Nearly 200 farm women, agri-business professionals, industry representatives,
press, and Extension educators attended the 2-day Midwest Women in
Agriculture 2004 Conference.
Conference Impact
- 87% of the women said the conference helped them to define their
role in making their farms profitable.
- 90% felt the conference strengthened their role in dealing with
the emotional well-being of their families.
- Attendees indicated they discovered answers to their questions
and new ideas they could try immediately and gained new resource
materials and new contacts.
- Women attending the conference reported gaining greater confidence,
higher morale, and increased motivation as a result.
- 80% reported they planned to do something differently as a result
of attending the conference.
- Following are ideas women reported they would try on their home
farms:
- Contact a financial advisor for estate planning
- Work with the Purdue New Ventures Team
- Be more aware of pesticide handling
- Explore direct marketing
- Work on family relations
- Add more detail to family meetings
- Make sure all conditions are in writing
- Be more assertive
- Stay more positive
- Make smarter investments
- Investigate insurance available
Who Attended the Conference?
Women from more than 35 Indiana counties and from Wisconsin, Michigan,
and Ohio attended. Here are some interesting statistics about them.
- 6 were sole proprietors.
- 40% did not work outside the home.
- 16% worked part-time.
- 43% worked fulltime.
- 57% farmed fewer than 500 acres.
- 17% farmed more than 500 but fewer than 1,000 acres.
- 26% farmed more than 1,000 acres.
- 11% were under 35 years of age.
- 23% were 36 - 45 years old.
- 31% were 46 - 55 years old.
- 19% were 56 - 65 years old.
- 16% were 66 years old or older.
Participants' Comments
"I have attended all three conferences, and this one was the best-all
the speakers were great."
"As a small business owner, I found the conference very motivating
and helpful in showing me where help lies and ideas in marketing."
"I continually recommend it and have been successful in having more
friends, peers, or clients attend."
"I believe I can get answers to questions I or my spouse have by
attending these conferences. I was very excited about many things
that put insight on our own situations."
"Since I am a loan office in training, I came back with some very
valuable resources that I have shared with my fellow loan officers.
Our bank is centered in a dense ag area, and I feel that these
resources can help our customers improve their farm operations."
"I really believe in the conference since it provides information
that we all need to hear and consider. I even tell my sisters who
are involved in small businesses that they should attend, even though
their businesses are not directly involved in agriculture. I am glad
that my daughter could attend with me this year, since each of us
was able to gain different perspectives from the speakers."
Join
us at our next conference!
