You may be thinking the Rock Hills Ranch family has traveled to sunny Florida. However, in fact, a piece of sunny Florida has come to Rock Hills Ranch.
Hey y'all! I am Miranda Craig. I am now a Senior agriculture education and communications major in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida. Go Gators!
I call a small town, though large by Lowry standards, named Bushnell home. It is located in Central Florida in Sumter County. I go to school at"The Swamp" or "Gator Nation" in the city of Gainesville, Florida.
My journey here began with a simple "cattle internship" search on Google in hopes of finding a communications-relevant internship that also incorporated my passion for beef production. Growing up, I raised beef cattle of my own for both prospect showing and market production. So, I filled out the application last fall and eagerly prayed and waited for some kind of return contact to come my way. The good Lord must have saw it fit because early this spring I recieved an email requesting an interview with Mrs. Perman. A Skype account was created and, after a lengthy conversation about the importance of relaying a positive message about agriculture, I was offered the position.
The morning of May 2, 2015 was a long awaited one. I left Tampa International Airport at 8:23 a.m. on a Boeing 757 and headed North to not Alaska, but Atlanta, Georgia. My connecting flight then flew to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Once in MN, I hustled across the airport to a significantly smaller plane. So much so that my carry-on would not even fit into the overhead compartments. However, the petite stature of the plane was complimentary to the tiny, yet charming Aberdeen Airport where Miss Garnet Perman and her grandaughter Ella greeted me and took me to their home of Rock Hills Ranch.
I must pause and share my sheer astonishment at the beauty of the plains here in South Dakota.The endless fields stretching to the horizon coupled with the gravel highways really makes one feel very small in this large masterpiece of God's work. Parts of the South are deemed "God's Country" but I had never seen such magnificent creation in my life.
After nine hours of travel, a family supper awaited and I got to meet Mr. Lyle and his son Luke, and Luke's wife Naomi along with their other three children Isaac, Noah and Micah and Great Grandma Vivian.
Since my arrival I have helped in graining calves, a term comprable to the South's term of "feeding," helped Mr. Lyle check cows and alter fence, soaked up some lessons on grass and hay, visited Grandma's, and collected eggs daily from the "AV Inn" chicken coop. Ms. Garnet and I have also created an AirBnB account for the ranch. It allows travelers to learn about the bed and breakfast here and potentially book a stay. Below is the link for anyone interested:
Rock Hills Ranch Bed and Breakfast
I look forward to learning about holistic management, sharing some experiences and fostering a relationship with the humble and inviting family responsible for the many enterprises that create Rock Hills Ranch.
