FarmHer

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Kirbe Schnoor at FarmHer. You can also follow on Facebook.

"FarmHer is all about the women who love the land, care for their community, and feed the people."

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Kirby Schnoor, which is really hard to pronounce, at FarmHer. Good morning, Kirby. How are you? Good morning. I'm great. Thank you for having me on. Oh, thank you for coming because I have lots of questions and you're going to be an amazing person to get them answered.

00:29
Uh, so first question is, are you based in Nebraska or is FarmHer based in Nebraska? Well I'm based in Fort Worth, Texas. And FarmHer is kind of based all over, I would say most of our crew, our two videographers, editors, producer, they're all in Nashville at our offices there and studio there. And then we have offices in a studio here in Fort Worth and then we have office space in Omaha as well. Okay.

00:58
My stepson lives in Nebraska. So when I saw Nebraska on the website or the Facebook page for FarmHer, I was like, oh, Nebraska, here we go again. Okay. So tell me about yourself and what you do regarding FarmHer and tell me about FarmHer. Awesome. Well, thank you again for having me on to talk about this. I grew up in a farming family in the Central Valley of California, a tiny town called Chochilla.

01:27
It's based in between Fresno and Modesto. And then if they don't know those places, sometimes they'll say Bakersfield. Bakersfield is about three hours south of us. But I say in between LA and San Francisco, right? But it's all the heart of agriculture in the center of California. And I grew up, my mom's side of the family, they farmed in ranch and my dad's side of the family, they farmed.

01:56
Yeah, so it's just been a multi-generational thing that's carried on in our families. We used to farm a lot more diverse crops. And over the years, given land and regulations, prices, you name it, in California, kind of had to go into one main thing and make it a bigger production. And so my family mainly now farms almonds, and we do hay as well. But we used to back in the day do corn and alfalfa and tomatoes.

02:24
as well as almonds and hay and cotton. And so it's just interesting that I was able to grow up exposed to all of that and the diversity. And like I said, it's changed over the years, but still, yeah, everyone in my family, for the most part, is involved in the farming aspect. And I went to college at Fresno State in California, and I majored in mass communications and journalism.

02:52
emphasis in broadcast journalism and I said, oh my gosh, I'm never going to go into TV. I loved writing and I just didn't know what I really wanted to do. I didn't want to do a local network or local news station and hard news and things like that. But I found a place for me here in Fort Worth, Texas working at Superior Livestock Auction and they were the nation's leader in livestock marketing cattle via…

03:20
satellite and television. It was started by two gentlemen who grew up on our group ranching and they partnered with Patrick Gotch. They actually helped Patrick Gotch kind of get his start, Jim O'Dell did back in the day because Patrick, who is the founder and CEO and sadly had passed away earlier this year, he founded RFD TV and then which led into the Cowboy Channel and Cowgirl Channel as well.

03:47
He grew up in a farming family in Nebraska. And so that's where the roots of Nebraska and Omaha come from. Okay. But yeah, so I got my start with Superior Livestock and they didn't have a place for me. I started answering the telephone and working on the bid line and there it spiraled into some of their television shows that they did. And that still air to this day on RFD TV. And so I worked closely with RFD TV, never directly until several years ago.

04:16
I made the transition when they decided to open up the branch in Fort Worth called the Cowboy Channel. I helped get that started and I've been with RFD and the Cowboy Channel ever since. I basically have been with RFD since the start of my career, 2012, 2013. The two connected. I grew up showing livestock with my sisters. We had a cattle company, still do called Schnorr Sisters. We showed cattle throughout the United States.

04:45
And it was really fun and coming from the farming background with my family, running cattle, raising cattle, I was exposed to quite a bit. And when we started the Cowboy Channel, the original creator of FarmHer, she wanted to branch off into rancher as well. And so she said, she was so great. And she's like, her name's Margie. And she said, Kirby, would you host this? And so I said, sure.

