Editor's Note: This press release is from the Women Food and Ag Network.
Women who own or manage farmland in southeast Minnesota are invited to a free conservation discussion and field tour on Tuesday, July 23, at St. John's Lutheran Church, 500 3rd St. West, Northfield. Coffee and registration begin at 8:30 a.m. A free lunch is provided. The program will end with wrap‐up and dessert at 3:30 p.m.
RSVP by 5 p.m. Friday, July 19, to Beth Kallestad, Cannon River Watershed Partnership, at (507) 786‐3913, or email her at beth@crwp.net.
Women, Food and Agriculture Network issponsoring the meeting as part of its Women Caring for the LandSM series, in collaboration with the Land Stewardship Project, Cannon River Watershed Partnership, and the Center for Rural Affairs. Funding comes from a Conservation Innovation Grant from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Women now own or co‐own 25 to 50% of the farmland in the Midwest, and an increasing number of them are sole owners.
“We have worked with women landowners for 15 years,” says Leigh Adcock, WFAN executive director. “They are some of the most dedicated conservationists in the region, but are typically overlooked with traditional conservation outreach, which is targeted at the tenant farmer.”
Women Caring for the Land meetings bring together women landowners in an informal, discussion‐based learning format for a morning discussion, followed by a more in‐depth look at the two or three topics of most interest. Female conservation professionals are on hand to answer questions and share resources.
Following lunch, area conservationists lead a bus tour to view practices on the ground. Topics for discussion range from managing soil and water conservation, wildlife management and government cost‐share programs, to how to talk with tenants about changing management practices.
"If I'd have known it would be so interesting, I would've brought a lot of friends along,” said one participant. Another said, “Thank you for explaining things in a way I could understand.”
For more conservation information from WFAN for women farmland owners, visit the program’s website, www.womencaringfortheland.org.
