03/10/08 Women and Ag

Women and Ag. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. What does it take to be a woman in the traditionally masculine world of agriculture? That and many other issues will be discussed at the Women And Ag conference coming up in April. VIEBROCK: This is the 4th statewide Women and Agriculture conference called "Cultivating A Reality." We just address the personal and the farm and the family issues that present special challenges to women who either manage the farm, own the farm, or are the supporting off the farm job for the farm and we deal with lots of different kinds of issues. That's Margaret Viebrock with Douglas County Extension. This year's keynote speaker will talk about positive changes. VIEBROCK: The keynote speaker is Elaine Froese coming out of Manitoba and she is a farmer herself, she's also a farmer's daughter and so she has the experience of dealing with what farm families are experiencing themselves. As an energetic speaker she has the tools to help women look at those issues that she has experienced as well as what she's had from other workshops she's done. Viebrock says that being a woman in the world of agriculture has many issues that need to be confronted. VIEBROCK: Getting the respect and understanding what's going on. They're also trying to balance a lot of other things besides being the farmer, of looking at the family. They have special challenges when they go for farm loans as they go talk to the banker. They're very intuitive as it comes to developing a business plan but sometimes gaining the respect of the commercial community with having the knowledge to be a good farm manager. Contact Douglas County Extension for more information. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.