A realistic look at agriculture don't give them only the negative, allot of times when kids were sitting around the table and we're talking about the negative, that's all they hear, that's all they hear, and pretty soon their going I don't want to be involved in agriculture. Look at how much trouble my parents are having, or look how hard it is. Make sure you talk about the good things in agriculture too and the opportunities in agriculture. They need to know that there's a place for them there. And that it's a good place for them there. And that it's a good place. And agriculture can be a wonderful career. Whether it be in production, or whether it be in an Agribusiness, or whether it be as a support person, it's a good career and it's something that you happy to be in and I don't want you to give it a false sense that agriculture is easy and always fun. But make it realistic, let them see the good side as well as the things that your struggling with. How have you helped your daughters look at agriculture as a career? #1- I'm from California I've worked in agriculture for four years, when I started my daughter was seven years old, my daughter is now eleven. When she entered kindergarten she was embarrassed to say her mother worked in agriculture, now I have my own business and she does some marketing for me after school. When people go to her and ask her about getting a box of vegetables she knows from week to week what is going to be picked already. And her dream in fact is to be my secretary. #2- I'm probably one of the fairly young ones here, and I'm twenty-five and actually I had an opportunity, I was a state officer for the FAA when I was in school. And at the time if you were a girl in high school, from the seventh grade I knew as far as vocations I wanted to be a veterinarian. So I went to my guidance counselor and her roommate happened to be the only female agricultural teacher in the county. I reported the first day to the class and saw all these blue jackets, and I was previous from Philadelphia, so I was not aware of FAA or anything. Actually it wasn't really quite cool, there were allot of stereotypes about farming and what that entailed. So, initially I was a little like, I don't think I'm in the right place. But she encouraged me to get into like public speaking contests and different things and parliamentary procedure. And I think that having the impact of a teacher who was involved in a non-traditional field for women was important because later on as I went to College at Penn State University, I was the only female in classes and I have to say I was the only person of color in allot of my classes. And it was an interesting experience, guys tended to be very much in their own group almost like a fraternity, with the hats, you know the John Deere hats and everything. And not until we had a group project in my ag-engineering class did I have an opportunity to interact, I just came to class at 8, I left when I had problems, I didn't feel comfortable asking them, went to the teacher, different friends that I had in engineering in the college of engineering, and I got through my class, but in interacting, they were like, well she seems to know what she's doing, they had perceptions about me, and I had perceptions about them. That needless to say, in the professional world of course, we have to all work together, and I think that we did end up reaching that. But I could see that as a young person, that is discouraging, and that's something that you have to prepare your daughters for that they may be the only women or one of the few women. And I work for USDA for the forest service now, and in my whole section there aren't very many women at all. It's just my perspective that when I go out an address young groups of people and I work with students, I try to expose the positive aspects of going into these fields so that we can be represented, because unless we're represented that sometimes in the policy we really do have our voice.

