Before there was eHarmony and Match.com, and before people were swiping right or left to find the love of their life, there was Farm Journal.
In August 1984, a Farm Journal story, “Finding a mate got you buffaloed?,” coupled with personal ads created a farming legacy that is still alive and well on at least one farm today.
In the aftermath of that article, a farm girl in southwest Iowa named Pat would find love all the way in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Fort Ann, N.Y. Under a listing that began: “My worst habits are losing gloves and sunglasses and tracking dirt in the house,” Pat first learned of Douglas Fuller, a young dairyman who was also looking for love. She circled the listing and wrote “yes” above it.
Soon after, they started corresponding through letters.
“Her letters were well-written, and she started sending chocolate chip cookies with them,” he recalls.
Their cross-country courtship lasted only three dates before Pat packed up her truck for New York for good to marry Doug.
Thirty years later, the legacy of that single piece of magazine print is still alive. Though Pat passed away in 2020, Doug now works alongside their daughter, Olivia, and her partner, Tom, to continue the family’s farming tradition in now the fourth generation of Fuller Acres Farm.
“I’ve always felt a deep connection to agriculture and feel lucky to have farming families on both sides,” Olivia says. “I was lucky to grow up knowing what it meant to be a steward of the land and everything that went into raising our food.”
Though returning to Fuller Acres Farm has been far from easy, Olivia says it has been the best decision of her life.
Visit Fuller Acres Farm to learn how she is carrying on her family’s legacy and elevating conservation efforts.
Do you know someone who found love like Doug and Pat Fuller thanks to Farm Journal’s August 1984 story, “Finding a mate got you buffaloed?” and personal ads? Or maybe they connected through the Rural Singles Directory Farm Journal published in the mid-1990s. If so, we want to hear about it. Send an email to editors@farmjournal.com.
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