05:15
And so it seemed like an easy fit and it was fun and, you know, it was a whirlwind of a year and got to travel to different ranches across the United States. And then Margie, you know, life happens and she had different career opportunities become available and her kids are getting older. So she didn't want to travel as much. And she sold the brand to farm her to Raquel Gotch Keller, one of Patrick's daughters. And Raquel was like, hey, you ready to do this again? And so.

05:44
It's been fun myself and then Janie Johnson, host rancher. And I've been able to kind of transition and go to farms across the United States and really take me back to my roots and talk to, you know, the people who I like to say feed and lead the world. Okay. Wow. That's all that I just gave you. No, that's amazing. So my first question is what does RFD stand for? Roll free delivery.

06:14
So, back in the day, that's kind of how it was out in rural America. And so, yeah, I, you know, that's the name that Patrick came up with. Rural free delivery. Yes. Okay, cool. And then my other question before we get into what farmer is, farm her is, I keep saying farmer and it's not farmer, it's farm her, H-E-R. It's farmer, yeah.

06:40
Okay, tell me about how FarmHer got started. Was it the daughter that you were talking about that started FarmHer? Well, it got started Margie. She was the creator and starter of FarmHer. And truthfully, she was fascinated by the agriculture industry and then more specifically fascinated by the females in it. And Margie started taking pictures and created a digital space to tell these women's stories.

07:09
basically through pictures. She's a great photographer as well. And so that's what she did. She started telling their stories on Instagram and Facebook and even a website. And then her and Raquel, which is one of the daughters, Gotch daughters, they got together and Raquel's like, we can, this could be a TV show. And so it evolved from there. And that is basically how it got started, just telling the stories of women involved in agriculture.

07:39
Not to take away from the men, right? But sometimes what we have found over the years, I would say, especially like when I was doing Ranch Her and now more specifically Farm Her, but Margie was even doing it, you know, women are more eager to talk about, you know, the land, the adversity, the practices, the politics, you name it, the family aspect. And men, they're just, you know, sometimes they're a little quieter. They don't.

08:08
doing the work and, you know, living on the land and not advocating as much for the industry, I would say it's not that they don't, it's just, you know, females will take the first step in doing that. And there's a lot of female farmers out there that do it alongside men, do it with the help of men. But then there's a lot that do it on their own too. And I think that Margie and Raquel both were fascinated by that and telling those stories. And so we've just been able to carry that on.

08:38
and tell the stories once Margie decided to sell the brand outright to Raquel to just be more at home with family because it's a time commitment. We're traveling and we travel to as many states as we can. And we try to get a story told in a day and a half, but it's a 30 minute television show and there's so much that goes into it. And we're doing 13 episodes at least a year. And we're trying to do the industry justice, do the women justice.

09:07
And so there's a lot on the pre-production and post-production side. So yeah. Okay. The thing that I have learned by doing this podcast for over a year now is that women are the communicators. I interview more women than I do men because women tend to be the ones who say yes. And they are the ones who have the many, many words that they want to get out to be heard. Men are harder.

09:36
there have been two men I've interviewed that have been very reticent and very one-sentence answers and I've really had to dig and push to get them to open up. So yes, women are the communicators. We are the owner of all the words. You've said it perfectly. And that's, again, nothing to take away from the men. That's our genetic makeup, right? Yep. Yep, absolutely.

10:05
I am so glad that that's true, although I've talked to some men who were very chatty and very communicative and really, really good sources of information that was easy to listen to. So men are not excluded from being communicators. It's just that women tend to be the more communicative verbally than men are. That's all there is to it. Exactly. Okay.

10:35
farmer. Is there a lot of we need to do makeup and hair or can they just be themselves? They can just be themselves. There's a lot that goes into, like I said, pre-production and I will save you all the time for the podcast and not go into that. Several calls, video calls that lead up to going to a farm and speaking with a female. But really what we try to encompass when we are there is a day in the life.

