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Women, Farms & Food - Education and Networking for Women in Agriculture

Margaret Viebrock

Summary

Women, Farms & Food

Women involved in agriculture face unique challenges with the demands from both the farm and family. Equally important is the challenge to take care of their personal well-being. Travel to one state location for a state-wide conference served its purpose for several years, but continues to be a challenge for women. This presentation will illustrate the success of using webinars to reach women in various locations in the state. This new approach offers the same headline speakers at 16 locations, while also making the conference specific to each region with local facilitators and presenters. Farming is risky business and women farmers benefit from the support of other women. Creating women farmer networks is also an important strength of this project. The ability to network with other women is an asset for women producers and a needed addition to their educational training for sustainable farming practices. The numbers of Latino women producers is increasing and language is a barrier. Hear how two locations successfully used translators to engage monolingual women as full participants. A dedicated website, electronic newsletters and social media contact throughout the year have kept women producers engaged. Using a new paradigm for reaching women producers requires a shift of resources, a fully engaged planning team and willingness offering a variety of alternative learning formats.

Details

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