History of Nebraska WIA

Women in Agriculture evolved in 1985 from an idea and prayer. Jane Green and Deb Rood spent a winter presenting Managing for Tomorrow, a program for ag couples, when they noticed that women were eager students who wanted to learn more about management. Out of that came the idea for a farm and ranch management conference targeted toward women. That’s when the prayer began. Deb Rood, Jane Green, Larry Bitney, Glennis McClure, and Pat Parmley combined their talents and passion for agriculture to create the first Women in Agriculture conference.

Women in Agriculture Founders

The first conference hosted ten workshops covering the topics of record keeping, selecting a lawyer, family communication, family finances, family wellness, marketing, financial statements, personality strengths, entering the job market, and home based businesses. They thought the conference would be successful if 75 women attended. Instead it had more than 200 ag women. Since that time Women in Ag has continued to grow and now approximately 400 women attend annually. The conference continues to be built on that same idea and prayer today.

The Women in Agriculture conference was the groundbreaking program recognizing the management role women play in their operations. From that program has come the Women in Ag Marketing Curriculum (1998), Decisions Now, Returning to the Farm, Marketing Blue Print, Risk Management Clubs, and various one day marketing workshops.