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Mar. 22---- Working in agriculture comes with many challenges, oftentimes including navigating a business relationship with family members.
The University of Minnesota hosted the 10th annual Women in Dairy event in February at the Crow River Winery in
The event gave women who own or work on dairy farms the opportunity to network and discuss issues that they face in the industry.
"It's a great opportunity for women to network and to get together to share their stories. They get a glass of wine and a chance to get away from the farm and spend time with like-minded people," said Jill Zieroth, coordinator with Minnesota Dairy Initiative.
Speaking at the event was Katy Schulz, a dairy farmer from Fox Lake, Wisconsin, who discussed her experience working with family and how she deals with the difficulties that come along with it.
Schulz was asked to be the guest speaker in large part due to input from attendees the previous year.
"Last year participants said they wanted to hear more about actual farmer stories, so this is a farmer. We try to find those key speakers who meet the needs of our audience," said Karen Johnson, University of Minnesota Extension educator.
The event was attended by more than 75 women, both young and old, from many backgrounds. Some work with a handful of animals, while others have upwards of 400 cows.
Schulz focused on one stressor the entire audience could relate to — the struggles of working with family. Schulz's own family tried several methods to help alleviate the stress that can come from that environment.
Schulz's parents made sure she and her siblings had experience outside of the farm, for one. By having the siblings leave home to pursue other work — with a boss who isn't related to them and an opportunity to find out what they are good at — they were able to return home with a better understanding of working with family as coworkers.
"I learned how to communicate with people of all different ages, of all different types of farms and all over the United States. That experience alone brought me a little bit more of a broadened horizon," Schulz said.
The second strategy involved seeing her siblings in multiple roles.
According to Schulz, she sees her siblings as coworkers, as siblings and as best friends. Schulz takes the time to make sure she understands these individual relationships with them as separate so that stress at work doesn't have as much of an impact.
"My siblings are my best friends, they are my siblings and they are my business partners. And, on some days, they are all three. Other days they are only one of those," Schulz said.
The Women in Dairy conference, hosted through University of Minnesota Extension, has been held every year for the past 10 years, with the exception of one year when it was canceled due to COVID.
Throughout that time, the program has grown significantly as many returning guests bring more people to network and learn about other people in the industry.
"Over the years we've tried to hit on a variety of topics that speak well to our attendees. There are a lot that come back year after year that are disappointed if they miss it. They're very good about offering feedback and how well the speaker's topic was presented," Johnson said.
The dairy event is targeted toward women to help promote the dairy farming community. According to Johnson, many attendees of extension programs are male, and organizers wanted to have a space to highlight the work of women in the industry.
"A lot of programs in extension, we tend to see the same folks coming. It is usually the primary farmer — which tends to be male — that is coming to a crops education day," Johnson said. "We've been trying to be very strategic about how we can work with this different segment of our audience."
While the event is targeted toward local dairy farmers, the program continues to grow in scope as guests tell their friends and return with more people.
"It spreads a lot through word of mouth. Usually, somebody will come for one year, and they'll decide that they will enjoy it. Then they'll bring three of their friends the next year," Johnson said.
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