Hello, and welcome to my first blog post! My name is Casey Turner, and I am a part of the 2026 Summer Workforce Development Internship offered by UME. I will be working with four different mentors across three counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland throughout this internship. In Talbot County I will be working with Tom Hutson to prepare for the Talbot County Fair, assist with fair activities, and promote the event on social media. In Queen Anne's County I am working with Jenny Rhodes and my main project over the summer will be looking into ways to boost the counties agritourism. I am currently in the research stage of the project, and working towards a decision of the best way to move forward, whether it is a resource toolkit for anyone looking to get started in agritourism, or creating a way for the public to know what agritourism options are in the county to boost public knowledge! Finally, in Kent County I will be working with Beth Hill and Dwayne Johnson. I will be assisting Beth in planning and organizing the Kent County Fair and their Master Showman Program, along with making a positive experience for a group of High School exchange students visiting from all across the United States to see the fair. With Dwayne, I will be helping to insert research data into spreadsheets, and making a video spotlighting Plant Green, which I am looking forward to in order to improve my video editing skills.
A little bit about me... I just completed my sophomore year through Penn State World Campus, where I am working towards a bachelors degree in Agribusiness Management. I was drawn to this internship due to my time spent in 4-H since I had been a 4-H member for 12 years. After aging out of the program in 2024, I became a 4-H volunteer for Kent County. I hope to learn more about the behind the scenes work that goes into making the 4-H program a great experience for members, as well as expanding my knowledge on the other programs and assistance that is offered through extension outside of 4-H.
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Me and our farms ambassador steer, Running W Gaston. Gaston was my show partner for three years, competing across the East Coast of the country. Now he acts as a breed ambassador, being a 1400+ lbs gentle giant for farm visitors to meet. |
I have always been an animal lover and throughout my time in 4-H I competed with horses, dogs, rabbits, goats, market hogs, market lambs, and what became my focal point, beef cattle, specifically Scottish Highland Cattle! My grandparents have been raising Highland Cattle since 2008 at Running W Farm in Chestertown, MD, starting with three cow/calf pairs, which over the years has grown to a herd (or "fold" as they are referred to in Scotland) of roughly 100 head of Highlands! We are currently the only farm in Maryland that sells Highland beef certified through the American Highland Cattle Associations Quality Highland Beef Program, which currently has only 80 participating farms in the United States.
Our Highlands have instilled in me an appreciation for heritage breeds and the beef industry. In 2023, I began offering Holiday photos with our Highlands to raise money for me to purchase market hogs (one of which was a Tamworth, a Heritage breed currently on the Livestock Conservation Priority List). The photos ended up being a huge success among our community, so after continuing with small agritourism opportunities, I dove head first into agritourism offerings in June 2025. Over the past year, I have been able to welcome hundreds of people to our farm to meet the Highlands and educate them about the breed, our operation, and agriculture across Maryland and the United States. I have been able to have visitors from as North as Vermont, South as Texas, and West as Washington State! Being able to share agriculture with visitors all across the country has been a blessing, and I hope that my work with agritourism for Queen Anne's County will be able to spread the joy brought by agritourism even more. I have also made some amazing friends through the Highland Breed across the state of Maryland, and all across the country with my involvement in the Mid-Atlantic Highland Association, Southern Highland Cattle Association, and American Highland Cattle Association. My next big project with the Highland World will be partnering with third generation Highland steward Carys Lunn to run interviews and create social media marketing at the American Highland Cattle Associations 76th annual National Gathering. This event is taking place at Carys' family farm, Sheppard Farm on Apple Hill in Hanover, PA, while they celebrate their 50th year raising the "Grande Old Breed".
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Last August I was able to assist Victoria and Jacob from Black Rock Farm display their Highland Steers at the National Mall for the Great American Farmers Market, bringing Agriculture to the Nations Capital! |
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