TikTok: These New York Farm Girls Won’t Stop Telling Their Dairy Story
The names Evelyn, Claudia and Jojo Leubner might not ring a bell, but if you search for NYFarmGirls on social media, you’ll quickly see they certainly have made a name for themselves. With more than a million subscribers across the board, the Leubner sisters use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to share their lives as fourth-generation dairy farmers.
Each sister has their own role on their Marietta, New York farm. Evelyn works with the cows, completing herd checks, milking cows and helping with vaccinations, while Claudia’s focus is on fieldwork. She assists during planting and harvest, as well as works in the shop with machinery maintenance. Jojo is the calf manager, which is a pretty big job for a high schooler. She feeds, beds and looks after the calves every day.
The family owns Maple Lane Farms, which is home to 500 cows, mostly consisting of Holsteins with a few Jerseys. The family also farms 2,100 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and wheat. The farm is owned by a family partnership between their father, uncle and two cousins.
“Growing up on our family’s dairy and crop farm is a blessing I will never take for granted,” says Evelyn. “Sure, the days of working in cold temperatures and long hours can get tiring, but nothing is more rewarding than farming. Our entire childhood was filled with learning animal husbandry, how to provide for yourself, and working alongside family. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
With more than half a million followers and some nearly 15 million likes on TikTok, the Leubner sisters have succeeded in their mission to show consumers the truth about agriculture by sharing their lives on the farm and busting myths about the dairy industry.
“Seeing the disconnect from agriculture is what inspires us to share our story through TikTok,” Evelyn says. “Most people will never step foot on a farm. Using TikTok, we can bring the farm to them through our phone lenses.”
The social media journey for the trio began in 2015 on Instagram. The sisters state that the most rewarding part of their journey has been the ability to show the public the truth of dairy farming and modern-day agriculture.
“We can reach thousands of people with the click of a button,” Evelyn states. “TikTok is amazing because people don't have to be following you to see your content.”
The sisters share that being able to make a video that non-followers can see, has helped them become well known.
“All you need is for your video to come upon the FYP (for you page) and thousands, even millions of people can see your content,” Claudia explains. “It works in our favor because we can show a huge amount of people our daily life in agriculture and help them become more connected to where their food comes from.”
Document Your Day
Along with their growing TikTok followers, NYFarmGirls have 106,000 Instagram followers, more than 31,000 Facebook likes and over 73,000 YouTube subscribers.
In addition to helping on the farm and time spent on social media, the sisters also split time between working on their 70-acre pumpkin farm and their large agri-tourism business in the fall.
“It keeps us very busy,” Jojo notes.
The sisters encourage other farmers to share their stories through social media, especially TikTok.
“Document your days. It seriously helps our industry so much,” Evelyn says. “The more consumers trust their farmers, the better off we are. Tiktok has allowed us to connect with consumers and show them we are just normal people like them. It allows us to show how well our animals are cared for and combats those videos out there that paint the dairy industry in a negative light.”
