LYON COUNTY (KSNT)– Social media platform TikTok can teach us many things. How to dance, cook and hacks on everyday items you had no clue about.
One Northeast Kansas woman says she’s using the app to educate others about women in agriculture.
For safety reasons, she does not share her legal name or where exactly she is located, and respectfully, 27 News will do the same.
The Mini Cow Girl TikTok page is not the everyday account that will pop up on your “for you page.” However, you will for sure have the latest trending sounds and dance moves with each video. But what’s different about this one, is there are cows involved.
Mini Cow Girl was born and raised in Northeast Kansas, not too far from Emporia. She comes from generations of cattle farmers, something she just couldn’t get away from even when she tried.
“I realized that back home on the farm was where I belonged,” she said. “And that livestock, especially cattle, was in my blood.”
But she had to do something different than what her parents and grandparents did. So she looked at the big picture and downsized it.
“The minute miniature cattle came up, I was laughed at,” she recalled.
Her cattle are not the average livestock you see on the neighborhood farm, they are miniature White Dexters. The Mini Cow Girl business is all about breeding these mini animals, and it’s a business she does all on her own.
“I am considered a White Dexter breeder,” she said. “People are really pleased with the temperament of my cattle because I am always out there with them, they’re docile. They’re spoiled!”
Her business has caught the eyes of many people in the agriculture industry and online. About two years ago, a friend suggested she get on TikTok, an app that gained a lot of popularity during the pandemic. She downloaded it and started making videos. She eventually went viral– thanks to her little lady, Lilly.
Lilly is almost two years old. She thinks of Mini Cow Girl as her mama because three days after Lilly was born, her real mom, Luna, died. Lilly lived inside the house with Mini Cow Girl and her dog, being bottle-fed for a while. This created a bond that was documented all over the social media platform. The tragic death of Luna and taking care of a baby calf gave her the chance to educate people around the world all on her phone.
“They don’t see the in-depth work of caring for them,” she said. “They can see the babies running around in the field. Or they can see them eating, or however. But they really don’t see the things that happen just day to day.”
Social media can be like the wild west, with the good and the bad going hand in hand. But for Mini Cow Girl, she sees this as a way to prove women can get down and dirty too, no matter how mini their cattle are.
“We are women in agriculture, and we’re here! We can do anything that anybody else can!”
The TikTok page almost has one million followers, so if you want to show someone local some love give her a follow.
Mini Cow Girl just launched a website with merchandise, bio’s of her herd and much more. If you want to learn more about her business, click here.
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