11:05
of the female farmer. We let her know she probably won't get as much work as she typically would get done on a normal day without cameras all around her because, you know, they're starting, they're stopping, there's, okay, wait, tell me that story again. And really like getting instead of going through, I would say an activity is what we call it, but going through the motion, you know, they have to do it much slower and really more detailed and refined for us.

11:33
We want them to be who they are in their space, and that's exactly what they do. Now we do have a sit down interview portion that we say, if you would like to get dressed up or do whatever, look however you would like, feel free to do that. And some women love to do that because they're like, it's nice to show that, hey, I do actually get a shower and at the end of the day and blow dry my hair and do it and put makeup on, especially if they're not like that every day.

12:01
So we give them that opportunity as well. And it just gets to show the female, especially in her space, wearing the many different hats that she does, especially if they're mothers or daughters or sisters or aunts, their wives, their friends, right? They help out in the community or sometimes they're in a very remote place and they're like, I don't have time for makeup. I don't have time to change out of this button down because I'm not going anywhere. This is my everyday 24 seven.

12:27
But then there's some women who are like, I've got to make it to the PTA, you know, school board meetings. So it's nice to let them be able to really showcase that. I am so glad that was your answer. I am going to be 55, Monday, November 4th. And I'm not having a hard time with 55. I did not really have a hard time with 30 or 40 or 50 as well. I feel like I am...

12:55
grateful to still be alive and still be healthy. And I'm definitely going gray and getting wrinkles and the whole bit. And I don't love it when women are told to be on camera, you must be coifed and foofed and made up. I just don't. I feel like aging is a natural process and that it should be embraced and recognized. And it makes me nuts when

13:24
These women who are 70 look like they're 45. Yeah. And, you know, I know that that's just our society, especially this day and age, right, with all of our digital platforms that we have and the spaces to share things. I think there's that whole knick and knack of, you know, trying to, I don't want to say be something we're not, but just to like fulfill that space of what we think we need to be.

13:54
And I find it so refreshing to go out on these farms and ranches. And there's some women who wake up every morning and they do put their makeup on. They do do their hair and they're like, I don't look like this at the end of the day, but it made them feel empowered and, you know, personally to do that every day, going out just on a ranch or farm, even if they don't see anybody. And then there's some women who don't get – they don't do that and they don't have to or they do. And like I said, they have to run into town because they sit on the city council.

14:23
And it's really just great to show all those sides and roles. Yes, exactly. And I am absolutely not saying that women who want to do makeup and hair and wear a dress shouldn't. I think you should be you. Do whatever you want to do. I don't think that women should be forced into trying to look 25 years younger than they are if they don't want to. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. And I think that was a great question that you asked because I'm…

14:53
I know there's a lot of, you know, television's different and we're almost like a reality show in a way. But you know, there's a, especially when you're turning on your camera, I, you know, you feel like you need to be done in a way. I think we've put that pressure on ourselves and other women. And I think it's nice and refreshing. We as a network and we as a show, we don't put that on these females.

15:23
Thank you. Thank you so much for not doing that. Yeah, absolutely. It's not for me too, I'm like, I could just throw my hair in a bun. This is great. Absolutely. I think that we all need to be who we are. And if we feel like crap one day, we get our act together and we go do the job we're committed to do. But it doesn't mean we have to look like a princess doing it. Exactly. Yep. Okay. So...

15:50
How do you go about finding the people that you're going to have be on the show? We get a lot of just by other sharing, by word of mouth, I would say. And then we have a submission form on our website and we get tons and tons of submissions daily from the state of Maine to down in Arizona, to the state of Washington, down to the state in Florida.

16:19
And it's fascinating, women of all ages, properties of all sizes. And so we are very fortunate that people will go to farmher.com and fill out the submission form and submit it, I should say. And then people will constantly email any of us about individuals or, you know, word of mouth, just call, they'll call the Cowboy Channel, they'll call RFD, they'll let people know.

