U of A hosts Arkansas Women in Agriculture Conference
Contact Information:Dr. Jennie Popp, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
479-575-2279 / jhpopp@uark.edu
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The second Arkansas Women in Agriculture conference will be held March 6-7 at the Hot Springs Convention Center “to enrich the lives and empower the participants in all aspects of agriculture and in the rural community,” said Dr. Jennie Popp, an agricultural economist in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences on the Fayetteville campus.
More than 300 participants, including a handful of men, attended the first conference hosted by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture last March.
Returning as keynote speaker for the conference will be Jolene Brown of West Branch, Iowa. Her topic will be, “Stand Up, Step Up and Lead.”
Brown is a professional speaker and farm operator who uses a blend of humor, hope and helpful ideas to address the hearts, homes and business of agriculture, Popp said.
Concurrent sessions will cover a broad range of topics, including tax, water and legal issues in agriculture; family financial planning; getting to know the new Arkansas Department of Agriculture; alternative marketing strategies available to Arkansas farmers; financial assistance for production agriculture; understanding the signs of drug use in your community; home organization; cooking with Arkansas agricultural products; and Arkansas native foods.
Early registration for the conference is open through Jan. 15 and costs $25, Popp said. Late registration, after Jan. 15, will cost $35. Students can register early for $15 for after Jan. 15 for $25.
The growing number of women in the “man’s world” of agriculture make the conference not just a good idea, but a necessity, Popp said.
Arkansas is part of a national trend of increasing numbers of women as farm operators. From 1992 to 2002, the number of men as full-time farm operators in the United States declined, but the number of women increased by 42 percent to 236,269, according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture.
“In Arkansas, an estimated 19,900 women are farm operators, and nearly 5,000 are principal operators,” Popp said. “The purpose of this conference is to help prepare Arkansas women to meet the challenges of an ever-changing agricultural marketplace and an ever-changing rural landscape.”
The conference hotels in Hot Springs are the Arlington Resort Hotel and Spa and the Embassy Suites. Details regarding special rates and registration instructions will be available on the Arkansas Women in Agriculture Web site.
For more information, including a full conference schedule and registration form, visit the conference Web site: http://www.arwomeninag.com/ or call Jennie Popp or Darci Hewett at 479-575-2279.