Jolley: CBB member Sarah Childs and “women’s work”

I don’t think Sarah Childs was ever content with the concept of “women’s work.”  Cooking,  feeding the ranch hands, cleaning, doing the books?  Yeah, then what?  I’m reminded of an old saying, “A woman has to work twice as hard as a man to be considered half as good.”  She flipped that around real fast.  Like her friend, Okeechobee County Extension Livestock Agent Pat Hogue, said, “Sarah gets things done.”

As Illinois farm girl where most farms are usually a few hundred acres or less, she was astonished at her first exposure to the size of some western ranches. “I didn’t know about large ranches until I went to Alamosa, Colo., where I attended Adams State College. That’s where I met my husband, Tom Childs and the rest of the Childs family. They were in business with John D. McArthur and they had Sky Valley Ranch, which was 125,000 acres.  I was intrigued.”

It was when the Childs family moved to Florida in 1968, so that her father-in-law could manage MacArthur’s Buck Island Ranch, that she really got her feet wet.  Buck Island exposed her to the citrus industry as well as more cattle.  She quickly figured out that citrus wasn’t her thing; it was the cattle herd that got her excited.  Describing her start, she said, “I walked out into a cattle pen, had to push my way in.  Some of the boys didn’t like a woman out there.  I stood behind my father-in-law, Dan Childs, and learned all I could.

“My interest was the hard work, working in the cow pens, the horseback riding, the gathering of cattle in pasture,” she said. “But back then, in the early 70’s, it was literally a speak-when-you’re-spoken-to thing for women.  I kept at it though, and I think over time they just figured that they weren’t going to get rid of me, so they just gave in and said, ‘okay, she’s here to stay.’”

That stubborn streak earned her the title of assistant ranch manager at Buck Island in 1988. 

When she moved out of Dan Childs’ shadow she was confident in her knowledge of the business and blossomed into a leader.  She was one of the first women to step out of the kitchen and take on a much bigger role in Florida animal agriculture.  What she’s managed to accomplish is remarkable.  She served more than 20 years on the Advisory Committee for the South Florida Beef-Forage Program, and also has participated in consumer and youth-education programs to increase awareness of beef products in her home state. She’s a past committee co-chair for the Florida Cattlemen; a past Florida CowBelle and CattleWomen state president; and past president of the Florida Range Society and the Highlands County Cattlemen.

In a video honoring her as the 2011 Woman of the Year in Agriculture, her friend Pat Hogue, said, “She is a woman that has made her way in a man’s way of living ...and she can deal with them on their terms, and they understand her and respect her and admire her for the job that she does.”

The award, sponsored by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida State Fair Authority, recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions to Florida agriculture.

It was the first week of December last year that she accepted an appointment from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB).  Her nomination was a unanimous choice by Florida’s Farm Bureau, Florida Dairy Farmers, Florida Cattlemen’s Association and Florida CattleWomen.  It meant a hurried trip to Nashville just weeks later for her introduction to her fellow CBB members.  “I was late but it was a fascinating experience.  I went to as many meetings as possible to learn as much as I could.  When they asked me what committees I would like to join, I was delighted when they agreed to let me serve on the producer communications committee.”

Like most members of the CBB, her days are filled with hard work.  She’s the environmental and safety coordinator for Lykes Bros. Inc. in Lake Placid, a position she’s held since leaving Buck Island in 1994. She earned her leadership positions as a woman who knew how to get things done. Over the years she’s been involved with Farm City Week, the ‘Know Your Beef’ short course, the Florida Cattleman’s Association Foundation (FCAF), the FCAF Ranch Rodeo, Feed the Hungry program, the local 4-H and county youth fair.  She’s also raised two children; Shareen Lynn Childs and John Travis Childs.

Her CBB work is part of her effort to help educate and inform the public about the cattle industry and the importance of including beef as part of a healthy diet.  Her producer communications assignment allows her to “help tell cattlemen what we do with their money.  It’s easier for a cattleman to write that check when he knows what we’re doing and what it does for them,” she said.  “If they don’t understand, they won’t want to help.  I think the CBB does an outstanding job of explaining our function to our members.”

To learn more about Sarah Childs, watch this video honoring her at the 2011 Woman of the Year in Agriculture.

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