The 6th Annual Arkansas Women in Agriculture Conference will be held March 1-2 at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock.

The agenda, registration and hotel information are available at www.arkansaswomeninag.com.

“The annual ARWIA conferences have brought hundreds of women together to learn and network with other Arkansas women involved in agriculture and rural communities. This year another highly informative conference is set for attendees,” said Carrie Hirmer, CEO of ARWIA.

Keynote speakers for this year’s conference are Andrea Lohr and Ruth Hambleton.

Through the award of a grant from USDA Risk Management Agency, ARWIA will offer risk management topics such as transition planning, insurance, legal issues, and more. In addition, through the support of the RMA and the Southern Region Risk Management Education Center, pre-conference workshops will be held on grain marketing, contracts/leases, estate planning as well as two hands-on workshops on business plans and how to adapt Quicken to farm/ranch records.

In total, the conference will offer over 32 topics on sustainable agriculture, management, legal issues, leadership, and health and wellness.

Attendees at the 2010 conference will see some changes, according to Hirmer. “A new offering this year is a track devoted to sustainable agriculture, which is funded in part by an educational sponsorship from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. We are very pleased to offer seven conference scholarships — five from our SARE grant and two from ARWIA,” Hirmer said.

Information on the scholarships is available at www.arkansaswomeninag.com; however the deadline is Feb. 12, so Hirmer encourages those wishing to apply to do so as soon as possible.

Each year, attendees of the conference are given the opportunity to help others while at the conference. For the past three years Arkansas Women in Agriculture has partnered with Arkansas Rice Depot, which will again be the focus project for 2010.

Information on this year’s project can be found on the Arkansas Women in Agriculture Web site with registration information.

Early registration is $55 for members and $65 for non-members. Early registration ends Feb. 8. After Feb. 8 member registration is $70 and non-member registration is $80.

All conference participants who register before Feb. 15 receive a free conference t-shirt. The Wyndham Riverfront is holding rooms at a special rate through Feb. 8 for conference participants. Call the Wyndham Riverfront at (866) 657-4458 or (501) 371-9000 and mention Arkansas Women in Agriculture when making reservations to receive the conference rates.

For complete conference information, membership information and to register online, visit www.arkansaswomeninag.com, or contact Donette Stump at (501) 228-1222 or [email protected] or contact Carrie Hirmer at (870) 653-6258 or [email protected].

Arkansas Women in Agriculture is a private non-profit organization whose purpose is to: provide educational programs for women involved in agriculture in Arkansas, provide a network with other Arkansas women involved in agricultural and rural community issues, and identify new ways to balance the demands of family, community and professional lives.