AMES Women who own or manage farmland in Tama and surrounding counties are invited to participate in a free conservation discussion focused on soil health on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the Tama County Nature Center at Otter Creek Lake and Park, 2283 Park Road, rural Toledo.

The program, sponsored by Women, Food and Agriculture Network and the Tama County USDA offices is called Women Caring for the LandSM.

Registration and resource sharing start at 8:30 a.m. with the meeting beginning promptly at 9.

Lunch will be served, and during an afternoon field tour, participants will travel via bus to a nearby farm to see conservation practices and watch a demonstration of soil testing. The tests will measure for soil structure, stability and infiltration.

Participants will walk a short distance into a field, so please wear or bring appropriate clothing and footwear. The meeting will end with dessert and wrap-up at the Nature Center by 3 p.m.

Maintaining healthy soil is the key to productivity and environmental health for our farmland. Nearly half the farmland in Iowa is currently owned or co-owned by women. Current practices of farming are changing rapidly. Some common practices are harming the land and water, and there are more options available to you than in the past. The informal atmosphere of this meeting allows discussion with women conservation professionals who can help with landowners’ management goals. Women landowners who attend this meeting will learn to assess and improve the health of their soils through practices such as cover crops.

Women, Food and Agriculture Network is a non-profit, educational organization celebrating 20 years of providing networking, information and leadership development opportunities to women involved in all aspects of agriculture. Learn more at www.wfan.org, or by calling 515-460-2477. This response from one recent attendee is typical of our landowners’ experiences: