WARSAW, Ind. — This year’s Midwest Women in Agriculture Conference will expand to two Indiana locations and two favorite keynote speakers will return to headline the event. It addresses the personal, family and farm issues challenging women engaged in farming, agribusiness or agri-lending.

The objectives of the WIA conference are to define women’s roles in making their family farms profitable; to strengthen the role of women as they deal with the emotional well-being of their farm family and to foster a network of support among women in agriculture.

The northern conference will be March 14-15 at the Essenhaus Inn and Conference Center in Middlebury, and the southern conference will be March 16-17 at The Seasons Conference Center in Nashville. Returning as keynote speakers are Jolene Brown, a farm wife and speaker from Iowa, and Dr. Bernard L. Erven, Ohio State University agriculture specialist.

Brown’s topics include Blazing New Trails for Agriculture, Generations at Work or at War and The Confident Woman. Erven will speak on Running an Effective Farm Business Meeting and Being an MVP – Most Valued Person.

Workshop sessions and leaders include:

•Farm Family Exposure to Pesticides: A Conversation with Farm Wives, Fred Whitford
•Commodity Outlook and the 2007 Farm Bill, Chris Hurt
•International Agriculture (north conference), Kip Tom
•Update from Indiana Department of Agriculture, Beth Bechdol
•Urban/Rural Conflict, Val Slack and Rick Chase
•Women on the Well Side, Judi Merkel, Peggy Ehlers, Lou Ann Menchhofer
•Ten Common Mistakes in Estate Planning, Michael Christofeno and Richard M. Hall
•Meth Labs (south conference), Bill Field

Registration at both locations is from 10 a.m. to noon and the conference concludes at 4:30 p.m. the following day.

A preconference session at Middlebury begins at 9:30 a.m., March 14 and is titled NCTI Real Colors – Identifying Your Own Personality Style by Mary Ann Lienhart-Cross. This session is $10 in addition to the conference fee.

Nashville’s preconference session begins at 9 a.m. on Is an Agritourism Enterprise Right for Your Farm? by Roy Ballard and Jerry Nelson.

Early registration prior to Feb. 28 is $75 to attend both days of the north or south conference. One-day attendance is $65. After Feb. 28 fees are $125 for both days and $100 for one day.

Lodging at the conference sites is available at conference rates until Feb. 13.

For more information or a registration form, call your local extension office, visit the website at www.agriculture.purdue.edu/wia or call 574-372-2340.

This farm news was published in the February 8, 2006 issue of Farm World.