Tiffin Advertiser Tribune, OH
03-27-06
Life on the farm not just for men
By Vicki Johnson, Correspondent
GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio - Three generations of an Amsden-area family heard a
humorous message about keeping farm life in perspective at the 13th annual
Women in Agriculture Conference last week.
Bonnie Baldwin and her daughter, Linda Naderer, attended with Linda's 16-yearold daughter, Jessie, a junior at Lakota High School. Steve and Linda Naderer
farm about 600 acres, assisted by Duane and Bonnie Baldwin.
They were among about 140 women from 13 counties - some from as far away
as Dayton and Cleveland - who attended the conference at Nazareth Hall near
Grand Rapids, Ohio.
"I think I went to the first one," Naderer said. "I missed a few, but I've been to
most of them. I take somebody different with me a lot of times, and I've been
taking my mom with me the last couple years."
This year, she also took along Jessie because she participates in farm life.
"It's the first time she's gone with me," Naderer said. "She's interested in
agriculture, and she takes a feeder calf to the fair every year."
Naderer said she enjoys the day because it's a good place to meet women with
common interests.
"They know what you're going through," she said.
But at the same time, the women are from different sizes of farms.
"You learn a lot just from each other," she said.
During this year's sessions, Naderer said she learned about the responsibilities
of landowners when people visit or trespass on their properties.
"Even if you haven't invited them you have to make sure there isn't anything
dangerous," she said.
Another session she attended was on stress relief.
"My daughter went with me to that one because she has a lot of stress in school,
and she's a pole vaulter," Naderer said. "In the other (session) we got to have a
foot treatment, and there were lotions to try and things like that."
Keynote speaker for the conference was Jo Bek, professor of animal science at
Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, who shared stories about life on her
family farm. She encouraged women to laugh often and not let worries overtake
their lives.
She gave women some exercises to help combat stress. She also encouraged
them to learn to be better farm management partners and better risk managers
by taking classes called "Annie's Project" if they become available in Ohio.
"If you have the basic tools, you're going to do as well as the big boys do," she
said.
Bob Wells, field specialist in farm management from Iowa State University
Extension, introduced Annie's Project - an educational program for farm women.
He was one of the founders of the program which now reaches women in nine
states. The six-week course is designed to help farm women learn the business
side of farming.