A dream job for a farm girl from Port

Anastasia Poull is about to embark on the job of her dreams.

The Town of Port Washington native will become the 79th Alice in Dairyland on July 6, becoming a full-time marketing and communications professional for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

As part of her new job, Poull will educate people about agriculture in Wisconsin and its importance not just to residents but the nation as a whole.

“There’s such a variety,” Poull said, noting the state ranks first in 10 agricultural categories, including snap peas, cranberries, ginseng, mink pelts and, of course, cheese.

In Wisconsin, she said, there are more than 350,000 careers related to agriculture, and 9.5% of workers are employed in a field related to agriculture, be it the trucker moving produce or people building farm equipment, with 2% of the state’s population directly involved in agriculture.

“There are a lot of options out there, and I really want to share the stories of agriculture,” Poull said.

Among those stories are those of farmers, who she said are an incredible group of people.
“People don’t always realize it, but farmers have an incredible ability to be adaptive and problem solve and use their resources,” she said.

As Alice in Dairyland, Poull will travel around the state throughout the year, putting an estimated 45,000-plus miles on a car provided by the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board. The vehicle uses ethanol, which is made from corn.

She will visit schools, attend agricultural events throughout the state and make appearances on television and radio shows to promote agriculture and its products.

“Alice in Dairyland is always at State Fair, the World Dairy Expo and other events,” Poull said.

She will also write four articles a month for Alice’s blog and post on social media.

“It’s definitely busy, but definitely exciting,” Poull said. “I think State Fair will be awesome.”

Alice in Dairyland got her start at the fair’s centennial, Poull noted, adding this year’s fair will be the 175th.

While Poull said she’s learning more about state agriculture every day, she has a healthy background in the topic. Not only did she grow up on her parents’ hobby farm, she spent a significant amount of time at her grandparents’ farm and today works part-time at Red Line Ranch in Random Lake, which has about 70 milking cows, a herd of beef cattle and sheep.

Not to mention the fact she earned bachelor’s degrees in animal science, agricultural leadership and agricultural science while minoring in agricultural business and communication studies, and a master’s degree in communication and media studies, all at South Dakota State University.

Poull, the oldest of six siblings, said Alice in Dairyland is the kind of job she had been seeking.

“I want a job that involves travel.  I want a job that involves agriculture. I want a job that has that communication piece,” she said.

You could say Poull has spent her life preparing for this journey. Her parents Robert and Debra had a hobby farm — “During Covid, when everyone was getting dogs, we got goats,” Poull said — she spent a lot of time at her grandparent’s Herman and Rosemary’s century farm in Belgium.

“I always loved animals,” Poull said. “I really love learning.”

Poull, who got her first horse in fourth grade, joined 4-H and was involved from first grade through her freshman year of college, and as an adult did volunteer work and helped at camps for the organization.

“That showed me different areas of agriculture,” Poull said.

At Red Line Ranch, she said, she helps out “with whatever needs to get done.”

Much of that, she said, involves working with animals.

Poull said that while she always wanted to work in a field related to agriculture, her time in college cemented that goal.

“That whole experience was awesome,” she said. “It really confirmed this is what I want to do.”

After earning her bachelor’s degrees, she received an assistanceship at South Dakota State that largely paid for her classes to earn her master’s degree, and then she started considering her options.

Alice in Dairyland seemed an ideal start, she said, noting it bridges the gap between producers and consumers.

The process of becoming Alice was a long and intense one. Poull said she applied for the position in January, was interviewed in February and was named one of six finalists in March.

The finalists attended weekly presentations to learn about Wisconsin agriculture and submitted weekly assignments, and in May, they traveled to Marathon County for the finals.

Over the course of three days, the candidates were evaluated by a three-member interview panel as they did television and radio interviews, gave speeches, produced writing samples, interacted with the public and demonstrated their knowledge of agriculture.

“You grow a lot regardless of whether you’re selected or not,” Poull said.

Poull was announced as the new Alice in Dairyland on May 16, and will take over for the current Alice, Sarah Hanenow of Poynette, on July 6 at the start of National Ice Cream Month.

That’s fitting, she said.

“Ice cream is my favorite food,” Poull said.