He is the youngest of five siblings and the only one who chose to follow in his father’s footsteps into farming, but Jay Hill of Southern New Mexico says it’s definitely not been boring.

“You know, there’s some days when I thought, I should have been a lawyer or a doctor,” he told Cindy during an interview. “But I now feel this is the most rewarding position I could ever have in my life.”

Jay’s father started the family farm with just 20 acres after moving to New Mexico, playing some college football and never making enough money to move back to his native Tennessee. But they’ve built it up to about 700 acres now, raising cattle, pinto beans, red and green chillies, lettuce, corn and alfalfa. Now as one of the new representatives in the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance’s (USFRA) Faces of Farming and Ranching program, Jay hopes to make a difference and make consumers better aware of what America’s farmers are all about as he travels the country and participates in the Food Dialogues conversations.

“I hope we’re able to help break some of the stigmatisms we’ve had and really bridge the gap between our farm and your fork.”

You can follow Jay’s farm on Facebook here.

You can here more of Cindy’s conversation with Jay here: New USFRA Faces of Farming and Ranching - Jay Hill