Karlene Doby, a Rowan County Farm Bureau and State Women’s Committee member, recently attended a National Women’s Leadership Conference in Louisville, Ky.
Nearly 700 farm and ranch women from 38 states attended to sharpen their leadership skills, network with one another and hear a challenge from the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, which hosted the conference.
The conference included sessions on family business dynamics, grassroots political advocacy, adapting to change, challenges and opportunities in animal agriculture, educating consumers about agriculture, tips for marketing farm products and women’s health issues.
A conference session on animal agriculture was especially informative for Doby, a cattle rancher.
“Farmers need to be educated about things that can sabotage their farming,” Doby said. “We need to be more aggressive in fighting misinformation people have about animal agriculture. Such as, a vegan lady said she was against eating animals, but it was okay to eat chicken wings, because they would grow back.”
The next conference will be held in the spring of 2010.