By Callie Greiner

A group of women in Cedar, Muscatine and Scott counties in eastern Iowa is inviting woman landowners and farmers in the area to join them in establishing the newest Women, Land and Legacy group.

WLL is a USDA education and outreach program that works locally in 29 counties across Iowa by bringing women together to discuss their thoughts on multiple ag-related topics.

This program empowers women by giving them the opportunity to network with other women in their county as they share ideas on how they believe agencies and organizations can better assist them in making informed decisions for themselves and their communities. Each WLL county program has a “local team” to lead group discussions to identify specific needs of women in their county, while also answering any questions individuals may have.

Lydia Whitman, conservation assistant for Cedar County Soil and Water Conservation District and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, is helping organize the new WLL group for the three-county area.

Women see need for local program
Why start a new local program? Whitman is connected with local organizations, and it felt like the right time, she says. After forming a planning committee, the group focused on what they want to accomplish. They quickly identified that women in the communities were at different points in their lives and had different levels of engagement with their farming or farmland ownership operations.

Knowing the women in the area had different levels of experience in the ag industry, the planning committee decided it would be best to focus on rural women as a whole rather than a specific group. This allows them to cover a wide variety of topics including farm transition planning, land management, rent relationships and more.

Through this program, the planning committee hopes to bring together women who are involved in agriculture and to network, expand knowledge and grow support. Whitman says the committee is excited about the new program and looks forward to watching it grow.

The local team for Cedar, Muscatine and Scott county encourages women to attend one of two sessions on Sept. 10 at Durant Community Center at 606 Fifth Ave. in Durant. Each session is two hours long with the first from 2 to 4 p.m. and the second from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Registration, refreshments and door prizes will be offered 30 minutes before each session.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Holly Howard at [email protected] or call 563-263-7944.

“We encourage women to take advantage of this opportunity,” Whitman says.

You can learn more about the statewide program at womenlandandlegacy.org.

Greiner is a summer intern with ISU Extension and Wallaces Farmer.