Women farmers in Merced County can join Zoom forums on water, other topics
A pair of online forums will give women farmers a chance to discuss water and other issues in the San Joaquin Valley.
The American Farmland Trust is hosting the events on two Thursdays, Sept. 17 and 24, from 3 to 5 p.m. They are for current and aspiring farmers in Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties.
The gathering, “Women for the Land Virtual Learning Circle,” will take place on Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions. Experts from all three counties will speak.
The event has no cost, but participants should register in advance.
Key topic is groundwater
The main topic will be a state law aimed at bolstering groundwater over the next quarter-century, said Teresa O’Connor, communications and outreach manager for the AFT in California.
The law is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. It calls for efficient water use on farms and recharge of aquifers via storm runoff and flood irrigation, among other steps.
The forums also will get into a new AFT effort on soil health, water conservation and protection of farmland from development. It is called the San Joaquin Valley Land and Water Conservation Collaborative.
Why just women on the Zoom call?
Women make up less than a quarter of the state’s farmers, the nonprofit said, but that still amounts to about 1.5 million acres in the three counties.
“Women farmers, however, are often overlooked, underappreciated and underserved,” said Kara Heckert, the AFT regional director for California, in a news release. “They experience gender bias and often have less access to technical materials.”
Heckert will be one of the Zoom speakers. The others are:
- Jean Okuye, an almond grower near Livingston and board president for the East Merced Resource Conservation District
Diana Waller, district conservationist in Stanislaus County for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service
Priscilla Baker, soil conservationist for the NRCS in Madera County
Laurel Angell of the Madera/Chowchilla Resource Conservation District
Caitlin Joseph, outreach coordinator for the National Women for the Land program at the AFT.
