A Place to Land: Experiences of Their Immigrant Families Inspire Young Farmers to Build their Own American Dream

Putting down permanent roots sometimes means uprooting first. The family of Catlin Young knows this reality too well.

Young’s maternal grandparents, Louise and Henry Birrell, operated a large farm in Zimbabwe, Africa, before fleeing in 1983 amid political strife. De Regt’s parents hail from the Netherlands, relocating to the United States in 1987 to start a row-crop operation.

It takes courage, sacrifice, and determination to leave everything familiar for the chance at a better life in a foreign land. Those lessons aren’t lost on Young and de Regt as they start their own farming journeys.

Catlin Young, an agribusiness graduate of Murray State University, now works on the University of Kentucky’s research farm while raising soybeans and Katahdin sheep on her own farm in Princeton, Kentucky, where her family settled after leaving Zimbabwe in 1983. Photo Credit: Tim Thornberry

“My grandparents basically came to the United States with nothing,” Young says. “It makes me want to push harder toward my goals because I see what they did for themselves. You rise from what you’ve been through and grow to be better.”

Young’s family settled in Princeton, Kentucky, after leaving Zimbabwe, which had been a British colony before gaining independence from white minority rule in 1980. In the conflict that followed, many of Zimbabwe’s citizens—including Young’s grandparents; mother, Elaine; and uncle, Ivan—decided to emigrate rather than face an uncertain future.

Once in America, the Birrells eventually established Lively H Farms, where they raise cattle, row crops and hay. The farm has been training grounds for Young, who works alongside her grandfather, great-uncle, and fiancé.

“Papa is my role model,” says Young, who shares her farming journey through a blog, “A Grower’s Granddaughter.” “He had to work hard to get to where he is, and he’s always pushed me to do more than I thought I could do.”

“I am thankful for my family and our heritage,” she says. “I’m careful with the questions I ask my Papa because when he left, Zimbabwe was a bad place. Even so, I would love to see it for myself. After all, it’s part of who I am.”