In The Heartland Highlands Country: ‘We Belong'

Female Chair of Highlands County Young Farmers & Ranchers Talks About Women in Ag, Opportunity

- TERESA SCHIFFER

JENNIFER SWAIN is a motivated young woman with a bright future in agriculture. She has spent most of her 26 years living the life and is a testament to the enthusiastic energy that the next generation of agriculturalists is bringing to Central Florida and the nation. We recently caught up with the current chair of the Highlands County Young Farmers and Ranchers committee to learn a little bit about her experiences in the field.

Swain began her life in Alabama, surrounded by pecans, cotton, and peanut fields. Her father worked in a carpet factory, then a nursery. He also had experience working in the watermelon, potato, sugar cane, citrus, and cattle industries. Swain’s paternal grandfather had been in the Florida citrus industry for almost 40 years when she moved to Sebring with her family to grow up in the orange groves. She has fond memories of riding through the groves with her grandfather, learning to identify different citrus varieties, pests, and diseases. This family tradition of agricultural work sparked a lifelong love affair with the industry for Swain.