FarmHer founder Marji Guyler-Alanzi shows one of her works which includes a woman in the forefront assisting with branding a calf in Iowa during a presentation at the Tama County Women, Land and Legacy session in Toledo on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The photo, part of Guyler-Alanzi ‘s FarmHer series, was important not only to illustrate the participation of women in farming but what Guyler-Alanzi said was the somewhat unusual practice of branding livestock in the state. Chronicle photos/John Speer

“Everyone thought I was completely insane,” Marji Guyler-Alanzi said. She was the risk manager for a Johnston, Iowa, – based company with $2 billion in insured crops. She also was in charge of re-insurance for the company and was making “more money than my husband,” she said. She traveled extensively in the job.

She freely admits to deciding to quit the top-paying job without a vision of a future plan.

“It was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” she says. Combined two young children at home and a hectic travel schedule the decision was made.

That was on Feb. 1, 2013. Shortly after though, she launched FarmHer which has quickly developed into a much admired and respected enterprise aimed at “changing the image of agriculture to include women in that image through photographs and stories.”

Guyler-Alanzi laid out her own life story and set the stage for her endeavors for members of Tama County Women, Land and Legacy during a presentation in Toledo on Wednesday evening, Sept. 2. In doing so, she shared her photographs of women farmers and what is now her passion – FarmHer.

Melody Bro. a team member of TamaCounty Women, Land and Legacy leads a discussion during a session at The State Bank of Toledo meeting room on Wednesday evening, Sept. 2.

The Tama County Women Land and Legacy organization was observing its 25th program since being organized in 2007.

It was while watching the 2013 Super Bowl with friends the idea of FarmHer struck. A television commercial “God Made a Farmer” airing during the game was the spark, she said. She said friends who had joined them at their home for the game, her husband and she were all caught by the commercial.

It included only three women, she said.

But Guyler-Alanzi said she has found “the only part of agriculture really growing is the amount of women involved.”

Based upon a love of photography she said was fostered through her membership in 4H and its photography program, her education – a BA in journalism and photography from Grand View University, Des Moines, combined with an MBA in business From Drake University, also in Des Moines, – she set about to photograph the real face of women in farming.

Marji Guyler-Alanzi explains a screen shot of the 2013 Super Bowl commercial which she says motivated her to conceive FarmHer during the Tama County Women, Land & Legacy meeting in Toledo on Wednesday evening, Sept. 2. She said only three farm women were portrayed during the commercial spot. Chronicle/John Speer

She was not new to commercial photography having photographed weddings in the Des Moines area for several years. That was still during the time of film.

Today, she uses digital cameras and the computer to create her photos.

Many of her photos really do not show “the face” of her subjects, but rather concentrate on what they are doing, she says. That’s farm work.

Whether they are baling hay, working with livestock or just on the farm, they are depicted in their everyday role as active participants in farming, a role Guyler-Alanzi says they always had but have not always been recognized for.

The FarmHer online website contains a gallery sampling of her work- she says she has now photographed close to 90 women farmers. The site also offers blogs, an event schedule and newsroom items.

The website is described this way, “This community is a place where this imperative group of women can experience stories about others like them. A place where they can connect with and learn from others in a safe and positive environment. A place where women rise to the forefront of agriculture.”

Those viewing the site are invited to become members by joining.

Guyler-Alanzi says she supports FarmHer primarily by the sale of clothing-related merchandise and a fee for speaking engagements. The profits go back into the project she says.

Some of her work does appear in professional farming magazines.

In addition, a selection of her photos are currently on display at the Polk County Heritage Gallery in downtown Des Moines and she has a traveling display which is exhibited at conferences.

She says she does not make money providing photos to the subjects of her work if they request them.

Iowa Public television will begin filming an hour-long program on FarmHer shortly, Guyler-Alanzi said. It is planned to air in March, 2016.