To some she’s still just a kid, but, as a junior in college, Julia Rhoades already owns her own business in agriculture and is leaving her mark as a woman in the industry. She takes her education, her business and her job as an Iowa State football manager very seriously, but finds it’s easiest to juggle roles when she enjoys what she’s doing.
An Early Introduction
“I believe, if you enjoy what you are doing, it shouldn’t be much of a challenge to have a life outside of work,” Julia admits. “Even though it isn’t always easy to manage school, raising goats, building a business and being an Iowa State football manager, I enjoy doing all of it. If I didn’t enjoy it all, it would definitely be a challenge to manage.”
Even though she didn’t grow up on a farm, Julia had access to life in agriculture through her grandparents’ farm. A frequent visitor, Julia admits to spending much of her time as a child learning the ropes of working cattle and goats or bailing hay and raking fields.
“My first memory on the farm is when I bottle fed my bottle calf,” Julia recalls. “When I was six or seven years old, my grandpa would take me out to the barn with him to do various things with the cattle. It was by far my favorite thing to do when I was younger.”
From there, her passion for agriculture only grew as she did. Julia recalls when her grandmother began adding more goats to the herd and needed her help to take care of them all.
“Those experiences growing up around animals also helped me decide to continue my passion for agriculture,” Julia admits. An environmental science class in high school sealed the deal, igniting Julia’s passion for agriculture and setting her up for the future. Now, Julia’s a junior at Iowa State University studying agronomy and entomology.
Passion Turned Business
The experiences Julia had raising goats with her grandmother also drove her to form her own business — J.R. Boer Goats — breeding and selling show goats. Knowing the responsibilities that come with owning a business and caring for livestock, Julia refused to leave others to care for her goats while she was away at college.
“Knowing that I had to be responsible for my livestock made me become more responsible for everything else I had to take on in my life,” Julia admits. “I downsized my herd and took my six goats to a good friend’s house to raise them there.” Bringing her goats closer to her college campus allows her to continue her business and be personally responsible for her herd, which welcomed a few kids — including her first set of twins — this month.
An Eye to the Future
After she graduates, Julia hopes to grow her goat herd and welcome kids to the herd all year round, allowing her to continuously sell her show goats. While she continues making progress with her business, Julia has an internship planned for the summer that she hopes will help her set her sights on a future career.
“Last summer I interned with Allendan Seed in Winterset and it helped me learn more about my interest and how I wanted to further my career,” Julia said. “This coming summer, I’ll be interning with Heartland Co-op as an agronomy sales intern, and I’m looking forward to seeing what other opportunities I have there.”
Encouraging Women in Ag
Julia admits that while agriculture is her true passion, being a young woman in ag means “sometimes you have to work even harder to prove yourself to people and show how committed and strong you are.”
She hopes that she and others will encourage more women to seek a path in ag and show how they can improve the industry.
“I believe the biggest barrier for females entering the ag industry is people not believing we are strong enough physically or mentally to do the job,” Julia admits. “But we females know we are strong enough to take on the job, and that’s why we have to go in self-motivated, strong and passionate.”
She also knows firsthand how a good support system can really make the difference for young women in ag.
“I would not be who I am today without my family and friends to support me, including chasing my dream of having a goat business,” Julia says. “And I wouldn’t be able to manage it all without help from a great friend, my parents and my grandparents who are always encouraging and there to help me with anything I need.”
With young women of Julia’s caliber entering the field, the future of women in agriculture looks brighter than ever!