Juliana Blackburn-Baskin Arora

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268 – July/August, 2022

By Kelli Hardy

If you were to ask Bill Baskin what brought him and his wife Susan together, his answer might just be cows. The co-owners of Baskin Livestock, one of the largest agricultural businesses in Genesee County, New York, first met shortly after Susan Blackburn, a veterinarian, spent a large portion of her job traveling to farms to administer tuberculosis tests. The frequency of these tests brought her to visit Baskin’s farm several times a week. Inevitably, working so close together on numerous separate occasions developed a friendship between the two which eventually developed into something more. “We were friends way before we were married, and we still are; that’s the amazing part,” Blackburn notes.

Bill Baskin and Susan Blackburn began Baskin Livestock over twenty years ago after acquiring several local farms and consolidating them into over 1,700 acres of land. A large part of their acreage is set aside for cropland and raising various livestock such as dairy heifers, beef, and Quarter Horses. In addition, Baskin Livestock includes an innovative feed mill that operates by recycling tons of bakery waste into feed. As a result of the company’s success, in 2013, Baskin Livestock was awarded with Genesee County Conservation Farm of the Year.

Juliana Blackburn-Baskin (now Arora), Bill and Susan’s only child, grew up living on her parents’ farm in Batavia, New York. An avid horseback rider from an early age, Arora grew up riding and taking lessons at the barn on her parents’ property. “I have always been around horses. My family had them at our farm and my mom rode while pregnant with me,” Arora reminisces. Her love of horses, specifically Quarter Horses, only grew when she began watching her mother show. “I watched how much she enjoyed it,” she notes. “I was hooked before I even knew.”

Though she no longer shows, Blackburn now enjoys her time as an owner and supports Juliana as she continues a very successful amateur career. “My mom used to show, but now she supports and cheers me on. It’s our thing,” Arora states.

Click here to read the complete article
268 – July/August, 2022