Sarah Wall just started her first year at Kirkwood Community College studying agriculture.
When she tells people, some assume that means going back to the family wean-to-finish hog operation near here.
But, for Wall, who wants to go into ag education, that means opportunities not available to women 50 years ago.
"Fifty years ago, you would've never seen a woman being a farm manager. You would've never seen an agriculture teacher," she said.
Bringing more women into the booming ag industry starts with getting the word out about opportunities, said Inci Dannenberg, vice president for commercial operations for Bayer CropScience and a sponsor for the company's Women's Leadership Initiative.
"The challenge we have in ag is we have to figure out how to feed 9 billion people in 2050," Dannenberg said. "With that, we need a lot of talent, and we need to reach out to those that aren't traditionally in the industry."
It's an industry receptive to that diversity, too, she added. Women and men working together on the farm is nothing new.
"You take a look at ag today, and the family farm, it is a family," Dannenberg said. ". . . It's an industry used to working together, men and women, in production."
The Women's Leadership Initiative at Bayer was launched in 2012 to address some of the roadblocks keeping women from jobs and leadership roles at the company. One of these is mentoring — establishing connections and sharing knowledge.
Wall and another Iowa farmer, Sara Shepherd, credit these networks of support in their ag careers.
Wall said she learned from her West Branch High School ag instructor, Renee Thompson.
"She was the first person from her family to go to college, and that taught me a lot about how hard she had to work," Wall said.
"Especially when you're a woman in anything, you feel like you have to prove yourself."
Shepherd of Stuart runs a purebred Charolais cow/calf herd and row-crop operation in Guthrie County. She took over after her father's death.
"Being involved in ag is something I've always wanted to do — what exactly that looked like I didn't know, and I feel like that's still evolving and ever-changing," she said.
After time away, Shepherd moved back to the area and started learning from her father. That knowledge gap was the biggest challenge for her.
"My dad and I sat down, and we had what we both called 'farming lessons,' " she said.
"He would spill out everything he knew he thought was important and I would madly take notes and try to ask questions."
Shepherd also worked with Annie's Project, an educational program that aims to strengthen women's roles in the farm business, and credits the support of other family members and neighbors after her father died.
"There are a lot of people out in the farming community that have vast amounts of knowledge," Shepherd said. "Find those people and build your team, your network."
Dannenberg said this mentoring — along with other challenges, like communication in the workplace and work-life balance — aren't just women's issues.
The Women's Leadership Initiative events attract both genders.
"We've had a positive response from men and women," she said. "It's not just women saying, 'Men don't understand us.' "
Her advice to women looking into ag careers is not to be put off if they are one of a small number.
"Don't be afraid if you are one of very few number of women in an organization because the industry is open, inviting and collaborative," Dannenberg said.
"Be open minded. Don't just look at industries or types of jobs you think women are involved in."
There are ways women can tailor a career in ag to personal interests, as Shepherd discovered coming into her Charolais business. This isn't the farm of 50 years ago.
"It is traditional farming, but I also feel like I'm making decisions to make it my own operation," she said. "There's a million different decisions to be made that can make your operation unique, a million different ways to manage."
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