In 2025, Maine is celebrating the Year of Youth in Agriculture, an initiative dedicated to inspiring and supporting the next generation of farmers, foresters, and agricultural leaders. Throughout the year, Real Maine will spotlight young people, along with farms and producers, and their connection to youth in agriculture.
Isabelle Guillemette, 18, and her family have an organic dairy farm in Lyman, where they raise Milking Shorthorn and Jersey cows. The farm has been shipping milk conventionally since 1999 and started shipping milk to Stonyfield Organic in 2014. She is in charge of heifer management at the farm.
Since 2016, after “much convincing,” she says, she has started her own herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats, from which she has learned about veterinary care, production, and animal husbandry.
She has been a member of the Cumberland County All-Star Dairy 4-H club for 11 years and has been club president for the past two years. Isabelle has exhibited her dairy heifers at various agricultural fairs in Maine and The Big E in Massachusetts.
This past year at The Big E, Isabelle met with Maine FFA state officers and ended up founding the FFA chapter at Massabesic High School with the support of her principal and science teacher. She wanted to start the chapter because she “knew there were other students at school who didn’t have an after-school program that reflected their interests, just like me.”
Isabelle has been a member of the Maine 4-H Dairy Team at The Big E for the past four years. She has also participated in her school’s Maine Quiz Bowl team, on which she was captain each of her three years.
This fall, Isabelle will attend the University of New England and study environmental science. She was chosen as the 2025 Ronald P. Guerrette FFA Scholarship recipient. The scholarship is available to graduating seniors at Maine high schools who are FFA members and have a demonstrated interest and motivation to pursue a career in farming or agriculture/natural resources.
What does “youth in agriculture” mean to you?
Youth in agriculture is a very powerful thing to think about. As one of the youth, I feel like we are actually being seen for our hard work. We truly are the next generation in a career that is getting harder to pursue because of the current state of the world. If the world doesn’t have this next generation of individuals, who will be there to put food on their tables? This is why we need to encourage those interested in agriculture or in the agriculture industry to preserve this culture.
What is inspiring you to be among the next generation of farmers, foresters, and agricultural leaders?
What is inspiring me to be among the next generations of farmers is my parents. They have always supported my 4-H and showing career. My mom was the one who allowed me to achieve my dream of becoming a goat farmer and she is also my business partner. I also love working alongside my dad at the dairy farm, and I want to take over the farm when he can’t because I know how much he has put into it. Overall, my parents have been my major support system and I know that they will continue to support me and my future in agriculture.
