Sarah Bedgar Wilson is part of the fifth generation to grow up on her family’s diversified farm in Maryland which, over the years has included dairy, beef, swine, egg, crop, hay, vegetable, and fruit production. An avid 4-H and FFA member, she was named Maryland Dairy Princess at the age of 16, and became the spokesperson for nearly 900 dairy producers. Since then, her passion for agriculture, and zest for life have taken her across the nation and around the globe.
Sarah earned a B.S. in Animal Science and a certificate (minor) in International Agriculture and Natural Resources from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2001. She completed 6 internships- from a ranch in Texas to a dairy farm in France. She also served as National Jersey Cattle Princess, and helped found the North Dakota State University Collegiate Farm Bureau Chapter. In 2004, she completed a Master’s degree in Animal Science at North Dakota State University. After graduation she went to work as a Livestock Extension Educator for the University of Minnesota. Later that year when she traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete in the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet, she fell in love with a North Dakota farmer who was attending the same convention and the rest is history.
She relocated to Jamestown, North Dakota in 2005 and married Jeremy Wilson in 2006. Nine months and nineteen days later, they were blessed with their first child. In December 2008 they welcomed their second child. In June 2011 they welcomed their third child.
Sarah and Jeremy farm over 3,000 acres of corn, wheat, soybeans, and a variety of cover crops. Sarah and Jeremy also rent land out to a local dairy farmer for grazing dairy heifers.
Sarah wrote the winning essay for the national “Paint Your Barn” contest sponsored by Tractor Supply Company and Progressive Farmer Magazine. She was also selected as one of the winners of the “WHY I LUV ND” contest sponsored by Governor John Hoeven. Sarah is a recent graduate of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute. Sarah was also chosen as one of four Americans to take part in the McCloy Fellowship in Agriculture through the American Farm Bureau Federation and the American Council on Germany and spent three weeks in Europe in fall 2010. She is employed as the Young Farmer and Rancher Program Coordinator for North Dakota Farm Bureau.
Sarah and Jeremy are active members of New Hope Free Lutheran Church and community organizations. They prioritize their lives by the “three F’s”- Faith, Family, and Farming. Sarah has also led the “10 Heifer Prayer” project, a faith-based agriculture education project for local Sunday school and Vacation Bible School students.
Sarah has a “contagious smile” and a wide variety of experiences to share. From milking cows to milking rats, learning to speak to French farm dogs, restoring antique farm equipment, working cattle on horseback, and becoming a farm wife and mother of two girls, there is never a dull moment with Sarah around. Beware, she’s been known to break into “The Cheese Song” on occasion!
Sarah has spoken to thousands of audiences in person from inner-city kindergartners to dairy producers from around the globe and has extensive radio and television experience.
