom and took me on a Caribbean cruise! She always tells me “Do what you love doing – happiness and success will follow.” I know this is true because my mom is the most enjoyable and funniest person know.