Kylie Epperson is a rural mom to Rhett (8), Reese (6), and Rowan (3), and a a farm wife to her husband, Jordan. The family farms together in #Agri-Ready Designated Audrain County near Vandalia. Kylie embraces her rural roots, realities, and experiences and intentionally reaches out to help other rural women do the same. Her mission is to help other rural women break free from the ‘shoulds’ of life to live authentically and confidently. Kylie is a co-host of the Midwest Farmwives Podcast and the curator of her newly formed Farm Wives Club. Her rural life hasn’t always been easy; Kylie and her family experienced a catastrophic farm loss that inspired her to build a unique community among rural women. 

Kylie grew up in rural Missouri. Her advocacy efforts began with public speaking contests in FFA. Her FFA experience was pivotal to her future and where she met Jordan – at a chicken judging contest – years before the two would decide to marry. Kylie attended college and became a teacher, but was thrilled for the opportunity to work on the farm full-time when the Epperson family expanded their hog operation. According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Audrian County ranks as one of Missouri’s top 5 hog producing counties. A 2021 study of Missouri agriculture’s economic contribution found that hog and livestock industries created more than 300 jobs in Audrian County. Overall, agriculture provides 3,499 jobs and generates over $1.3 billion in the Northeast Missouri county. 

Kylie and Jordan are the 4^th generation of the Epperson family to raise hogs on their family farm. With each generation returning to the farm over fifty years, the Epperson family has embraced the progression of pork production. The farm has transitioned animals raised on dirt lots to healthy, clean and safe indoor housing. In 2014, the Eppersons built a state-of- the-art facility with capacity for 5,600 sows (female hogs). Each sow delivers litters of piglets that the family cares for until they are weaned from the sows and transferred to the next step of the production chain. The new farm expansion was exciting, and Kylie was helping continue the family legacy until a tragic electrical fire destroyed the new sow facility. It was a catastrophic, total loss. 

Kylie’s devastation was overwhelming. She desperately wanted to meet other farm women who could truly empathize and understand farm life struggles. She needed to share about her family’s tragedy with women who had experienced the same type of losses, so she began a social media journey intentionally seeking out those women. The Eppersons were able to rebuild their hog facility, and pork production is a significant farm enterprise . 

This year, Kylie launched the Farm Wives Club. Kylie looks forward to building this community in a fierce and loving way, connecting on a deeper level. Her Farm Wives Club will lead up to a ‘women in agriculture’ event she is planning for this fall in northeast Missouri as a kick-off to the harvest season. Kylie knows that farm life can be consuming, so she hopes that the opportunities  she offers to allow Club members time to learn, have fun, and develop themselves before seasons where they must be deeply focused on the family and the farm. “I have been a farm wife for ten and a half years,” Kylie said. “Agriculture is one of the coolest professions, and we have the opportunity to do it every day. There is so much good and so much hard on the farm. The good outweighs the hard. It’s all about perspective.”

Kylie’s social media outreach has grown alongside her experiences on the farm and through collaboration projects like keynote speaking, workshops for women, coaching retreats, and partnerships with agriculture brands. “My husband participates in my social media, and we love to include a lot of humor,” Kylie said.  

Kylie volunteers her time as a member of Common Ground, a group of farm women passionate about agriculture and sharing their experiences raising food. Common Ground is coordinated by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council and Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. Her main goal is to help millennial moms trust the farms and farmers who raise the meat they purchase in the grocery store. “I want people to be confident in what they are buying,” Kylie said. “Connection and trust are my objectives.” For more ways to connect with Kylie, you can find her on Facebook (Kylie Epperson), Instagram (@kylieepperson_) and on her webpage at kylieepperson.com. 

Kylie enjoys camping and boating with her family during the summer months. Her kids love tractor rides and learning about mechanical work in the farm shop. Kylie is a member of Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Soybeans, Missouri Corn Growers and has served on the Missouri Pork Board. These organizations are partners of Missouri Farmers Care.