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Callee Pellett, an 18-year-old freshman at Iowa State University, enjoys splitting her time between school and helping on the family farm. She plans to eventually bring back her college and work experience to contribute to the family farm operation.

ATLANTIC — As a college freshman at Iowa State, 18-year-old Callee Pellett splits her time between campus and corn fields.

The former FFA member loves being in Ames, but does go back home to help with peak farming operations during the busier times. Pellett happens to be the first female in her family’s operation to actively farm and represents the seventh generation to cultivate the earth. She’s double majoring in agronomy and agricultural entrepreneurship.

“The way our farm is set up, when you graduate high school, you go to college and earn a degree that will let you bring something back to benefit the farm. My dad and cousin minored in agronomy, but I always wanted to be an agronomist. So I plan to use the agronomy degree to work for a dealership and a little bit for the farm. The ag entrepreneurship degree has a big focus on accounting and marketing, which is something our farm as a whole needs to get better at and that I’ll be able to use to benefit our farm,” Pellett said.

Now in her second semester of college, Pellett said she loves college. She’s involved in a sorority and has made numerous friends. But she still returns home to the Atlantic area to help lend a hand.

“I didn’t ever want to be one of those kids who goes home every weekend but I did during harvest. I miss farming. Harvest is the highlight of my year,” Pellett said. “I also didn’t want to rack up a big bill on the farm for my share of the equipment costs and other expenses, so I do go home to work, which helps me pay down my bill there.”

Fourteen family members are involved in their operation, but only two are female — Pellett and her mom. But Pellett is the only female who is hands-on farming. Her senior year of high school, she logged more than 100 hours in the field.

While all family members farm together, they each own their own chunk of ground but share the equipment. Each family member is then billed for equipment use at planting and harvest. The hours spent in the field earn a family member credit that is applied toward their equipment bill.

Women in agriculture, especially females who are hands-on farmers, are growing in number. Pellett said she wasn’t athletic as a kid, which was more her brother’s jam. But agriculture spoke to her.

“I needed to find my thing and farming allowed me to spend a lot of time with my dad, especially when I was younger. He farmed full time and worked for the dealership full time,” Pellett said. “Growing up in agriculture is a great industry to be raised in. I want to stay in it and give back.”

Pellett and her dad, Mike, raise crops, and although she showed cattle in high school for FFA, she believes there’s room to grow the cattle operation at the family farm. Her mom, Stacey, called her a daddy’s girl and recognized her daughter’s dedication to agriculture.

In fact, at the age of 15, Pellett signed her first lease for a piece of ground — the same one her dad leased when he started farming years ago. The 20-acre parcel belongs solely to Pellett. She decides what to plant, determines what her fields and farm ground need for nutrients and pest control, applies anhydrous and harvests.

She does rely on her dad’s expertise and input, however.

After she graduates, Pellett doesn’t plan to return to the farm full-time immediately. She will head out on her own, pave her own path, then return to the family operation.

“My cousin just recently moved to the farm after working in South Dakota for four years at Poet,” Pellett said. “He worked for others and got more experience that he could bring back to the family farm.”