Yesterday we celebrated a significant event — Women in Agriculture Day in Iowa. For the third consecutive year, we partnered with FarmHer, Iowa FFA Foundation and Iowa 4-H Youth Development Program to obtain a state proclamation celebrating the women who make the ag industry prosper. This year, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds invited us and our partners in this effort for a formal proclamation signing, officially designating March 24 as Women in Agriculture Day in Iowa.
The proclamation says, “Iowa is taking decisive action to recognize the nearly 50,000 women who serve in leadership, support and influential, decision-making roles across Iowa’s 85,000 farms. And, in addition to working on the farm, women in agriculture make a difference across the state in various commodity and industry fields.”
While we seek ways to honor our employees, partners and other ag industry professionals every day, we chose March 24 for Women in Agriculture Day because it falls within both Women's History Month and National Agriculture Week (March 20–26). In addition to the state proclamation, we kicked off our annual Women in Ag campaign in early March. Throughout the campaign, we interviewed women from many facets of the industry who have been key in fostering success in their roles and guiding the future generation of ag leaders. A few of their stories, as well as our 2022 Women in Ag video, are below.
Stine Seedcast Episode 9: Women in Ag: Renae Schmidt (Also available on your preferred podcast app).
Stine Seedcast Episode 10: Women in Ag: Susanne (Kinzenbaw) Veatch (Also available on your preferred podcast app).
Stine Seedcast Episode 11: Women in Ag: McKenzie Gettler (Also available on your preferred podcast app).
Blog: Paige Harris: Giving the next generation of women in ag so much to look up to!
Blog: Michelle Nelson: Educator, mother and a self-proclaimed people person
Blog: Jill Melby: Returning to agriculture to inspire the next generation
As part of this year’s celebration, we hosted a Women in Agriculture Day reception at the iconic Stine Barn on March 24. Guests heard from Stine general counsel Brenda Stine, in addition to representatives from our partners in this effort — Marji Alaniz, president and founder of FarmHer; Zoie Shook, advancement specialist, Iowa FFA Foundation; and Dr. Cayla Taylor, senior educational program development manager. While Women in Agriculture Day in Iowa is passed, we look forward to continuing our monthlong celebration of women in agriculture. We encourage individuals to join in celebrating with us by sharing their ag stories on social media using the hashtag #TogetHER4Ag today. And those who wish to learn more about the day or how Stine is celebrating women in agriculture throughout March are welcome to follow our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube pages, or catch additional Women in Ag episodes on our podcast — the Stine Seedcast — available wherever podcasts are found.