Athens, GA |

In Athens recently, conversations were had surrounding the topic of women in agriculture, which according to USDA Census Data, accounts for thirty-six percent of the ag industry’s workforce, three times was it was just decades ago. However, despite that progress, there’s still more work to be done, which is where the Women in Agriculture Forum comes in.

“We were able to travel all over Georgia and to meet farmers and ranchers, all across Georgia. And all of them are very happy and generous when it came to sharing their experiences with us. A common theme here really was that first of all, agriculture is a necessary and vital industry, but it is also a really hard profession, especially for women. And so our question was kind of how can we make this a little bit easier? How can we possibly support female farmers in Georgia? I think this forum today is kind of our answer to that question. We’re trying to support female farmers in Georgia by providing a platform for them to get to know each other, to build a community, but also to learn about state and federal resources and to also practice some really tangible skills like leadership, mentoring, and branding,” says Alexa Bankert, an Associate Professor at UGA.

According to Bankert, one of the biggest hurdles they found for women in the agriculture industry, was the lack of community, as she says most are juggling several things at once and either don’t know about or don’t have time to utilize the resources that are out there.

“What we heard a lot was the lack of community, the lack of support, simply because in many cases, a female farmer is not the stereotypical farmer. So, sometimes there was the lack of having a supportive community. That was really a big challenge. The other one is in fact mental health. That too was something that came up quite repeatedly and also just unawareness, really a lack of awareness. When it came to available resources, right? And so we really tried to tailor this workshop to these needs and to provide at least a starting point to address those deficiencies,” says Bankert.

To Breanna Berry, Leadership Programs Coordinator for Georgia Farm Bureau, that’s where GFB comes in, as she says though women in ag often do have a full plate, not only is GFB is a great resource for them, they’re also vital to the organization’s success.

“I think Farm Bureau provides a really great opportunity for our women in agriculture to find that sense of belonging, that sense of community. There are women in our organization who might be older with a lot of wisdom and a lot of experience that they can offer our younger and future generations. That is vital for that next generation to have success. They’ve faced a lot of challenges, a lot of struggles, maybe a lot of obstacles they’ve found that community that has helped them work through some of those challenges. And we really can be a place where all of those groups come together, all of those ages and generations meet and are able to share their experiences, share their knowledge, and really find that community that really is necessary for our ladies to be successful,” says Berry.

By: John Holcomb