Based on the USDA Census of Agriculture, from 2017 to 2020, farm operations with a female principal producer went from 439 to 790. The Grayson County Cooperative Extension Service has noticed an increase in female clientele in programming and for walk in consultations on different topics, and after several Farm Management programs, there was interest in leadership based programming in agriculture.

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent collaborated with the Family and Consumer Science Agent to plan Ag Leadership for Women virtual program in Fall of 2020. It was a bi-weekly lunch and learn type program and it started with 4 different topics. Topics ranged from Communicating Effectively, Networking, Influencing Others With the Story You Tell and Conveying Your Message.

Five women participated in the program ranging from age 21 to 50. There were a wide variety of agriculture production areas represented, and many different backgrounds. Because the sessions were during the day, the agents recorded them allowing those participants to watch them at their own time. Although the participation was not large, the evaluations from them proved that they learned tools to help them in their leadership roles. More than anything, the ladies that participated in the program now have a network of people the can reach out to for resources.

Going forward, the Agriculture agent plants to develop a bi-monthly program that will cover topics suggested in the evaluations as well as some new topics. The goal is to increase the women in agriculture network in Grayson County.