16:49
And yeah, so we are very fortunate that we get that. And we do our own research too as a team. We're constantly researching people throughout the United States as well. But you know, not everybody is on the internet, especially if you're in a remote or rural place. So it's great when people refer others and let us know about people. Cool. So, so how do you whittle it down? I mean, if you're getting that many options, how in the world do you choose places?

17:20
That's a very challenging part because we have so many, we can't wait to go show and tell their stories. It usually is based on location and where we have gone before and like the timing of if we have two weeks to get out there. There's a lot of logistics that go into it, I should just say, and timing of the year, what we need to showcase and the diversity of what we can showcase. So we'll kind of...

17:48
pick a location and see if there's good three or four women that are diverse enough within, you know, whether it's driving distance, sometimes just flying to shoot those three or four different shows. And so basically, it really does. It's all based on logistics and location and we go from there. Okay, cool. All right. I still can't remember the question I was going to ask you when we started talking. I'm still spinning, but it's not there.

18:19
So when these farmhers find out that you're going to come and get them on camera and do a show about them, is it like all kinds of different reactions or is it one, oh my god, really reaction? I mean, are there any that are your favorites? There is lots of different reactions, to be honest. There's some that are like, no, no, you don't want to showcase me. Surely there is someone better. Let me give you the names of five other people. And that's happened quite a bit.

18:48
I've had two good friends, their families run farms and it's not that they wanted to be on camera, but they just were like, oh, there's way more qualified people, way better stories, all this stuff. And so it's just so funny the different reactions that you get. Most are completely honored and flabbergasted by the fact they're like, really? What I do is just what I do. It's what I know. And they are instantly surprised, I think.

19:17
by how their story does transform into really this piece of art. And it's like what you do is really amazing. And we just are so thankful and grateful to be able to tell their story and tell others about them as people and what they do. And so yeah, their reactions are typically I don't want to say standoffish, but a little like, are you sure? You know, second guessing, like, are you sure you want to tell the stories of us?

19:46
And then obviously they're just, they're proud I think at the end and not in a, not in a snotty proud way. They're proud of their work. They're proud of their commitment to this industry and to the people that get to, you know, live off of it and enjoy it and the fruits of their labor. So it's really fun. Okay. So do you have a favorite reaction of anyone or not? Who? I'm trying to think.

20:15
Honestly, there is a really fun reaction of one that I've had. And it was my first episode that aired this first season. And it's Megan Shanley, Shanley Farms out in California. And I got connected with her through a friend and they farm a really unique thing called finger limes. And they also farm avocados or Morro Bay. So they sit on this hillside and you could see the ocean.

20:43
You could see the coast of California from their farm and it's just stunning. But her and her husband do it all. They were in real estate. Her mom passed away several years ago and her dad just a few years ago by an accident in Costa Rica. She has taken over her dad's and her family, like what they were doing, farming operation with her husband.

21:12
I just think her reaction was like, are you sure? I know what we do is crazy, but I don't even… She goes, I'm just learning the ropes. I don't even know what I'm doing. So I just loved her reaction. And we keep in touch with all of our farmhers for the most part. We try to. We check in on them. They check in on us. It's really great. And I know that after the episode aired, and she's talked about the struggles of being able to keep that land and what they were going to do and going to the bank and getting

21:41
owning land and farming. And recently, I just saw that they were able to get one of the loans that they needed and to continue on the legacy that her dad had started. And so, again, like from the reaction of being on the show to now she's seeing, you know, people were purchasing because they had never heard of Finger Limes. I hadn't. And, you know, just knowing more brand awareness for her company and her farm is just really great that, you know.

22:11
they're able to continue it on. Because that was a really big scare for her. She's like, this is going to air and I don't even know if we'll still be in business. Uh-huh. So yeah. Yeah. Actually, that leads me to a thing. I have had a couple of people that I've interviewed on the podcast who have had some unfortunate things happen since I interviewed them. Yeah. Like two or three of them in the last six months.