That really brings us into our next segment which is college. If your daughters do decide to go to college in an Ag profession. Be prepared to be about the only girl in the class, be prepared to have some stereotypes about you, but also be prepared--prepare your daughter to be able to stand up for herself. Cause it's really important. At the University of Nebraska we have a number of women now in our agribusiness program and animal science program. And they make excellent, excellent agriculturalists. And there is nothing a women can't do. And we need to make sure that we tell them that. And if the mothers and the fathers encourage your daughters to go into agriculture don't ever say oh that's a mans profession. I went to the university and I got out of the university and at the university I met a man and we started a dairy farm, and my dad always said I could have told you everything you needed to know about milking cows out on my farm. But my college education gave me such a broad base it opened up arenas and areas. And so it is very important that we have our daughters going on to college. #3 Since, that's what I do, I've taught students for twenty years in Ag and Ag technology, we have some others students come in as Vet tech. I actually teach the classes that teach them how to handle live stock in horses and in the feedlot area I teach the hostile procedures where they hit vines and the run the stomach tubes down into ball______. It's very undounting to the urban girls especially and I think if we have the females in our class, what I've seen happen when you have mixed classes, the boys have a tendency to want to help the girls or they want to see them fail, what I have found is and I have a harder time with the male students, cause look at this hair and look at me, I demonstrate how to do this stuff, and I have to be very proficient because when I walk up to a 1,200 pound steer and grab him by the head to do something to him, I better be able to do it. When the girls see that happen, it gives them some confidence. If I was six foot tall and weighed 250 pounds, they would still not have the confidence to do it, and I make them do it. I have seen male teachers have a tendency want to help the girls to do it. And I'm like no I'm going to be here, I will help you but your going to do this. They have such a sense of confidence, and I can see their self-esteem go up by the end of the semester. They can do it. We used to tie up 50 head of calves and those girls taught them how to lead. And they start out weighing 700 pounds, we get them late in the fall and ________ in January. Now you can not let them fail. The range calves I gave the people who had experience the ones that weren't so ranked. Now the students did know this, we'd go through and I can tell pretty much _____ whose going to be a weeny. Now I'm talking about the calves not the kids. And who isn't. And I even put two girls on every calf. And even the boys. It's harder for them to drag two kids around than often one. The first couple of three days. You can't imagine the look on these little girls face, and I got some little ones, they don't weigh as much as the bucket they have to carry. But the first two or three weeks we did all kinds of stuff to this animal for that time. The confidence they have, they control this 800-900, 1,200 pound animal and they've never even close enough to one to touch them before, some of them. This the only thing I've seen them cover over with cameras and take pictures and you know who they say their going to send the picture home to. Their dad. You've got to set it up so they don't fail, I don't give those big stout rank calves to those little bitty girls. And I take the chances. I'm the one that saves their lives if they get into a bind so but it's a tremendous confidence building thing. Even for the boys, the think their good, the difference I see, the girls kinda iffy about their qualifications unless if they've had allot of experience, the boys assume even if their from the city that they can do this even if they can't. So that's the difference I see in the way that they think. #4 One of things that we started at the University of Nebraska, actually the girls started it, is a program called sigma alpha and it is an honorary ag women's sorority. And it is a sorority of girls who are involved in agriculture. They went through a year long process to put that sorority together and they have just done an absolutely fabulous job. It is a wonderful support for women and young girls coming into agriculture. The three things that it does is scholarships, leadership and philanthropic activities. And it has a real good force on our campus for women who are involved in agriculture. Now one of the things they need is they need support from women like us. To say yes, we think this is a good thing to go onto our campuses, let us help you start that sorority so that you have a place to go. Because you can feel very out of place in agriculture in any kind university setting.

With young families, this is the next thing you go into after college somewhere along the line, some of us anyway. Basically with young families there's three basic ways to get into agriculture. You can select it as a career, you marry it, or you can inherit it.

