Meet Bridget and Cristian Coronado | Beginner Ranchers
We had the good fortune of connecting with Bridget and Cristian Coronado and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Bridget and Cristian, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Bridget’s grandfather is a rancher and owns cattle and horses in Mexico. She grew up around animals and dreamed of the day she’d have her own horse in our backyard. When COVID hit, we talked about moving to Mexico, thinking it may be easier to purchase land and raise our own herd. We thought anything is possible and if we were going to make a change, it was best to do it then since we were working from home. After consulting with our parents and family members, we decided to look for land in Georgia first before making a huge move. After months of searching, we found the perfect 10 acre home in the outskirts of South Atlanta where we raise sheep, chickens, and pigs. We raise animals for our own consumption, but also to sell.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Our main goal is to have a sustainable ranch, and we know it will take time. We are extremely grateful to experience it now, by eating chicken eggs from our backyard and being able to share it with our family and those who purchase our eggs. We plan to continue learning to live off the land and how to butcher our own animals. We are also proud to contribute to the increase number of Latino producers and one of our goals to help education and encourage young Latinos all over to pursue farming/ranching, even as a hobby. According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture there are a total of 922 producers that identify as Hispanic/Latinos/Spanish. From those 922, only 111 are below the age of 35. From my readings, that number is growing but there is a huge different in other ethnicities. Another important statistics is that there are a total of 64,574 White Producers and 2,870 Black/African American Producers. We hope that anyone who wants to learn or has an interest in ranching, to reach out!
One of our biggest challenges is that no farm has the exact same set up, which means ranching requires a lot of trial and error. We get a ton of great advice from farm facebook pages. We also really enjoy visiting other farms to see their set up and taking pictures of things we can implement in our ranch.
I can’t stress the importance of experiencing this lifestyle with our family, siblings, nieces and nephews. Seeing the joy injust collecting eggs, makes us extremely happy.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Woodbury, Georgia: Food:
Breakfast – Smitty’s https://www.menupix.com/
Lunch (Thursday – Sunday) – https://www.facebook.com/
Lunch – Blackbird Cafe –https://www.zmenu.com/
**Weekends sometimes have live music
Snack/Entertainment – https://www.
Peach and Strawberry mixed ice-cream are the best!!!!
Activity:
Hike and if you have your own Kayak- https://www.exploregeorgia.
30 mins away:
Georgia Tour Company – Senoia (home of The Walking Dead)
45 mins away:
https://gastateparks.org/
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Cristian and I had no prior knowledge to raising animals and what is actually entailed to maintain 10 acres! Thank you University of Georgia for their amazing Extension programs! A huge thank you to all our family and friends who have helped us cut grass, clean chicken coops, sheer sheep, trim hooves, wash dishes, pick up trash, and so much more. It has taken a village to get to a place where Cristian and I are today and there is still so much more work to do. We are grateful to have such a supportive family and we can never repay so much labor. Special shout out to MC Renovations for the labor. Another thank you to everyone who takes care of our ranch when we go on much needed vacations!
A huge shoutout to all the ranchers and farmers, because it is tough work!
Thank you to Gillian Raese from Raese Boer Goat Farm who is available to help with our sheep questions and welcoming us to her farm to see her set up. She is extremely knowledgeable and is under 30! Super impressive!
Instagram: lacasacorona
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