22:37
And I had a moment the other day where I was like, maybe I shouldn't do this anymore because I feel like I'm jinxing them. Have you had people have bad things happen after they've been on the show? Yeah. One, she wasn't able to continue on her farm in Tennessee. And so she was closing operations. She had those feelings before.

23:07
filming the episode, but she was just hopeful, I think, too. Again, the cost of everything that goes into farming is quite taxing on a person and their pocketbook. As far as the show having negative impact on any of the farmers or anything like that, I know your podcast obviously hasn't had negative things on the individuals you interviewed. It hasn't been directly correlated with…

23:36
the show. We always tell the farmers, especially with our network, obviously our viewers, they want to see things like this. We're shedding light on these individuals and what they do in the most positive light. And we would never show any practice or them in any negative way that would negatively harm their operation or the industry. And so fortunately for us, you know,

24:05
if things have turned negative for them, it's because of, you know, what's going on in our country, to be quite honest. Yeah. And maybe I didn't phrase the question right. I wasn't saying that your show caused the negative impact. I just, when I saw these couple of things come through from people that I've talked to, I was like, oh my God, I feel like I'm...

24:29
I don't know, bringing some kind of dark cloud over this and I'm not, I know I'm not, but it's really hard when you get to know. You get that pressure on yourself, right? Because you're wanting to share the stories of all these individuals and what they're doing because you're so passionate about it. You believe in what they're doing and you want others to hear their stories and I totally understand what and then you kind of put that, you take it upon yourself to be like, oh gosh, maybe if I just...

24:57
let them live or let them or didn't you know, I totally understand. Yeah. But I mean, if you're not letting people have a voice on this platform, who else is? Mm hmm. Yeah. And that's where I landed. But it's really difficult when you do this kind of thing, your situation, my situation here with the podcast, you get to know these people and you get to care about these people and you kind of stay in contact. And

25:26
when something rolls through your Facebook feed about someone you have built a relationship with that isn't good news, you're like, oh no, you know, your heart sinks. And that's just because we're carrying human beings because obviously I wouldn't be doing this podcast if I didn't care about people and you wouldn't be doing what you're doing if you didn't care about people. Yep, you're exactly right. It's hard though, but like you said, because it's, you take it personal for yourself too when...

25:55
things don't work out for them because you've gotten to know them and you know their story and you're just so hopeful that they get to keep doing what they love. And sometimes that's just not the case and it's gut wrenching. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it really is. And especially when, I don't know if you've had this experience, but I've had a couple where people are just so excited.

26:21
about what they're doing. It is just rolling into my ears through my headphones. And they're so happy and so lit up. And then something bad happens. And it's like, oh, oh, I hate that. So yeah, it's tough, but it's the way things are. Life was never no one ever said life was a bowl of cherries. It's not. It's a struggle sometimes. So

26:45
Anyway, we could do that all day, but we're not doing Psychology 101. This is not the podcast for that. I'm sure there's one out there, but mine is not it. So how long have you been doing the FarmHer? So Margie who started, created the brand, she's been doing it. She did it for over five years. So several seasons.

27:15
And I believe I started the sixth or seventh season. She might have done it six seasons and I started the seventh. And yeah, so we've been doing it quite some time. And really, again, it started with Margie and I have just been in the industry and working for RFD and telling stories of, you know, all agriculturists and then, you know, rodeo, cowboys, you name it. And then when Margie decided to spend more time at home and go a different direction in her career.

27:44
that's when I took over the FarmHer show, I would say. Okay, so is FarmHer looking like it's gonna just keep on rolling or is there an end date for any of this? That's a great question. As of now, we keep on rolling because there's so many stories to tell. March is Women's Month and we go in so many different directions sometimes of

28:12
wanting to expand and not wanting anyone to be left out of, you know, women in agriculture and farming and ranching and with our two shows that we have. But we also know it's like, we wanna tell the men's stories as well. But there's other platforms to do that and there's other ways in our network space to do that as well. So to answer your question, we have no time or we have no plans of stopping the show anytime soon.

