Former agricultural journalist and now farmer and community leader Jane Metcalf is one of this year’s inductees to the Ag Business Council of Rock County’s Hall of Fame.
While it’s a local salute, it honors the impact her work in agriculture makes beyond the county’s borders. Metcalf shares with the Mid-West Farm Report a snippet of her vast experience in farm journalism — at first as the only woman in the industry. She also shares what she’s up to now in the ag community.
Metcalf and her family recently started a dairy farm after cash cropping for many years. The family milks 300 jersey cows. The milk goes to Monroe to be made into cheese. The Metcalfs also continue growing crops on about 1,000 acres. She says the area has been missing the rain all summer, but is optimistic about the harvest.
A highlight of her community involvement is raising money to revamp the children’s section in a local library to portray agriculture realistically.