On June 18th, 2012 women who own or manage farm or forestland in Northeast Minnesota were invited to participate in a special, free event Woman Caring for the Land. The purpose of the event was to join women landowners with women natural resource professionals in a comfortable, peer-to-peer environment to discuss land management issues. A round table discussion was followed by a bus tour of natural resource conservation practices in Carlton County. Direct invitations were sent out to nearly 400 women in St. Louis, Carlton, Pine, Itasca and Lake Counties.

The workshop was sponsored by the Woman, Food & Agriculture Network (WFAN) in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), University of Minnesota Extension Service, and the Minnesota Women’s Woodland Network. Coordinator Lynn Heuss of WFAN in Des Moines, Iowa coordinated the event with assistance from Julie Salmon, District Conservationist, NRCS, Pine County; Marge Sella, District Conservationist, NRCS, North St. Louis County, and Soil Conservation Technicians Erin Loeffler and Gail Bong from the Duluth NRCS Field Office. Women Caring for the Land has been held in several Iowa counties but this was the first one held in Northern Minnesota.

A total of 29 women participated in this event. After introductions, a lively discussion took place regarding resources available to women landowners including forestry, timber harvests, wildlife management, livestock, and passing their land on to the next generation. Attending women landowners shared their personal experiences living and working the land and their future goals and desires for sustainable land management.

After the round table discussion, a variety of NRCS conservation practices were highlighted on a bus tour. The first stop was Terri Thell’s farm, 4 Quarter's Holdings. Terri shared information on their rotational grazing system of beef cattle, hogs, and poultry. She also discussed how they grow grains and vegetable crops using organic farming practices. Next was Karola Dalen of Northern Harvest Farm. She discussed her high tunnel greenhouse and crop rotation on their diversified organic vegetable farm. Dalen also discussed their desire to improve biological diversity on their farm, specifically native pollinator habitat and tree planting. At John Murray’s farm, Erin Loeffler, NRCS, Soil Conservation Technician discussed how direct seeding of trees was being used on this farm.

It was a day full of connecting women landowners with natural resource professionals, sharing experiences, and learning about the economics and environmental stewardship of the land. A fun and educational day was enjoyed by all.

As an additional resource, visit www.wfan.org to access the publication Women Caring for the Land Curriculum Guide: Improving Conservation Outreach to Female Non-operator Farmland Owners.

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