Women landowners, whether young and inheriting property or older and working on the family business, need to be empowered to make their own financial and stewardship decisions, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service leader said.
“Women in Wildlife Conservation – Resources to Set a Stewardship Path,” hosted by AgriLife Extension Oct. 3-4 at the Inn on Barons Creek in Fredericksburg, is just the place to get the necessary training, said Dr. Larry Redmon, AgriLife Extension program leader and associate head, Texas A&M soil and crop science department in College Station.
The conference, funded by an endowment provided posthumously by Ruth and Eskel Bennett, is an effort to reach women landowners interested in enhancing the wildlife component of their operations, Redmon said.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture census report indicated the number of women-led farms has tripled over the past four decades and is one of the fastest-growing groups. Today, females make up 32 percent of the farming workforce, with almost 1 million on record.
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“A couple of years ago we recognized we did not have a program developed just for ladies who might have a lot of questions about how to manage their piece of Texas,” Redmon said. “So we’ve developed this program to be held in Fredericksburg every year.”
The training is not very different from what would be offered at other meetings, he said, however this one gives women an opportunity to feel comfortable in a setting with other women and ask questions they might not otherwise ask if the group included men.
Topics and speakers scheduled include:
–Land Management and the Story of Hope, Colleen Gardener, Selah Bamberger Ranch Preserve, Blanco County.
–Habitat Management: Job No. 1, Annaliese Scoggin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Abilene.
–Rainwater Harvesting to View Wildlife at Home and in the Field, Billy Kniffen, retired AgriLife Extension water resource associate, Menard.
–Key Points for Developing Hunting Lease Agreements, Dr. Jason Johnson, AgriLife Extension economist, Stephenville.
–Becoming a Master Naturalist, Mary Pearl Meuth, AgriLife Extension associate, College Station.
– Deer Management in One Hour-The Fundamentals, Scoggin.
– What Women Need to Know About Finances and Their Hunting Enterprise, Jae Jones Thompson, Capital Farm Credit, Uvalde.
–Stewardship in the Edwards Plateau: The Next Generation, Megan Clayton, AgriLife Extension range specialist, Corpus Christi.
–Traveling a Little Further Down the Stewardship Path, panel discussion.
Cost of the two-day conference is $75 and includes the opening day’s breakfast as well as all other meals, break refreshments and tour transportation. Hotel rooms are available at the Inn on Barons Creek for $99 per night under the Bennett-TAMU group code.
The second day will include tours of several operations in the Hill Country, including a winery.
For more information, go to the Bennett Trust website, http://bennetttrust.tamu.edu/, or contact Redmon at l-redmon@tamu.edu or an AgriLife Extension agent in the region.
