ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture shows women account for 1.2 million, or 36 percent of the 3.4 million U.S. producers.
While the number of female producers slightly declined by 0.2 percent from 2017 to 2022, they remain vital, with 58 percent of all U.S. farms involving at least one female decision maker.
Women are particularly prominent as beginning producers, representing 41 percent of that demographic.
Feb. 12 and 13, women farmers from across Kansas will have the opportunity to attend a two-day educational and networking event designed specifically for women in agriculture, farming, ranching, land stewardship and rural businesses.
Originally known as Women Managing the Farm, the Women Grow the Farm Conference in Manhattan was started in the early 2000s by multiple leaders in the ag industry, and Kansas Sorghum Communications Director Maddy Meier said in the 20-plus years of the conference, the event has become very dynamic and forward looking, while growing to reflect evolving roles women play in the ag industry across today’s landscape.
“Originally, in the early days of the conference, a lot of those breakout sessions that would be hosted were designed to equip female landowners,” she said.
Many of the hallmark sessions will be part of this year’s agenda, and Meier said the event has expanded to include other sessions as well.
“We still offer QuickBooks training,” she said. “There’s still a calving school and a pre-partum conditioning pre-conference session. A lot of topics they used to have and still offer are succession planning, crop insurance, legal tools for farm legacies, financial planning, female leadership in communities, crop budgeting strategies. The conference has really evolved, especially this past year. The conference went under a rebrand.”
Meier said the conference’s name was changed in order to provide more transparency about what is offered at the conference.
“We attract not just female landowners,” she said. “We also attract women in agribusiness, women in ag education, farmers, ranchers and of all ages. We’ve really started to see women of all ages attend the conference.”
Meier said more college students and recent college grads, as well as women from urban backgrounds, are being seen at the conference. These include managers of farmers markets and urban gardens, including in Wichita.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth, and it’s really exciting to see how the conference has evolved,” she said.
Pre-conference sessions will be offered Thursday, Feb. 12, and Meier said conference organizers were looking for a slightly different structure for this year’s event.
“We understand it’s priority for women to be back home,” she said. “You don’t want to take too much time away, but also the flexibility and timing of the conference allows for a little easier access to get there and to balance that learning time away from operations.”
In addition to the pre-conference sessions, this year’s Women Grow the Farm will feature a session on artificial intelligence applications in crop production and a pre-conference session on mental health.
“Those sessions are really going to meet those women where they are, whether that’s in the calving barn, the field or just navigating that mental load that often comes with farm leadership,” Meier said. “We also have some really neat keynote speakers.”
Meier said conference leaders wanted to reflect on the event’s emphasis on both technical expertise and leadership, and the first keynote speaker, Erica Leubner, will talk about resilience, communication and navigating stress within farm families. This comes from her own personal experience in agriculture and business ownership.
Later, Marilyn Vetter will share her journey of becoming president and CEO of Pheasants Forever and Quails Forever.
“Her breakout session will cover insight into leadership, core service and how women can step into roles within organizations as well as their communities,” Meier said.
Closing the conference will be Janice Peterson with a focus on communication that leads to action, not just talking about their ideas can inspire, but how they can be turned into actional progress.
“That is also really impactful for communities as well,” Meier said. “Essentially, all three of these women are really going to embody the evolving vision of the conference, just providing that confidence with and from women and being able to have that leadership that’s grounded in experience, purpose and connection.”
Kansas Sorghum is just one of the sponsors for this year’s conference, along with K-State, Farm Credit, Kansas Corn, Kansas Wheat, Kansas Soybeans, the Kansas Bankers Association and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Meier said there are not many opportunities for women to connect with women like them, making Women Grow the Farm a unique event.
“It’s a conference for women in ag put on by women in ag,” she said. “We have a good sense of the industry from every angle because of our valued partnerships. We do have a very large committee, and it’s been great to work with this women. This will be my fourth conference, and I’m very excited to be able to put this together and provide a valuable experience for all attendees.”
In one breakout session, Kansas Farm Management Association’s Mark Dikeman will present an agriculture income tax update as it pertains to the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“He will be able to highlight some of the changes, extensions from that bill and how it will impact ag producers across the state,” Meier said.
The data from the Census of Agriculture shows many women are stepping into leadership roles on the farm, and Meier said it is important to keep that momentum going.
“A great opportunity for the Women Grow the Farm conference is to be able to equip them with the tools they need to move forward, and as the name suggests, we do want to honor those traditions of the conference by providing opportunities for farm women as well as being able to offer guidance, leadership opportunities,” she said. “You can have some fun. We have some networking opportunities that will allow women to relax.”
With a wide variety of partners helping put on the conference, Meier said this enables those who help put it on to understand what women are going through firsthand.
“Agriculture is a very rewarding industry, but it can get pretty tough at times,” she said. “Being able to offer those networking opportunities will be super valuable here in 2026 and beyond.”
Meier said a few new partners are brought on each year, and by bringing fresh perspectives, organizers are able to come up with new ways to energize attendees, and she said Women Grow the Farm provides something for all ages.
“We try to keep that range of participant ages in mind,” she said. “Another great way to describe some of these breakout sessions is its taking something you wish you would have known five or 10 years ago, but now that you have that information, you’re able to spread that wealth of knowledge.”
Another breakout session will focus on ag literacy and will be brought by the Kansas Foundation for Ag in the Classroom.
“There are younger folks returning to the farm,” Meier said. “There’s crop insurance and marketing tools as well.”
Meier said the conference continues to see much in the way of positive feedback and increased attendance.
“We had some weather last year that may have impacted it some, but the show still went on,” she said. “We’ve continued to take that feedback from what we’ve heard to hear what participants might like to hear for future conferences, and we continue to see attendance climbing as well.”
Meier said the timing structure of starting pre-conference sessions at noon Thursday, Feb. 12, and ending the conference Friday, Feb. 13, will provide a good opportunity for women to be able to get away for a day and be able to be present back home with their operations and their families.
Meier said she hopes this year’s conference will provide much confidence and inspiration for women.
“I think it’s really important women will gain connections from this conference to be able to navigate anything life might throw at them,” she said. “Being able to build confidence in women, providing leadership opportunities and the networking is super crucial to the conference.”
Registration for the conference is now closed. For more information, visit womengrowthefarm.com, or e-mail
Meier said she believes this year’s conference will be great with a wider range of expertise than ever.
“I see a lot of familiar names on the agenda both presenters who have had more experience and those who are just stepping into new leadership roles,” she said. “That’s super exciting to see. You can learn something from everyone at Women Grow the Farm, and we hope to see everyone there.”
