The GoAg3 Committee met by zoom on September 2nd and October 7th. The application form for the Generations Award Winners is posted to the IAW website. Be sure to check out the fantastic GoAg3 page on the IAW Website. Thank you to Jennifer Waters and Gayle Baker for their efforts behind the scenes to make the on-line application available.
Evelyn Brandt has generously provided an operating grant of $2,500 and the Brandt Foundation has sponsored the 1st place award of $5,000. AgriSompo is the new sponsor of the 2nd place award of $2,500. The Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers is our first breakout sponsor at $1,000 and will present an in-depth review of farmland prices and rental rates. Be sure you let Karen Westbrook or Penny Lauritzen know if you have other sponsorship suggestions.
Arrangements are in place for the Luncheon Celebration to recognize the Awardees on Friday, August 21, 2026 at Destihl Brewery in Normal, Illinois. The morning will be filled with educational/professional development opportunities at Heartland Community College Agriculture Department. Colleen Callahan will be the Keynote Speaker to kick off the morning program and Holly Spangler will be the MC. The luncheon will be followed by tour options that Deb Schultz and Diana Ropp are coordinating. We will need all hands-on deck to welcome these remarkable women and honor the family legacy of Generations of Women in Agriculture Across America. If you need overnight accommodations for Thursday or Friday, a block of rooms under IL Agri-Women is available at the Fairfield by Marriott Bloomington West.
Ava Kinder is coordinating the Social Media component of this project and working with Sierra Day Walter and Holly Marsh of M/W Creative, who are developing Facebook posts to get the word out there. Be sure you “like” posts and share with your own network. They contacted the Discover Ag Podcast Stars Tara Vander Dussen and Natalie Kovarik and hope that traction will be made in getting the word out through them. We will be meeting with Sierra and Holly on October 13 to develop the next phase of social media to reach out to more agriculture podcasters and agricultural organizations Facebook pages.
We are currently scheduled for November 19th to tape a segment for IL Corn TV. Additionally, a podcast for 15 Minutes with a Farmer with Lisa Foust Prater, Successful Farmer will be created soon. Karen Westbrook and Penny Lauritzen will be doing an interview with Kristen Schmitt for the Land Values newsletter insert for the IL AgriNews. The IL Department of Agriculture is creating a video of the women of the Department and their history and connection with the agricultural industry.
Over 700 “Save the Date” type card were distributed at the State Fair on Ag Day August 8th and at the Farm Progress Show August 26th – 28th. The remaining 300 were mailed to IAW members to distribute in their local areas and to friends and families that they believe are good candidates. Karen Westbrook and Sarah Michaels have developed another “Save the Date” card to distribute at AAW Convention and other winter meetings. Let us know if you have a need for some of these cards. We continue to search is on for pictures of IAW families that have 3 generations or more to use in social media posts.
Diana Ropp is searching for local businesses (hopefully, we can support a woman owned small business) to provide the morning break treats. If you have someone you would like to recommend, please let Diana know.
All IAW members are welcome to join the monthly zoom calls on the first Tuesday of each month at 8:00 AM. Simply join in at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88461118482?pwd=P07Fj8soRidHDi5wLodbXYhv9sqa1f.1
The next meeting is Tuesday, February 3 at 8 AM.