农业+生活方式

双重任务

发布于2022年9月27日12:00 AM

Allen and Blake Poole balance working with the governor and running their family cattle farm.

在白天, father and son team of Allen Poole and Blake Poole are both busy with full-time jobs at the Georgia State Governor’s Office. When the work day is over, like most folks, they head home. Unlike most folks, their home is a working cattle farm. And when their Atlanta work day is done, it seems another begins in Haralson County.

Poole Farms has been in the family since the late 1950s. Allen’s father was a sharecropper and Allen grew up on the farm, 哪个在当时长出了警察, 花园的蔬菜, 还有几头牛和猪. 

As a young adult, Allen worked as a trooper for the Georgia State Patrol. 当他退休时, he ran for office and was elected to the Haralson County Board of Commissioners, where he served four consecutive four-year terms as chair. 当布莱恩·肯普当选乔治亚州州长时, he asked Allen to be the director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, where Allen still works to educate people about how to be safer while driving on Georgia’s roads. 

“这是一份全职工作. But I love that we get the opportunity to help prevent crashes, 伤亡人数, as opposed to when I used to go investigate them as a state trooper,他说.

可能会有压力, but as Allen makes the 45-mile commute home each week day, he can feel that stress melting away as he looks forward to getting home to the farm, 他说这是他繁忙的日常工作的平衡.

“农场让我脚踏实地，”他说. “我每天都去亚特兰大. I see all different groups of people there and everyone is in a rush, 但农场里的一切都慢下来了.”

当他到家时, Allen begins watering and feeding the 45 head of cattle and checking the farm to make sure everything is operating well. He also takes a minute to pause and reflect on the beautiful countryside that surrounds him.

“I just love seeing the wide-open spaces and the green grass, 我们努力保持它的美丽和修剪,他说. “对我来说，这很有趣. After a long day in Atlanta I can sort of let my hair down — well, when I used to have hair, anyway. I walk around, and it’s a time of tranquility and peace of mind for me.”

A self-described “country boy,” Allen is one of 14 siblings — seven girls and seven boys. One of Allen’s sisters still lives on the family farm, and one brother helps out as well.

Allen and his wife, Mandy, live on the farm with their son Blake, now 32. Following in the family tradition of working for the Georgia Department of Transportation was what Blake always thought he wanted to do. 

但从奥本大学毕业后, he took a job working as an aid on the campaign trail for now Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black. After the election, he worked for a few years at the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association in Macon. All the while, Blake felt the farm calling him back home.

“I took a leap of faith, mainly because I wanted to be near my cows,” Blake said. “I just always loved farming, and feel at home around the cows. Being from a small town and farm, you’ll always be drawn back home. 毕竟心在哪里，家就在哪里. 我喜欢小镇的感觉, and have always said that the best type of friends you can have are true county friends.”

在农场的家里过得很开心, Blake found he could balance a full-time job along with his farm duties. 和他父亲一样，布莱克在州长办公室工作. 作为州长的现场代表. Kemp, Blake serves as a liaison for the governor in multiple counties across Georgia.

“It’s tough because I cover so many counties and travel so much. 等我回到家, 天可能很黑, 多雨和寒冷, 但我还得喂牛，检查栅栏,他说.

Living and working on the family farm have taught Blake discipline, commitment and to pay close attention to details — all of which serve him well at his day job.

“Once you commit to something, you have to put your whole heart into it. 我忠于这个农场. 这些牛不能养活自己. 我喂它们. Discipline is imbedded in my life and when I’m on my farm, I run a tight ship,他说. “在工作中，我是一个善于交际的人. 我以人为本. 我听别人说话，注意听讲. 如果我代表州长和某人谈话, 你只需要倾听, 让他们说话，然后解决问题.”

Like his dad, Blake finds that the farm balances out a stressful workday. 

“I cope with the stress by knowing who I am and what I want to do. 我对每件事都有一个最终目标. My end goal for the farm is to raise the best heifers in this area, have real nice grass and get kids out here so we can teach people where their food comes from,他说. “Educating our young people about farming is so important. I wish more people would take the time to stop by a farm, get a tour and learn about the benefits of being a farmer. I wish more people would just take the time to talk to a farmer.”

艾伦完全同意.

“We need to let young people know where their food comes from — that food is grown on a farm and not in a grocery store,艾伦说. “We’re seeing more programs for young people to teach them how to grow vegetables, and young people are beginning to invest in small farming operations.”

As for the young people who may have dreams of trading their stressful city jobs for wide-open spaces, 这对父子团队有一点建议.

“Start when you’re young and broke,” Blake said with a laugh. 

但他严肃地强调要有耐心.

“Be patient; it’s a process. 不要把路看得太远. 看看你现在为你的农场所做的. 她走的时候要有耐心、勤奋和稳定. 别灰心. 也许这一年你过得很糟糕，但这是一个过程. Pray about it and know that the sun’s gonna rise again,” Blake said.

呼应了耐心的必要性, 艾伦说，你“不能靠种地致富”, 但你可以过上体面的生活. 这是一项艰苦的工作，但我认为这是令人满意的.”

 Adding that because agriculture is one of Georgia’s largest economic engines, Blake said it’s import to keep an ear out for what’s going on in the ag industry.

“Educate yourself on farm policy and know what’s going on. 参与地方和州政府的事务. Understand farm policy and why people do what they do when it comes to farm policy,他说. “最重要的是，不要袖手旁观，大声说出来. 要大胆，要勇敢.”