Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Fostering leadership, preserving legacy

Back to Leopold Letter Winter 2012

By MELISSA LAMBERTON, Leopold Center graduate research assistant

While women landowners in Iowa often need assistance and information from agriculture professionals, they also have much to teach and much to offer. That’s the premise behind the Women, Land and LegacySM (WLL) program, a cooperative effort led by local farm women in partnership with government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Its goal is to create strong support networks for women farmers and landowners.

“Women, Land and LegacySM was created to give women a voice and empower them to make good decisions about their land and for their land,” said Corry Bregendahl, Leopold Center assistant scientist and a member of the WLL State Team.

The program begins with “listening sessions,” in which agriculture professionals meet with local women to hear about their concerns, their values and what kind of assistance they would like to help them reach their goals.

The next step is “learning sessions,” structured group gatherings where women meet in small groups to talk and learn from an expert on conservation, farm leases, estate planning, business management or other topics of interest. WLL validates these gatherings as vital for community leadership, even though these gatherings typically lack the formal structure common in predominantly male-led agriculture groups.

“That’s a critical question central to WLL work; how do women lead?” Bregendahl said. “We’re finding that women involved in WLL have been prompted to take on more formal leadership roles, but they also lead through social roles—through bridging connections with their families, communities and land.”

WLL is one of three major programs in Iowa that does outreach to women landowners, along with Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN) and Annie’s Project. “I think it’s fantastic that the women of Iowa can choose from several programs for women,” Bregendahl said.

The program currently receives funding from USDA Rural Development. Additional support is provided by local planning teams, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Leopold Center.

Learn more at www.womanlandandlegacy.wordpress.com

Back to Leopold Letter Winter 2012