Women Farmer and Landowner Learning Circles: Addressing Sustainability in a Changing Climate

We held 4 learning circle meetings in 2016 and 4 circles in 2017. Each meeting was hosted by a woman at a women-owned or operated farm in Eastern Nebraska. The women who were hosts were women that are considered experts in their fields. There was time for peer instruction and learning during the facilitated discussion. Women stayed after the learning circle for a potluck and networking. Combined the learning circles had 101 women participate. The women varied in age and nationality.
Objective 1: Build a self-sustaining community of women farmers and landowners of varying skill and experience levels with strong internal leadership. During our meetings we saw women exchanging contact info with each other and heard conversations of women following up on things they had mentioned during the potluck portion. We asked our farmer leaders to take the lead on deciding how to best build on the informal network that was being created. They decided that creating yet another producer or women farmer group would not be best. Instead they are continuing to use groups that are already active and add the new members to the group. Facebook was the main platform used for promoting the learning circles. Attendees shared the event among their own social media circles and in groups they belonged to. It was very successful way to reach our audience. The women have started to connect themselves and that showed up in the evaluations as well. One participant commented about the community created saying, “While the technicalities are useful, the community will be more important for my business.”
Objective 2: Enable peer learning, mentoring, and networking among learning circle participants
At each learning circles women were able to learn from each other and ask each other questions. These women all shared what they could and built on the topic of the circle. Through our evaluations we saw time and time again that the peer learning, networking and mentor situations that arose were important to the women that participated. Comments included, “I feel like I am in the right place,” and “I love to hear others talk about successes and failures. And each is a learning experience.” This continued throughout the project and when the last circle was held, plans for continuing the circles were being discussed.

Objective 3: Provide expert education and resources to women farmers and landowners to address sustainable production and conservation in today’s changing climate.
Sustainable growing and climate change were at the center of every learning circle. Women farmer hosts were able to talk about ways to mitigate the risks of climate change, carbon sequestering as well as sustainable growing. The final learning circle for the first year was held at the WFAN (Women Food and Ag Network) conference. The focus at this conference was Women and Permaculture: Making a Living in Harmony with the Land. There were sessions on policy, sustainable carbon sequestering, as well as marketing and business related topics. We had 13 women involved with our learning circles attend and were able to make new connections to women in the area. They were thrilled to learn of sustainable techniques and to find out there were other women who were farming with the environment in mind. From the evaluations: “The most important takeaway I have is that there are other women experimenting in sustainable ag and starting farm businesses,” and, “It is empowering. I feel more capable after talking with these women.”
During the second year, our farmer leaders took the reins with our guidance. We had NRCS staff present at one of the learning circles and encouraged the leaders to invite experts on their chosen topics to the circles. Sustainable production was at the forefront of the second learning circle series.
Objective 4: Connect participants to experts to encourage long-term partnerships that will provide ongoing resources for climate change adaptation and sustainable production.
Climate change, and the experts that are resources, were present throughout the learning circles. We offered materials from a local RC&D and NRCS was also represented. The WFAN conference had numerous experts in one place, allowing our Learning Circle participants to connect with the experts they needed. We continued to invite these folks to the second year of these circles. The first learning circle of the second year was about utilizing NRCS Eqip program to grow your business sustainably. One participant commented, “Made great connections to ask follow up questions. Appreciate the chance to networks with other women.”