Alumni Highlight: Juan Quinonez Zepeda '22

Juan Quinonez Zepeda '22 recently published a chapter from his honors thesis in the Southeastern Geographer.

Abstract from Juan's article:

The United States' deeply rooted reliance on forms of racialized and undervalued agricultural labor has long been underpinned by a common misconception that this work requires little to no skill or prior knowledge. This paper focuses on contemporary centrality of (de)valued migrant knowledge in the modern animal agriculture industry in the US South, employing research on tacit knowledge to explore the often-ignored impact immigrant knowledge has on the Mississippi beef cattle industry. Through a focus on Mexican migrants' indispensable skills and tacit knowledge, the article emphasizes the critical role farmworkers' knowledge plays in negotiating operating threats. Utilizing semi-structured interviews with farm owners and Mexican farmworkers, I evaluate how skill is visible in daily work, how workers obtain and transfer tacit knowledge, and how farm owners perceive this knowledge. Not only are skill and knowledge highly regarded in the cattle industry, but Mexican workers are intentionally sought out for them. Despite this, I argue, Mexican migrants' experiences and opportunities are conditioned by the region's persistent agricultural plantation bloc that reproduces racialized and migratory labor exploitation. Hence, I highlight a paradox whereby Mexican cattle workers are highly acknowledged for their contributions but simultaneously exploited and thus, constrained in fully leveraging their knowledge.

Read Juan's full article here.

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Juan Quinonez Zepeda's cattle farm, Cebadilla Ranch, was also featured on RAFI. Check it out!

From RAFI:

Juan Quinonez Zepeda (he/él) owns and co-manages Cebadilla Ranch in Senatobia, Mississippi, alongside his family. Raised on cattle farm operations from a young age, he began working in the industry at 14 alongside his father. Named after the Mexican barley fields in which his father worked and met his mother, Cebadilla Ranch is a multi-cultural, -lingual, and -generational cattle ranch on the bluff of the Mississippi Delta with a mission to conserve traditional Mexican knowledge, build collective Latinx immigrant power, and foster farm ownership opportunities for Latinx farmworkers in the region. While the ranch was founded in 2024, his family collectively brings over 30 years of working in northern Mississippi's beef cattle industry and ranches across the region. 
With their operation, Juan and his family aspire to transform the land, community, and lives for future generations! Cebadilla Ranch is excited to use these funds to purchase its first head of livestock for its operations this fall. Facing increased regional prices for livestock, feed, and equipment, this support will allow them to reduce a capital barrier by purchasing water tanks, feed bunkers, and Black Angus cattle to jumpstart their operation, conservation practices, and impact on the industry.