One of the things is that you can select it as a career. As young girls going out you may have selected it as a career. Many of us marry it. I married it. I married a farmer and became that. We have worked with women in Nebraska who have gone to college and gone to business, either their an accountant or a teacher, and all of the sudden their parents die and the inherit it. And their farmers. Been involved since I was eight years old, the first calf I had in 4-H those cows put me through college. I depleted my herd pretty rapidly with college cause that was my income for that. I've had cows since I was eight, not the same ones. I have one 20 year old grandma cow that ended up here, I don't know how she survived so long. I still have cows, I have cows in Kansas, my husband has cows up here because my dads retired so I didn't want my mom to have to kill him so we had to have something for him to do. So I added on, the cow thing was just a given, that was part of negotiation when we got married that there would be cows on the place. One of the things that you need to do, is that it's still a male dominated occupation. How many of you agree with that? How many of you women have had the phone ring, oh this the feed salesman is your husband there? Excuse me but I ordered the seed. OK well why don't you have your husband call me when he's ready to order. We have those things. We need to be able to say. First of all if that happens to you there is more than one salesman in the world. Find a different one. Find one that respects you for who you are. My dad used to have a sign in the barn, that said, The views expressed by this person in the barn are not necessarily the views of the management. So, my mom was really involved in farming, she rode the tractor, milked the cows and was very much involved in all the decisions. Now the one thing that I want to tell you about her and about you, is that you don't need to do it the same way. You can farm differently than your husband, and you probably will because you attack it in a different way. Be aware of your abilities. In other words, find out what you are good at. And if you need to have something else, hire it done. Farm credit, FCS decided we shouldn't farm in about mid-80s. We said OK fine, we've got college degrees. But up until that time my husband made me keep the books. Now do you remember what I said earlier, that I don't keep a check register, do you think I might have been in the wrong position in that operation. I love to drive tractor, I love to take care of the baby calves, I enjoyed visiting the seed salesman because I'm and extrovert. My husband on the other hand is very introverted, he hated to see people drive on that yard. So what did he do, he did the tractor driving, he milked, and he did all these things. When we found out that we had strengths that we brought to that operation we should have switched those things. And that's what I'm going to ask you to do, even as women in production agriculture find out what your strength is, use your strength, lead with your strength. For instance, if I were to farm for myself, I would be fine with the mechanics, I love doing the mechanics, I'd be fine with the seed selection, but I would hire and accountant like that to keep my books because I hate it, I absolutely. And so what you need to do, you need to find out what you like to do, because what you like to do, you will do well, and what you don't like to do, you will put off and put off. It'd be something that you still need to do, you'll just continue to put it off. For instance, I always did the books at the very last minute and if I was five dollar off, I figured hey I got five dollars in my pocket it's OK, I'll just take it out and put it in the bank. No problem. And my husband will hunt for the very last penny which is the kind of things you need to do in agriculture. You need to watch your dollars and pennies. But you need to find where you find in the organization in rural. I threatened to bring that tape for dad, but I thought it was tacky. When we have families, and I'm preaching to the chore I'm sure on this deal, but your are the ones that are going to have to make it happen. How many of you think that going after parts is a vacation if he feeds you. No, it's like you drive 100 mph and you eat on the way home. We need to take time with the families. Now, I tell you to be manipulative, but let me give you my experience to go to Disney World since she was two. She's now ten will be eleven in September. She'd been saving, birthday cards, she put that money in the Schwanns ice cream tins. She counts it ever summer with her grandmother. We had allot of money under the bed. She came in this summer and looked me in the eye and said, well, mom I think we better put this to the bank cause I don't think I'm ever going to get to go to Disney World. Dead serious. I went to bed that night and her daddy gets in later, because they don't get in until ten, and I said, Warren, Page came in today, I appeared to be doing this in a humorous event, I said Page came in today and said we need to take the money to the bank because she didn't think she was ever going to get to Disney World. You ever seen a look on a man's face. He made the plans himself, we didn't know anything about it, until he came to me after harvest said you go the week before you have to start teaching to Disney World. And I said, you betcha. He made all the plans with a travel agent. It was wonderful, he's very frugal, we got the best deal, better than I could had done, cause I'd said anytime we're going to get down if I gotta pay $1,000 extra. But I gotta tell you one more thing that happened. Now we're going to Disney World, this may be the only time we ever go to Disney World, right? So my dad, he went home for Christmas to Kansas, I'm feeding colts, Hobby horses for him, you know, and I'm dripping with fifth cutting alfalfa. Wyoming you can't even get. Alright. Can't come this weekend we're going to Disney World. Well, I'll come on Friday. He gets there was a semi-load of hay. I have neighbor kids lined up, my husband's there, I'm up in the hay mower, I've got two kids in the hay mower, two in the truck, one throwing 90 pound bails, that's the appropriate size bail, into the hay loft. Now the holes that we cut into the barn ____ to throw the hay into, you put boards on them when your doing this. Twenty minutes before this, I told those two boys, be very careful when you come over by this board, and step on these boards so you don't go through. I remember looking down, and very carefully put one foot on one board, and one on the other and I'm waiting for my 90 pound bail with my little hay hook. I don't know what happened, they both kicked in. Now all I think about is I threw the hay hook out the window and honest to god, what went through my mind was, I can't break anything we're going to Disney World. I hung up on my shoulders, as I went through the, arms, arms, so straight up, and all I kept thinking about don't hit your arms, don't hit your head, land on your feet. And I went down through to the barn, bounced off the manger. Still had my arms up. Nobody saw it happen, it happened so fast. One of the boys saw me as my head went through. The boards went back in the same place. They're looking around, where's Jo, where'd Jo go? And he's trying not to laugh. He's one of my students. This neighbors child who started college last fall. He peaks over, and I look up and see these big blue eyes. And says are you alright? And he starts just dying laughing. My husbands out here going where's Jo? Where's Jo? Did you rip your boobs off? There's only a gap this big. This is a very logical thinking man. There's no way in his mind, when he looked in there that I could've....he said it several times and I'm saying like, just be quiet there OK. My dad goes home to Kansas. We went on a trip, it was wonderful, we get home, I get to school, the first day of class. First