Sunday, August 25, 2013

Calling All Ag Women!

Remember that Women's Conference I attended late last fall?  Here's the post I did following that event: Women in Agriculture: Not a New Concept  Check that out if you want a refresher on what that conference was all about.  That conference was sort of the starting point for all this Farmers Union involvement Jeff and I now find ourselves in (yay!). 

I have been asked to be on a planning call for this year's upcoming Women's Conference being put on by Montana Farmers Union. So, I am looking for feedback from all my female friends in agriculture about what they would look for in a women's conference.  What would make the conference worth your while?  What would be enough to take you away from the hectic life you lead living and working in ag?

On our call, we will be discussing suggestions for improvement over last year, location, dates for the conference, conference theme, workshop ideas, potential speakers and social activities/evening entertainment.  I am also curious about what challenges we face as women in agriculture and what do we want to do about it?  How do we see the future unfolding? Is agriculture still a male-dominated world? How are women's roles changing? Are they changing?

I also want to add this little bit about Montana Farmers Union. MFU is a great organization that cares about family farms in Montana.  They don't exclusively serve large-scale producers, but embrace even the smallest CSA farmers, as well as anyone who supports agriculture as a viable lifestyle for others.  MFU is about taking care of people who care about food supply in Montana and beyond.  What that means for all of you, is that any of you who have any interest in agriculture at all can share your opinion on what a women's conference for women in agriculture should look like.  The more, the merrier!

The conference call is this upcoming Friday morning. If you have anything to suggest, please leave comments below, email me, call me, message on facebook, text, smoke signal, ESP... Ok just kidding. I haven't perfected my telepathy skills yet, so maybe just stick to the more traditional methods of communication! No idea or suggestion is too wild!  Be creative, be honest!  And.... GO!

2 comments:

  1. Farm safety is always a big issue for me. Many women, children and others are pressed into service around machinery that they may not be very familiar with during the busiest times of the season. Awareness of safety issues and basic first aid could be good topics. I also have a name of a female humorist, if that would be of interest to you.

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  2. You bring up a very good point, Carol! Thanks for the suggestion. And, if you could pass on the name of the humorist that you know, that would be great! I'll try to remember to ask you about it in person.

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