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SHANE MORGAN Contributing Writer
" The reason most people do not recognize an opportunity when they see it is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looks like hard work."- Thomas Edison
Janella Miller teaches what she lives, and lives what she teaches. Miller co-owns and runs Red Barn Wool, a sheep farm, in western Pulaski County and also teaches agriculture at Pulaski County High School.
With her business, Miller puts years of personal and practical experience to use, as well as what she learned from her formal education.
With her teaching career as an agriculture instructor, and her role as a parent, she passes on what that experience has taught her, ensuring the life education she has received gets passed on to the next generation. Red Barn Wool, located in the Nancy community, has grown in success over the last decade since 2015 when Miller and her husband Brian, an educator and girls ' basketball coach at PCHS, first ventured into the sheep business.
" I asked for sheep for my birthday," said Miller.
She said she and her husband started researching Shetland sheep as a breed and he bought her a few to start with.
They liked the breed and bought a few more here and there, and then they bought a larger flock from Colorado.
Their flock numbers have fluctuated over time, with numbers as high as 300 during some years.
In fact, the Millers just completed a recent sheep shear with a harvest of around 200
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pounds of wool, and that was from their current flock of 99 sheep.
In addition to wool, the business produces registered Shetland sheep for sale, as well as gourmet meat.
Miller grew up on a farm in Adair County, and credits her early childhood experiences with inspiring her both in her education career and her business venture.
" I followed him step for step in the dirt," Miller said of her dad, who was a house builder and farmer. " And in the house
I followed my mom, she was a hard worker, too."
She said her father bought her some sheep and her parents taught her the importance of hard work.
She teaches those early life lessons to her own children and to her students, she said.
Her childhood family farm grew tobacco and she learned through that experience and through her agriculture education at public school and college many things that can transfer to other aspects of life.
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Through agriculture, she teaches her students and her own children many of those same things: record keeping, timeliness, responsibility, money management, leadership, competitiveness, good citizenry, accountability, honesty, fairness, business knowledge, customer relations, communication, putting people first, and much more.
" These are real world applications they can see," she said.
Skills and values learned in an agricultural setting,
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whether it be a family farm or school programs like Future Farmers of America( FFA) and agriculture classes, have a high transfer value when it comes to employability, said Miller.
" As an employer, I wouldn ' t want me to outwork you," Miller said, emphasizing to her students the value of work ethic. " Don ' t let me outwork you! Get after it!"
Showing real world application of the ethic a person can learn through agriculture can help someone
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do well with any kind of work, she said.
" Look for something to do when your task is done," she tells her students. " That ' s what employers expect: They expect you to move forward."
She applies that same approach at her farm with her children: Cal, 17, Kate, 16, Canyon, 12, and Karolyna, 10.
Each of her children have their own flock within the family ' s larger flock, learning the ins and outs of responsibility through the shepherding of their own sheep.
She said Canyon has also taken to diversifying by saving up his own money and buying other livestock to raise, including chickens, ducks and guineas.
Farming certainly teaches about life challenges and adaptability and perseverance, said Miller.
As just one example, the weather has a huge impact on farm life and business.
Even though most people might not have even noticed, this area of Kentucky, especially western Pulaski— where Red Barn Wool is located— and Casey County, have been in extreme drought conditions as of mid-June, according to the National Weather Service.
Farmers sure notice this because it affects so many aspects of their livelihoods.
For example, the 200 pounds of wool would likely have been significantly more if not for the drought, as the lack of rain affects the quality of the food supply for the livestock.
However, resiliency is the name of the game in many efforts in life, especially if they ' re worth doing to begin with.
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