Four Women Managing Farmland Forums Offered in September

By Madeline Schultz

Four Women Managing Farmland Forums and Annie’s Project 20th Anniversary Celebrations will be offered across the state the first week of September. The free events take place on Sept. 3 in Atlantic, Sept. 4 in Iowa City, Sept. 5 in West Union and Sept. 6 in Storm Lake, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The one-day regional forums are a valuable opportunity to refresh your conservation, leasing and estate management skills while networking with other women in agriculture. Topics will include soil erosion and water management, landowner responsibilities and the economics of farmland, as well as trusts, taxes and succession planning.

Women of all ages make important decisions about land leasing, conservation practices and transition and estate plans. The forums are designed to help attendees meet their long-term farmland management goals. By combining strategies, women can design equitable farmland leasing, adoption of conservation practices and efficiencies in transitions to next generation farmers.

Well over 3,000 Iowa women completed Annie’s Project or Annie’s Inspired multi-session farm management courses since 2004. Nearly 1,000 women have participated in Women in Ag Leadership conferences since 2017. The changes these women made not only benefited their families, farms and agribusinesses, but also contributed to a stronger Iowa agricultural system through financially stable businesses, improved conservation practices and closer community networks.    

The forums are a thank you to all those who made Annie’s Project a successful program in Iowa and a welcome to all those who haven’t yet participated. Over the noon hour, there will be a pictorial slide show celebrating and honoring the contributions and milestones of Iowa women in agriculture over the past 20 years.  

Did you know …

• The number of Iowa women farmers counted in the USDA Census of Agriculture increased from 27,258 in 2002 to 50,263 in 2022.
• The percentage of women enrolled in Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences increased from 43% in fall 2003 to 59% in fall 2023.

Each regional forum will be slightly different. The northeast Iowa forum will feature a tour of Susan Kuennen’s conservation practices and fen beginning at 8:30 a.m.; and local farmer Natalie Eick Paino will share her story of opening the gates at Hightail Delivery over the noon hour.

The southeast Iowa forum will feature Rabail Chandio, assistant professor, ISU Department of Economics and leading researcher for the annual Iowa Land Values Survey; as well as Ilsa DeWald, Johnson County local food and farm manager at Johnson County Historic Poor Farm, who will share about the power of women and diversity in agriculture. 

Registration is free and required so that everyone has a chair and a lunch. Local agendas and online registration can be found at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/womeninag. 

This program is financially supported by a USDA NIFA Critical Agriculture Research and Education grant (2021-68008-34180) and a Farm Credit Services of America gift through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Ag program.