28:40
And as long as the stories keep coming in and the people part of the project want to keep working on it, and our lovely sponsors want to keep sponsoring, we will continue to do the show. Okay. And since you brought up sponsors, who are your sponsors? We've got some great sponsors. So we have Nationwide, who's a sponsor. We have Yeti. We have... Oh my gosh, they're all... It's going to...

29:09
slipped through my mind. I'm trying to think like, we have so many. We have John Deere, we have, oh gosh, we have handfuls and handfuls. They'll keep coming to me. Now that you asked me that question, I should have been prepared for that. No, that's okay. I'll have to think of more of them. But yeah, we have a lot of great sponsors within the industry, outside of the industry that support what we do. And it's really great. But it's again,

29:36
They, you know, their businesses, their corporations are directly affected by, I would say by the shows, by the people on the shows. And so any way that they can be a part of it, they, you know, they want to be. That's amazing. Fantastic. I have some more. That's right. Cavenders, St. Claes, Bayer, Berner Ingelheim, New Dart, yeah, John Deere and Yeti. And so...

30:04
Again, just a nationwide, they sponsor a lot of awareness things that we do across the country, whether it's a part of the TV show or not, they'll put on events and have us there and make sure, you know, ATV safety is a huge thing, grain vent safety and things like that. Awesome. So it's not just, this is going to sound terrible. It's not just that they want people to hear about them and go spend money with them. It's that they're trying to help too. Yep. Correct.

30:32
Yeah, because all of, I mean, they could submit females that they know of and things like that but they don't have any, they just, you know, have a presence on the show in the sense of being a sponsor and a funder of the show which is really fantastic. So I have one more question then we'll probably wrap it up because I try to keep these to half an hour.

30:57
Who do you think your audience is? Do you think it's people who are farming? Or do you think it's people who are just interested in how it works? Or do you think it's both? I would say that it's mainly people who are farming. But we've seen shifts based on episodes, too, right? We have over the last year to two years, we have gotten a big shift of people that

31:28
COVID changed that. And I'm sure you could understand that people wanted to get back to their roots because of COVID. They wanted to get back to living off the land, understanding how to care for themselves, whether that's growing their own food and just kind of taking care of themselves and in a wide open space. And not everybody's fortunate enough to have a farm or a ranch, but like, again, we showcase people with who are starting out too with garden size.

31:57
plots and hoping to grow one day. And then we showcase people who are literally putting their products in the grocery stores that we are all seeing on our dinner plates. So to go back and not get too lengthy with my words, which I can tend to do, I think our transition of viewers, especially when it's FarmHer or even RFD TV in general and the Cowboy Channel has shifted since 2020 because of those reasons, because of COVID.

32:25
And they're wanting to just connect with easeability in a way and just being able to care for themselves. And I think that's what's been interesting. So yeah, we're having more and more, I should say, a mix. Yes, it's farmers who are watching, but it's more people who are just curious. And again, it's one of those things, especially with ranchers, it's beautiful. It's vast landscapes through Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, and Louisiana, Texas, Florida, you name it.

32:54
We are human beings, right? We're nosy people. We like to see what other people have. And so with that, we have attracted a lot of viewers, whether it's because of the Yellowstone era, and we're thankful for that. People like seeing how other people live their lives and what it takes to live their lives. And like I said, to be just frank, what other people have. And so it's drawn in this audience of curiosity.

33:20
from outside of the rural communities, which I think is interesting because we're also educating them. Yes, believe me, I understand that people are nosy. I'm one of them. That's why I do the podcast the way I do it. All right, Kirby, thank you so much for your time today. I really, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Absolutely. Yeah, thank you so much for having me on. Yeah, this is really fun. Have a great day. Okay, thank you.