Katie Dotterer’s first experience with Hispanic culture came on the Clinton County, Pa., dairy farm she grew up on.

She was just a child when her family hired its first Hispanic worker for the dairy. Then, in third grade, she was encouraged by her teacher to learn about Spanish, for a “brain break.” Turns out, she got hooked.

“And so I learned how to count, and I learned my numbers in Spanish. And that year, I asked Santa Claus for a Spanish book, and I just thought it was so cool that I could speak in what I called code, when I was 8 years old. Because nobody, nobody could understand me,” Dotterer told me during a recent phone call.

Many years later, she has grown to appreciate Hispanic culture and has gotten pretty good at speaking Spanish. Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Dotterer is putting on her latest “Spanish for Agriculture” online class. It is designed to teach people Spanish for use on dairy, poultry and swine operations.

If you don’t know Dotterer, she is a dynamic spokeswoman for dairy. She co-owned a dairy farm in Maryland for close to a decade, and taught in middle school and high school.

In 2018, she started teaching online Spanish classes part time. Two years ago, she got a grant to write a Spanish curriculum for poultry and swine operators.

“So that grant afforded me to be able to travel to hatcheries and swine operations, and I would sit down not only with the farm owner or manager, but I would also ask to speak to Spanish speakers there because, for example, when I was at a swine operation, I found out there were six different ways that they say ‘piglet,’ depending on where somebody is from. So, that is really important for me to do the research first before I write a curriculum,” Dotterer says.

She is teaching three online classes this fall: a beginner’s Spanish course geared to dairy; an intermediate Spanish course, also geared to dairy; and a beginner’s Spanish course for poultry. The swine course she hopes to relaunch in winter if there is demand.

She says she has gotten students from as far away as Canada and California to take her course. Many are farm owners, but veterinarians, milk testers and even hoof trimmers have taken the course, too. In fact, the dairy courses now have a waiting list because of high demand.

“I actually have a lot of veterinarians that take my courses, which is very humbling to be quite honest,” Dotterer says. “But vets have told me that … now, when we go on farm, it's usually not the farm owner that we're in contact with. It's usually a Spanish speaker, whether they are, you know, the herdsperson or the farm manager.”

With 78% of ag workers identifying as Hispanic, according to the National Center for Farmworker Health, it’s a safe bet that you most likely have a Hispanic or two working for you. So, if you don’t know Spanish and have a few Spanish-speaking employees, it’s a good idea to at least know a few words.

I’m Hispanic myself, and I can tell from experience that this goes a long way — not only because you can communicate, but it also shows you care, that you’re interested in who the person is and where they come from.

It’s a lesson Dotterer says she learned during her senior year in high school when she milked cows with one of her family’s Hispanic employees, Octavio.

“It still blows my mind when people have the old mentality of, ‘Well, they're here, they need to learn English,’ which that's a whole topic I could talk to you forever on that. And I get that,” she says. “But I feel like there should be some onus on both parties, both English and Spanish speakers, to just try to learn the other language.

“I'm not out to make people fluent; that's up to you. But there is a certain level of respect for both parties to meet in the middle. Honestly, if you ask me what I do in a nutshell, it is to meet in the middle. I want people to meet in the middle in agriculture.”

There’s a lot of nasty rhetoric out there that, let’s be real, targets the Hispanic community. I guess we should expect that during a presidential election (which in itself is a sad statement). But the reality in the milking parlors, orchards and mushroom houses is that Hispanics are part of agriculture, whether you like it or not.

Let’s come together and show each other some respect. As I mentioned earlier, Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. I know it’s a busy season, but if you can, take a minute to research some of the most famous Hispanic people who have made a difference in agriculture, from Caesar Chavez to Delores Huerta and Eligio de La Garza II. All three have had huge impacts on the ag community.

And if you want to learn Spanish, take Katie’s class!

You might be placed on a waiting list because there is quite a bit of demand. Nevertheless, the sign-up deadline for her fall classes is Sept. 20. It runs online from Sept. 24 to Nov. 14, with one-hour classes held every Tuesday and Thursday with recordings available about one hour after class ends. You can access all the recordings through Dec. 28.

All courses include essential ag vocabulary and phrases applicable across all ag sectors. You'll learn common terms for equipment, actions and descriptions used daily in agricultural work.

If you farm in Pennsylvania, you may qualify for a 50% reimbursement of the course cost through grants by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Chester County Workforce Development Board.

For information on the course or how to receive a reimbursement, visit agvokate.com or email Katie Dotterer at [email protected].