Girls, Girls, Girls - An Elvis Movie or Great Ag Leaders? Both!!!

by

The following is a post originally written by Janice Person for her blog.  It was inspired by a conversation on twitter about careers in agriculture.  One of the topics was about women in agriculture.  Janice is a live wire of southern charm and keeps me laughing with her humor through our Skype chats. Please take the time to read this piece and think about all the great women making a difference in agriculture, on the farm, in industry and in research.

By Janice Person

It has been a career long observation that being a woman and working in agriculture puts the odds in my favor, at least when it€™s break time during a big meeting and the room empties to the restrooms.  The near dichotomy of being a woman in ag is something that has shifted since I started by working with a farm publications company though. In fact, there are women working in seemingly every area of agriculture.

There are so many women related to farming on twitter that I created a list of the ones I follow.  As I tap this up, there are more than 80 women on the list.  What I like more than anything, is nobody could see this as a stereotype if they take just a minute to look at who€™s there.  There are women who:

  • live on the farm in the middle of nowhere or  much closer to town & thow who live in small towns or in the city
  • work in town & others who farm and seriously put their backs into it & still others who may not visit a farm for quite a while
  • report on agriculture on the radio, in magazines or newspapers & others who are more likely to be the focus of the reports
  • focus on small scale agriculture & those who have large acreages/herds
  • utilize the latest in biotech & others who have chosen organic production practices
  • thought maybe I shouldn€™t have listed them & others who asked if they could be on the list
  • have educated themselves largely on-the-job and those who are in school as well as some who have advanced degrees
  • were raised on the farm and those who grew up in major metropolitan areas
  • have called one county or state home most of their lives and others who have thousands of miles for the right reason
  • are single and loving it & others who have big families
  • blog & tweet their stories frequently and some who wait for news to break or who prefer to listen to others
  • I have known for years and others I only know through the internet

Social media provides me an opportunity to hear from a variety of perspectives and that€™s the case with this list.  I€™ve had a chance to talk with women who are doing something far different than I had ever imagined and I€™ve learned a lot.  And I can easily keep learning €” I€™ve got a list available at the click of a button!  Oh, if I€™ve missed you, just plead your case by leaving a reply.

Once again please check out Janice’s blog and learn more about agriculture and her experiences.

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