She's been named CT's ‘Outstanding Young Farmer.' She hopes to inspire more women to choose agriculture

Yahoo

24-03-2025

Allyson Angelini grew up in Ledyard and has run Full Heart Farm in her hometown since 2012. Recently, the 37-year-old received statewide recognition when she was named Connecticut's 2025 Outstanding Young Farmer during Ag Day at the State Capitol.
'I'm most excited about this award mostly because I hope it encourages other first-generation, young farmers out there. It shows that there is a path toward making a living in Connecticut on a small-scale farm,' Angelini said.
Angelini said the most meaningful part of receiving the award came after the ceremony.
'A very young farmer came up and introduced herself and shyly said, 'So, you, like, did it?'' Angelini said. 'I was able to just stand there and honestly answer, 'Yes.' So even if I am not feeling particularly outstanding, I think it's pretty great for young female farmers to see that it's 100% possible to start their own farm.'
Angelini said she is proud of the 'girl power' aspect of winning the award.
'Women in agriculture play a crucial role and whenever there is a woman recognized in agriculture, I will always do a happy dance,' she said.
According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, 32% of the state farms were new and beginning farms, which means they have had less than 10 years of production history, and 41% of those are led by women producers.
Angelini was nominated for the award by Amanda Fargo-Johnson, the Connecticut Resource Conservation & Development's agricultural programs director.
'This is a great honor that the CT Department of Agriculture awards each year in partnership with the Connecticut Agricultural Information Council as a way to highlight the importance of young people entering the agriculture industry in the state,' Fargo-Johnson said.
'This award is a testament to the long days of work and planning it takes to operate a farm full time in a state where its expensive to access land and compete in the market with high labor and energy costs. Allyson being recognized will bring awareness to the importance small scale farms have in the state as well as the ability for young and female farmers to know it can be achieved.'
Fargo-Johnson believes that Angelini is a strong candidate for the national award. The 10 finalists will be selected in early September and will be honored at the Outstanding Farmers of American Convention next February.
'What makes Allyson such a great example is that even though she's been farming for 14 years she started on her own at the very young age of 24 years old. She's a great role model to girls looking to pursue a career in agriculture,' Fargo-Johnson said.
Angelini is a Ledyard High School graduate. She attended University of Massachusetts Amherst to study journalism with the hopes of being layout editor for a food magazine. She said she soon discovered her true passion turned to small-scale farming. She switched her major to sustainable agriculture and, as a junior, studied abroad in Tuscany, Italy working on a 1,500-acre organic farm.
'That was the first time I lived and worked on a farm, and I loved it,' Angelini said.
Angelini interned and worked at several farms in her early 20s. She worked at dairy farms, Christmas tree farms, berry farms and others. At 23 years old, she applied for the USDA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program in order to qualify for a grant to buy farmland. Just 10 months later, Angelini was able to work on her own farm.
'It was a tiny piece of land and wasn't really a farm. It wasn't in good condition. But I closed on the property when I was 24 and single,' Angelini said. 'I worked 20 hours a day fixing up the house and clearing the land.'
Now, Angelini is married and has four children with her husband, Keith: Henry 11, Cora 9, Sadie 7 and Lila 3. She said Full Heart Farm, located on 193 Iron St. in Ledyard, is a family-first farm.
'That means the kids always come first,' Angelini said. 'People who work for me, their families come first. Setting boundaries with the farm were important. It will suck every bit of energy out of you. We are happy with our work, and we produce so many beautiful things.'
The property is 6¼ acres and the family grows on less than two acres. They have no full-time employees but have a rotation of four to six part-time workers.
Full Heart Farm produces 300 different varieties of vegetables and cut flowers.
'Most people know if they are looking for something unusual to come here. We grow a lot of carrots of many different colors,' Angelini said. 'We've been selling more carrots to schools in an effort to improve access to healthy food at lunch. We also grow 40 different types of tomatoes and 16 different types of radicchios.'
Among the most popular flowers are ranunculus and peonies as well as 3,000 dahlia plants in rainbow varieties. The farm primarily sells its product through a farm-share program but will open in the spring for Mother's Day and Easter flower sales.
'We are bracing ourselves for whatever climate-related weather challenges we will have this year,' Angelini said. 'It's difficult to predict and unrelenting. Small farms have been struggling with the loss of federal funding from so many directions this winter. In some ways we haven't stabilized our markets since the pandemic. Things feel erratic like they did in 2021. It's strange to feel you are outstanding but it's hard to feel outstanding when you are struggling in so many things.'
She said it's been harder to plan for the weather as the years have gone by.
'We used to have a plan and for the most part everything went according to plan, and it was relatively easy to predict,' Angelini said. 'Then we experience extended dry periods followed by flooding. It makes it difficult to manage a farm. …Just Sunday night we had three and a half inches of rain. It's a month's worth of rain in one fell swoop. The ground is still frozen and there's nowhere for the water to go.
'For someone who loves statistics and planning, you can make a great decision, but nature always reminds us to stay humble,' she added.
In addition to farming, Angelini does outreach with schools, libraries and colleges and had taught with the Cornell Small Farms Program for over a decade.
'My daily work is growing food, but my big-picture work is educating people about small-scale farming and honoring agriculture and why it's so important,' Angelini said.