Meet some of our boots-on-the-ground team.
Our agricultural roots run deep.
So deep that many of our team members aren’t just marketing experts, they’re also farmers and ranchers. These colleagues literally have their boots on the ground, helping us know the business of our agriculture clients inside and out.
Vanessa Barr, PR Group Leader; Central Tennessee
Vanessa and her husband, Jerry, farm about 500 acres in the Tennessee Valley near the Great Smoky Mountains. The farm is Jerry’s home and family farm, and it’s been in the family since 1938. It was a dairy until about 2003. Then, instead of milking cows, he and his dad began raising dairy replacement heifers and growing grass hay. Vanessa and Jerry took over the operation from Jerry’s parents in 2007. He farms full time while Vanessa works from home for BR.
Lori Hallowell, Vice President, PR Director; Lincoln, Nebraska
Lori is a fifth-generation rancher on her family farm. Lori and her husband own a herd of Black Angus cattle and pasture and row-crop land in southeast Nebraska. They also care for Lori’s dad’s cattle, and Paul farms Lori’s dad’s land. Row crops include corn and soybeans. They also put up grass hay and alfalfa and use cover crops. Lori and Paul employ several animal science students from the University of Nebraska — Lincoln and are working with the owner of Oak Barn Beef to help her grow her business, which has been featured on Shark Tank. The owner is a senior at UNL.
Kristina Hopkins, Account Supervisor; Southeastern Wisconsin
Kristina brings a lifetime of dairy experience, having grown up on her grandparents’ dairy farm. Since 2008, Kristina and her husband, Matt, have run a sixth-generation dairy farm in partnership with Matt’s parents. The farm is home to more than 400 head of dairy cattle, including 180 milking cows. They also raise close to 3,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa, in addition to custom field work.
Lori Maude, Senior PR Content Specialist; South Dakota
Lori is the third generation on her family’s ranch in western South Dakota. She works with her parents and sisters raising registered Gelbvieh and Balancer seedstock, as well as operating a commercial cow/calf operation. They market their registered bulls through an annual production sale and sell heifers private treaty. The family also raises dairy goats and sheep. Crops are limited to alfalfa and an annual forage crop planted for feed. The family actively serves their community as 4-H leaders, fair board members and volunteers for a variety of activities.
Doreen Muzzi, Senior Content Specialist; Shaw, Mississippi
Doreen is a partner in TKT Farms, which she and her husband, Michael, have owned and operated since 1990. The Mississippi Delta farm encompasses several thousand acres, producing a mix of corn, soybeans, rice, cotton and wheat. In 2018, a planned expansion began to include their eldest son, Tyler, in the family farming operation at Muzzi Farms. They also operate a custom farming business utilizing their Case IH fleet of combines and tractors.
Dorothy Tate, Senior Content Specialist; Michigan
Dorothy and her husband are the fourth generation to farm corn and soybeans on his family’s Centennial Farm in western Illinois. Dorothy’s dad and brother farm in southern Illinois raising corn and soybeans and operating a commercial cow/calf herd.
