Nancy Burton
Nancy Burton (She/Her) is an accomplished investment expert, agricultural advocate, entrepreneur, and farmer based in Estancia, New Mexico. She has been professionally involved in quality assurance for over 10 years and is currently a Quality Assurance Technician at Creamland Dairies in Albuquerque, where she has been for just over a year. In this role, Nancy ensures that all equipment—from cheese vats to sour cream tanks and filler machines—is properly cleaned and sanitized. She tests products to verify butterfat and solids content, plates samples throughout production runs, and ensures scale accuracy, all under USDA and EPA oversight. Her work spans sour cream, cottage cheese, dips (including New Mexico’s signature green chili specialties), and supporting sister plants across New Mexico and Texas. Previously, she spent nearly eight years at LabCorp as a Documentation Specialist, where she oversaw SOPs and policies for pharmaceutical studies, worked globally with teams in the U.S., India, and England, and played a key role in modernizing the company’s document management system.
Nancy’s roots in agriculture run deep. She grew up on a farm, returned to it at age 10, and has nurtured her passion ever since. Alongside her husband, she runs a farm-to-table business raising lamb and pork, managing her flock from breeding through to final sales. Her work emphasizes quality at every stage, informed by over 28 years of breeding experience. Nancy also co-owns Heart Prairie Sheep and Cattle Company, a registered Suffolk flock and feeder calf operation, and has a long history of supporting the agricultural community through leadership roles with organizations such as the Wisconsin Livestock Breeders Association and the Wisconsin Sheep Breeders Cooperative.
In addition to her professional and entrepreneurial work, Nancy is passionate about financial literacy and business education. She consults with small businesses and non-profits to maintain accurate financial records and operational clarity, helping them achieve goals while building sustainable practices. With a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business from Colorado State University and a Technical Diploma in Farm Business & Production Management from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Nancy combines technical expertise, hands-on agricultural experience, and strong leadership to drive innovation, education, and community impact in all that she does.
• Technical Diploma, Farm Business & Production Management
• Staying Organized While Working Remotely or On-Site
• Beating Procrastination
• Become Your Own Boss
• Certificate of Supervision
• Colorado State University - B.Sc. Ag.
• Fox Valley Technical College - AS in NRM
• Wisconsin Livestock Breeders Association
• United Suffolk Sheep Junior Association
What do you attribute your success to?
I would say I probably wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for my agriculture background. I grew up in agriculture - my dad was a farmer when he was growing up, he left the farm, but eventually we got back into farming when I was 10, and I fell in love with it and I've never left it since. I call myself a Jane of all trades because when you grow up in agriculture, you learn a lot of skills - you have to be very fluent because nothing is the same, things break down, and you've got to be able to pull up your bootstraps and be able to fix it or deal with whatever comes your way. Whether it's production or on the business side sitting in an office making deals, you've got to be diversified. If you really looked at the history of my careers and the jobs that I've had, I've been all over the board. But one of the things I'm thankful for is whenever I've been out of the professional side, like not being in QA or working for a company, I've always been able to fall back on my agriculture. I don't know how many times I've needed a job and I've gone back to milking cows for a farmer or drove tractor and did a harvest just to have something coming in because I just needed it. That's been the best thing that I am the most thankful for - my agriculture background. It has actually gotten me jobs just because of the hard work and the ethics and everything that I've been raised with from farming and that part of the industry. I'm 95% sure I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for my agriculture background, and it's one of the reasons why I've never been able to walk away from it and why my husband and I to this day continue farming.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges and opportunities I face right now is balancing multiple demanding roles while maintaining the highest standards in everything I do. I work a full-time Quality Assurance position on a four-day, 10-hour schedule, ensuring all equipment, processes, and products meet USDA and EPA standards, while simultaneously running a farm-to-table business with my husband. Our farm operations require year-round attention—from breeding and raising animals to processing and sales—and I apply the same quality assurance mindset to both my professional and personal work. Growing our customer base in a specialized agricultural market while managing the entire vertical integration of our lamb and pork operation presents exciting business development opportunities, yet also requires maintaining over 28 years of breeding expertise as we scale. Coordinating with sister plants across New Mexico and Texas, managing consumer feedback, and ensuring consistent quality across all production runs are ongoing industry challenges that keep me focused, adaptable, and committed to continuous improvement.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Quality is very important to both my husband and me, even in our farm-to-table business with the animals that we raise and process and sell. Our quality decisions start already at the breeding - we look at the quality of the rams, we look at the quality of the ewes, we look at their traits, what we want, what we're going for, and we've got over 28 years of breeding in our flock to get it to where it's at today with the qualities that we want that's going to show up in your frying pan or in your oven. In my professional work, we want to make sure we're putting out the safest product that we can and that we're meeting all requirements and qualifications for those products, not only at our level but the public's level and also at the government's level. We take any comments we get from our consumers very seriously - we go back, we look at what the issue is that they had, or take what was good and how can we make that better. We're pretty proud of the product that we put out and what we do. My agriculture background has been the foundation for everything - the hard work and the ethics I've been raised with from farming is what I'm most thankful for. I grew up learning that you have to be very fluent because nothing is the same, things break down, and you've got to be able to pull up your bootstraps and be able to fix it or deal with whatever comes your way. I've never been able to walk away from farming, and why my husband and I to this day continue farming. The farm-to-table business is really where my heart is - it's my passion, my heart and soul.