Yesterday, Women, Land & Legacy’s state team was fortunate enough to present at the 4th National Conference for Women in Sustainable Agriculture: Cultivating our Food, Farms and Future.  Held in Des Moines this year, Women, Food and Ag Network plays host for the three day conference that ends today.  More than 450 female farmers and healthy food advocates from across the nation attended.

Women, Land and Legacy presented during a break-out session titled “Listen and Lead Small-Group Dialogue.” State team members joined together to present on WLL as a statewide, locally led program, its Listening Sessions, and actually demonstrated the small group process. Twenty four women were in the ninety minute session.

As our way to demonstrate the listening session process, and in keeping with the theme of the conference, we asked the women in our session three questions:

1) How do you cultivate sustainable agriculture in your community?

2) What has been your biggest challenge in cultivating your sustainable agriculture community?

3) What resources did you use to meet those challenges?

These questions provided a great dialogue for listening and learning from each other. Many questions were asked such as how they could bring WLL to their home state, what was the organization and role of the state team, and what types of topics do local teams choose for their meetings.

Attendees shared how they could use the small group process in their own communities. Many agreed that the process seemed great for groups where individuals don’t know and trust each other.  One women’s notable comment was that, for her, listening is a way to show trust and respect for someone she doesn’t yet have a relationship with. It’s a way to build up trust and understanding.

As a member of the WLL state team in the session yesterday, the sharing of ideas, visions and challenges that all female pioneers in agriculture face, not just in Iowa but across the nation, was more that just a memorable experience; it was inspiring.

 

WFAN was created in 1997 by a handful of visionary women – pioneering female farmers and healthy food advocates around the nation. Since then, WFAN has grown to a national network of more than 3,200 women and men, dedicated to gender equity in agriculture and to supporting the growing number of women engaged in all aspects of sustainable agriculture – through networking, education, and leadership development.

On June 13, the first annual Iowa Women’s Landowner Conference took place in Brooklyn, Iowa. It was a great turnout of over 100 women from 18 counties. The target was a 6-county area surrounding Brooklyn. Iowa county WLL had a leisurely partnership with Iowa Land Sales and Farm Management to “co-sponsor” the event. It seemed very well received by the women in attendance and focused on some of the most popular topics with WLL, estate planning and farm leases. Mike Pearson was the emcee and of course, added an element of professionalism to the event. Tanya Meyer, WLL State Team member, was able to be part of the final panel for Q&A and had a chance to talk about WLL in general. An evaluation included a question that allowed women to show if they wanted more information about WLL.
Contact stateteam@womenlandandlegacy.org if we can visit your county to share WLL!

Press Release — Contact: Whitney Baethke (whitney@iowalandsales.com, 641-623-5263)

Montezuma, IA – May 6, 2013:  Women Land and Legacy along with Iowa Land Sales & Farm Management are happy to announce their recent partnership to host the FIRST annual Iowa Women’s Landowner Conference.

Women farmland owners have the potential to transform Iowa’s landscape and farm communities in significant and positive ways, given that women own or co-own nearly half of Iowa’s farmland. Women, Land and Legacy has partnered with Iowa Land Sales & Farm Management to provide information to women who want to learn more about how to care for and pass on the land. The goal of the conference is to target the educational needs of women in Iowa, focusing on their empowerment and encouraging local contacts and relationships.

The conference will feature local experts from central Iowa presenting on Estate Planning, Agricultural Tax Issues, Farm Management, Land Values and Trust & Wealth Management.  The conference is specifically designed for women and will include small group breakout sessions scheduled throughout the day.

All attendees will be given an opportunity to attend every breakout session and listen to each speaker. Mike Pearson, host of Market to Market and local farmer/businessman, will be moderating the event. Annette Sweeney, President of Iowa Agri-Women and Former Chair of the Iowa House Ag Committee will provide an engaging presentation during lunch. Local experts include: Rachelle Johnson, Attorney;  Susan Voss & Jill Yule, CPAs; Jennifer Ness, Iowa County Executive Director – USDA FSA & Iowa County WLL team member; Tanya Meyer-Dideriksen, NRCS Wetland Specialist & WLL State team member;  Vince Johnson, Land Broker; Matt Mann, Accredited Farm Manager; and Dale Farland, Trust & Wealth Management Officer.  All speakers will participate in an “expert panel” discussion, answering questions at the end of the day.

The conference will take place on Thursday, June 13^th at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center in Brooklyn, Iowa. Registration begins at 8:30 am. Various speakers and breakout sessions are scheduled throughout the day concluding at 3:30 pm. There is a $20 registration fee. Snacks, lunch, handouts and door prizes are all provided.

To reserve your seat at the conference, call 641-623-5263 and ask for Whitney or email her at whitney@iowalandsales.com. You may also register online by visiting http://iowalandsales.com/. If you wish to receive a hardcopy invitation in the mail, simply call or email Whitney as mentioned above and give her your mailing address. Registration fees may be paid in advance or on the day of the event.

           

Our May edition is available when you click on the Newsletters link of our website.  Our typical four-page letter expanded to six this time!  It is chock-full of past events info & upcoming events. 

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook & let us know if we can add any WLL events for your areas to the page or even create your own group page for you.

The website has had some remodeling over the last couple of days.  All of the same info is there, links are just moved around in the menu bar.  We’ve added an Events Calendar, there’s still a bit of tweaking going on there.

Thank you to all contributors.  Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have suggestions for upcoming newsletters, blogs, events, & more!

Thank you for reading.

Heather Honkomp
State Team
Women, Land & Legacy