day of class, the posters up all over the school. They showed a barn someone diving out of the window. Barn loft free fall classes to start this spring semester contact Jo Best. She's an expert. My father had computer generated posters made to put up on campus. We have to have fun. You have to you have to keep your sense of humor if your doing this. It's always important too, as you have fun with your family and your people. Not only are you going to enjoy agriculture more but they are too. And it's going to leave a really good impression with them. Our last person is a really important one. And one of the things we want to talk about is when we farm alone. When you go through a divorce, a death or whatever. It's really important that during this time that you have prepared for this time. That ever since you started with that young family back up here that your ready for this. Because right now in the United States, almost every women is going to have a good chance of out living her husband. It's just a statistic. So, be prepared for that. And by being prepared for that understand how the operation works, doesn't mean you need to be involved in the day to day management, but you need to understand the finances, you need to understand how things work, you need to understand what is going to happen when that spouse passes away. One of the best things. If your husbands love you. If you love me, you will journal for one year. All you have to do is journal for one year. I had a women come to one of my workshops. She was in a workshop called farming and ranching without him. His husband was a consistent journaler. He journaled for a number of years. She said it was her saving grace when he passed away suddenly. Because it wasn't the big decisions, do I get the loan or do I not get the loan, do I buy the tractor or do not buy the tractor. It was the little day to day management decisions, when do I put the salt blocks out for the cows, when do move the cows from the spring pasture to the fall pasture, when do I start the hale the ground, when do I start that first cutting the hay. Those are the management decisions that up here many times in the owner-operator, whether it be a woman or a man. If they would just journal just one year you would have that invaluable record of what to do. And it's so important because more than likely whenever your husband passes away you will have that operator for a least a year underneath your control. Quickly, quickly, of course we've never done anything quick in our lives. But ways to reach women, one of the ways that we've seen at least in Australia is through the Internet. They have got a wonderful system. In fact I learned about this workshop by looking on the Australian list serve. They have a great way, Internet a great way, another great way is through books, magazines and articles. Women learn allot through that. If you want to know about agriculture--subscribe to Successful Farming, Top Producer, and if you can find one within your specification like Hogs Today. Now I'm giving you American examples you'll have to find examples there. But here's a good idea, subscribe to a magazine from a country that you don't belong in. That way you'll keep up to date on things that are happening in other countries too. Seminars, workshops and support groups, we do a number of seminars at the University of Nebraska, for women, specifically for women. Programs that have worked for us, and I'm just going to throw this up here and quickly just talk about it. This is a program we started thirteen years, fourteen years ago, we'll do a fourteenth this year, it's called Women in Agriculture the Critical Difference. We will run it two days, this time it will be September 10-11 at Carney at The Regency Inn. There's an 800 number write it down if your interested. It will have seventeen different workshops that have to do with Ag Production and management on the personal side. It's a relatively cheap conference, it's $55 to come which includes meals. She wants me to tell you have the designed differently. First of all if your an educator, understand that when women get to the age of being young mothers they are not a captive audience anymore. So you have got to make sure that you have interaction with speakers, and we would like to have interaction and man, I'm really sorry that we let this time slip away from us. We repeat information about confidence about on subject matter, we have a number of these women who have come back to this workshop, we do case studies that are realistic, we have allot of written information, and everybody likes to take home written information, we have good food, we try to have time to social and network, we also try to personal attention to each women, because each women is an important part of agriculture, and than one of the big things is that we gotta have fun, we gotta laugh, we gotta enjoy it, and how we do many sometimes is just by you taking out your little pig, also there is a lady who is here, I didn't see her take off. Her name is Shirley Sherrod who's been involved with educating women. OK take your pig out. You got you pig. Oh she's got a whole herd of pigs. A family of pigs. Can I use yours. OK now look at your pig. OK you ready. Now look at your pig. If the pig drawn at the top portion of this page, you are optimistic and very positive, if the pig drawn in the middle of the page, you are realistic and factual, if the pig is drawn toward the bottom of the page, your a pessimist or tend to have a negative outlook. If the pig is facing left, you are traditional, friendly and remember birthday and dates, if the pig is straight, you are direct, like to play the devil's advocate and don't avoid issues, Janet Connelly, how does your pig look?, if it's facing right, you are very innovative, action oriented, not family or date oriented, if the pig is very detailed, you are analytical, cautious, and suspicious, if the pig has a little detail, you are emotional, bored by detail, naive, and a risk taker. Those people probably left about fifteen minutes ago. We don't have any action here, If I wasn't talking I'd probably be gone, if the pig has four feet, you are secure, stubborn, and firm beliefs, Deb does yours have, no. If the pig has more than four feet you are insecure, and going through major changes in your life, the larger the pigs ears the better listener you are. Now listen very carefully ladies and I want you to go home and have your husbands draw a pig. And last but not least, the longer the pig's tail the better your sex life. Now quit looking at your neighbors. Yes you may have copies of that. We try to make things fun, this is really important that we're able to laugh together to get together. Now I'm going to tell you one thing that Jo said in the USA Caucus and I want to repeat it, if your state, if your area does not have a women in Ag that you can attend on a regular basis, you go out to your land grant colleges with an extension services. And I'm one of them. And you tell them you need it. You need it for your mental health, you need it so you can improve your occupation which is agriculture. You need it because you have got to make contacts. And that is important, I don't want anything on microwave cooking, I don't want anything on knitting. I want it on record keeping, I want it on marketing, I want it on advertising, I want it on how to deal with policy, I want it on stress, I want it on communication, those are important issues of Ag women of the day. I want this and I need this. If you need it on menopause we're doing a workshop this session on menopause. Yeah, right, right in the middle of it, aren't we Jo. What you need is what they should be giving you. So demand it. It's important, you have got to have it. How else are you going to revive and get excited again about your business agriculture, if there aren't people out there giving it to you. OK we're going to open it up quickly to questions.

