Women landowners, new farmers meeting set

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Women who own or manage farmland in Henry and neighboring counties and new or beginning farmers interested in finding land to farm, are invited to participate in a free informal discussion from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 21 at Jerry?s Restaurant in Mount Pleasant.

Women now own or co-own half the farmland in Iowa, and an increasing number of them are sole owners who rent their farmland to a tenant. As tenants age and retire or women develop an interest in alternative forms of agriculture for their land, the opportunity arises for women landowners to help a new generation of farmers gain access to land.

The gathering will be an informal discussion designed to allow women landowners the opportunity to talk about what they are looking for in a tenant. It will be a chance for new and beginning farmers to share their goals and plans with the people who could be their future landlady or who will have the same values and ideas that their future landlady will hold.

The talk will be facilitated by female experts who can share resources available, such as USDA cost-share programs, state loans, creative conservation-oriented farm leases and other tools. Charlotte Shivvers, a landowner near Knoxville who has worked with her tenant to improve conservation on her family?s farmland, will share her story during the meeting.

All interested women are welcome, including owners, operators and inheritors of farmland, and new and beginning farmers.

A free lunch will be provided to those with reservations. Call the NRCS office at 319-986-5605.

The program begins with registration and coffee at 8:30 a.m. Discussion begins at 9 a.m., and will be guided by the interests of the participants. Participants will be invited to share their vision for farms and farming.

Four of these meetings will be held all across Iowa each year from 2011 - 2013.