Happy birthday to us!
International Women’s Day 2024 marked the third anniversary of Women in Ag Magazine, launched on 8 March 2021. In those three years of existence, what started as an idea grew into not just a magazine, but a beautiful community of women and supportive men in agriculture around the world. That is a feat I am truly proud of and thankful for.
This anniversary issue of Women in Ag Mag contains one inspiring story after the other from women with different views on agriculture, different ways to practice it and encountering very different issues. Delphine Ladouce, our first “Encounter”, is a conventional veal and chicken farmer from the south of Belgium who works hard for more equality for women in agriculture as vice-president of the Walloon Union of Female Farmers. She is followed by a woman I personally admire, and it is truly an honour that Karen Washington, New York urban farmer and food justice activist, joined this issue of Women in Ag. Our third encounter is Marianna Briançon, who won the Miss France Agriculture title in 2022 and has been a passionate advocate for agriculture since.
Laura Vallejo Castro from Spain is this issue’s influencer. She won the Best Instagrammer International Award at Agritechnica in November, impressing the jury with her honest sharing on her work as a forestry worker. Lucie Oger, also from France, tells us how she started her own business on the parental dairy farm by making cheese; and Renate Neulinger joins us from Pöttinger as our “Outsider”.
In “Fair”, Event Program Manager Natalie Green presents the very first edition of FutureAg Powered by Agritechnica in Melbourne, Australia. We are also happy to introduce our new columnist, Nuffield scholar, agvocate and Global Farmer Network member Judith De Vor from the Netherlands. We know she will do a great job! Last but not least, Women in Ag launches its very first feature of “Women in power” where we talk to women of influence. We kick off with an interview with MEP Hilde Vautmans, politician and big defender of agriculture. For this issue’s book review, editor Antoon had a lot of fun reading “The Farm Report: Confessions of a Single Farm Lady” by Susie Crosby.
Women in Ag is still looking for support in order to be able to continue our work. Our “100 for WiA” campaign is still running, collecting donations from companies or personal donations in order to support our team.
Do you have a story to share with us? We are always looking for inspiring women to feature in the magazine or on our website, so get in touch here! Last but not least: the third edition of the Women in Ag Awards will take place at Eurotier Hannover in November! All the information will be published here. Stay tuned!
Happy reading,
Kim.