Question: I'm from Illinois, and I just wondered how many of your close friends or neighbors have the same interests that you have. I have to reach out across the state for women like myself, I don't find it in my own neighborhood and I can't share allot of my experiences with my neighbors because they don't understand.

Answer: I think that that's really important, many of times we're in rural communities, or when we deal with women who are not quite interested in what we are, that's why it's so important to be able to come to things like this, where people have that same interest, and that's why you need to say I really need this, to reach out, and you can do it via the Internet, but we are women and we need to see each other, we need to be able to embrace each other and enjoy each other, and laugh.

Statement: What you can do in our area, there was no one my age, so I joined an extension group, it was half town ladies and half country ladies. And we're having a ball because we teaching the town ladies about farming. And it's allot of fun.

Many times we need to be able to open up to those urban ladies too so they can understand what agriculture is like and the things that we are going through.

I think it's important for everybody to realize, it's never too late to have a mentor, it's never to late to be encouraged. I grew up on a farm, but I was never encouraged, I was actually put down for picking to go to Curtis College, to be honest, and that's kind of hard, when I always thought that that's what I wanted to do. But I just stood my ground and I went ahead and I went and done it. And I thought well, I'm going to try. I get there, and I have an instructor just like Jo, who gave me exactly what I needed, I always thought she was a wonderful teacher, I never knew that she was doing this just to be mean to us, but now I find myself, doing the same thing for my daughter, that Jo and many of the people have done for me, and you never can run out of manners, after I got out of college, I kinda had a time, a started having babies, than I found about [?], I do really encourage you women that don't have any organization from your state, to go ahead and work with Urangway University, cause this is just like a dream come true for me and I just have to have that in my life, now I don't know what I'd do without it.

Statement: I'm from Suskatchuwa and for the first time last year, our college of agriculture graduated more females than men, my main concern being though that their going into agribusiness and there encouraged as much into primary agriculture as I'm finding allot find. The other thing I wanted to mention our Suskatchuwa Women's Agricultural Network which is a fine women's organization. Saw the need for workshops, seminars, and women networking and we couldn't get it elsewhere, so we organized for ourselves and we're doing for ourselves. Try to find a female, sometimes the guys die out on you.

Statement: Hi my name is Starry Crueger and I work the Rural Development Leadership Network, and I just want to make sure that people in this room were aware of the option offered through our program, for people doing on the ground community development work whether farmers, farm workers and other aspects of rural community development, through our program you can do practical field work, independent study and earn and accredited degree. So I have some material if anybody's interested. And I'm glad the women from Ledaris Campisenus California were able to be here with us today. Also Shirley Sherrod from Federation of Southern Cooperatives had leave to present on another panel but I have some information if anyone is interested.

Question: My question is around the Sigma Alpha Sorority that's gotten started any information about that?

Answer: The Houston girls back here are going to be doing a workshop on it, tell them what the name of your workshop is. Our workshop is called Rural and Youth Coalition Moving and Self-Esteem, and it's the last workshop listed in the next session and it's in the Embassy Room. So, we have lots of information for you if you want to come and listen. Oh, we have door prizes too.

Statement: I was very honored to be the faculty advisor in this group. And I know you talked about the women going into agribusiness but let me tell you that might be the first stop in getting women back into production Ag. Top Producer did a survey that looked at Ag women and allot of Ag women will go back and get an Agribusiness career, and than pretty soon they'll marry a farmer that they sold something to, and than pretty soon their into production Ag and pretty soon their running it, because that guy, whatever they had their expertise in and so allot of times, and I hate to say it, but right now in agriculture, at least in the US, probably at least in Nebraska 65-75% have all farm jobs.

Statement: For all these people that be in a farm. I think the best thing is teaching the workers, the farm workers, I've been working farm workers for 22 years. And I never learned the methods. You know how do you do this, when you planting, and you know the farmers they never teach the methods. Cause you know I have four boys, I don't have girls, but my kids, the schools, the system they say, well you better go to college or do something, cause your going to be a farm worker like your parents. And it's just a disgusting job. And why the system are different areas.