Building ag leaders and fostering greater knowledge for ag risk management are on the agenda for the 40th Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference set for Feb. 20-21 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney.

Attendees can look forward to hearing from keynote speakers such as Elaine Froese, Emily Reuschel, Leah Peterson and Jena Oschner. 

In addition to the keynote speakers, participants will select from more than 20 workshop options that cover the five areas of agricultural risk management: production, market, financial, human and legal. Selected workshops will offer Continuing Education credits for certified crop advisers.

The photography exhibition, “Legacy of Leadership: Faces of Nebraska Women in Agriculture,” will be on display at the event to help celebrate 40 years of the program.

“We are thrilled to present such a diverse and inspiring lineup of speakers at this year's conference,” says Jessica Groskopf, director of the Nebraska WIA program. “The experts, innovators and leaders joining us are truly exceptional, and their insights will provide invaluable knowledge for everyone involved in agriculture. This is an opportunity you won’t want to miss.”

Registration opens Jan. 1. The cost for two-day registration is $150 for participants who register on or before Feb. 7. The two-day registration fee increases to $175 on Feb. 8. One-day registration is available for $90.

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Nebraska WIA and the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition are offering scholarships for students and producers to attend this year’s conference. The deadline for these applications is Feb. 1. 

To learn more, visit wia.unl.edu or contact Groskopf by calling 308-632-1247 or emailing [email protected].

Soil health on the agenda

Two soil health conferences are coming up in the new year. The Central Nebraska Soil Health Conference will be from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings.

The Eastern Nebraska Soil Health Conference is set for Feb. 11 at the Nielsen Community Center in West Point, also running from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

These events will gather experts including farmers and industry leaders to focus on the importance of soil health, with a featured keynote speaker, insightful panel discussion, on-farm research results and promotions of sustainable innovation in soil management.

The keynote speaker for the Central Nebraska event will be Meagan Schipanski, an associate professor at Colorado State University. At West Point for the Eastern Nebraska conference, the keynote will be given by Lisa Schulte, a professor at Iowa State University.

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Learn more about both events and find registration information at cropwatch.unl.edu/soil-health-program/events.