Feature Writer of the Week - Kelsey Pope

The Sweetest Mother's Day Gift!

Tell me a little about yourself.
I’m an ag gal, work-at-home mom (#WAHM), blogger and follower of Jesus Christ. I’m a 4th generation family rancher on our cattle ranch which began on the Plains of Eastern Colorado in the ‘40s. My husband and I ranch with our family and our son who will hopefully be the 5th generation rancher. I am a CommonGround volunteer as a spokeswoman for agriculture. I grew up on the ranch that we are back at today. I went to Kansas State University and received my B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics. My then-fiance got a job in Nebraska, so after I graduated with my Masters, we got married and I moved to Nebraska. I found my dream job of working with the Nebraska Corn Board promoting agriculture, working with the livestock groups and doing communications/social media. We expanded our family in September 2013 when our son was born. It was quite the experience where I had to cling to my faith to survive…you can read my story here.

The following year, we got a call that there was an opportunity for us to return to my family’s ranch in Colorado. It was a lot sooner than I thought we would move back, but felt like God was making this opportunity available for us, and having a 1-year-old son at the time, we saw the value of him being raised on the ranch and closer to family. So now I work from home doing ag communications and raising our crazy-adorable son, while also helping out on the ranch. It took me awhile to adjust, but now I’m so blessed and truly feel like I’m living in a dream. Hobbies include: crafting, quilting, running/working out, gardening and volunteering with our local blood drives.

When did you start blogging and why?
I actually started blogging about agriculture in college. My college roommate was a city-girl who was really interested in agriculture and my life growing up on the ranch. So I figured there were more people that wanted to know about life on the ranch so I started a blog answering her questions and it has grown into my passion to share about agricultural issues and just life on the ranch. You can read my stories and see some pictures at Ag on the Forefront. Fun Fact: I had the opportunity to be on The Balancing Act on Lifetime talking about how I started my blog and how I advocate for agriculture (video).

What are some of your favorite sites on the ‘net?
I sometimes channel my inner-self to being The Pioneer Woman, so I obviously love her blog and recipes and ranch posts. Blogs I often follow are: Hopeful Homemaker, The Small Things Blog, A Ranch Mom, and 7 Days Time. I oooh and aw at fabric.com or fatquartershop.com and am also an Amazon Prime junkie (which is so much easier living in rural America than taking your 2-year-old on a big shopping trip).

What does a typical day look like for you?
Usually my son wakes me up ~~saying~~screaming, “brekus!!” (breakfast) or “oreal!!” (cereal) – and often at 5:30 am. Since becoming a #WAHM, I stay up late doing work so mornings are a little sluggish. Nevertheless, we head downstairs for breakfast and start playing – usually playing tractors right away.

Sometimes I can get some writing done while he is playing, but I usually save that for his naptime which is usually early (since we get up so darn early! We’re trying to explain this to him), like 11:15am. So after getting him down for nap, I get to work and eat lunch with him when he wakes up. We play the afternoon away and try to be outside if it is nice. Some days we go help on the ranch or at least go watch the trucks coming into the yard or cattle being moved. I love that he gets to experience this. My husband is never home at the same time, so we usually wait for him to eat and enjoy a bath and bed….then back to work for me until turning off the lights usually after midnight. If work is slower, I like to spend my evenings at my sewing machine making baby gifts for friends or working on a quilt.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to blog or share her/his story?
I love giving this advice because I know that everyone has a story. And having a blog means you can write/say whatever you want and no one will judge you for it (or at least you shouldn’t care because it’s your blog!). Blogging is a great outlet for me and while we were in Nebraska with no family around, it allowed me to share our life with our families out of state. I also get to share stories important to me that are interesting to others about agriculture, and I hope to open some doors and people’s thoughts about how our food is raised and why farmers & ranchers want to do the best practices possible to provide top-notch food.

What story are you most proud of?
I don’t know if it’s most proud, or most significant for me, but that would be my son’s birth story. I had the privilege to share it on Her View From Home and it just really has defined who I am today and strengthened my faith in God.

How can people follow you?

Blog: Ag on the Forefront

Facebook: facebook.com/ag4front

Twitter: @ag4front

Instagram: ag4front

Pinterest: pinterest/kelseyjpope

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Kelsey Pope

I’m an ag gal born & raised in agriculture in Colorado, ag-educated at Kansas State, worked for agriculture in Nebraska, and am now back on the family cattle ranch. I'm also a mama to a ball-of-fire little boy who allows me to work from home and play with everyday. I’m an advocate for livestock and food production, married to a wonderful beef guy, enjoy runs with my cow dog, Hank, and love crafts, quilting, writing, decaf coffee, traveling and time with my family. I blog about agriculture and life on the ranch at agonthe4front.com and blog about life, being a mama and one of my favorite stress relievers - quilting & sewing! at littlebirdie2.blogspot.com.

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Feature Writer of the Week – Kelsey Pope

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Kelsey Pope

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