2025 Iowa Women in Agriculture Conference
July 31
“Sowing Our Stories . . . Beyond the Farm Gate” is the theme of the annual Iowa Women in Agriculture Conference at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny on July 31.
The conference will explore the challenges of agriculture’s evolving financial and trade climate, including:
- Commodity market scenarios and advice
- Soil and water quality initiatives
- Lender’s outlook for 2025-26
- Prospects for a new farm bill, tariffs, and taxes
- Latest on land values and transition planning
- Ag community building/storytelling
- Role of women in a dynamic ag industry
The Conference kicks off at 8:15 a.m., and concludes at 4:30 p.m.
Kick-off Keynote Panel: A savvy and energetic trio of ag legislative, commodity, and industry experts will kick off the conference with timely insights on Tariffs, Taxes, Farm Bills and Ag Forecasts: Katie Hall, Iowa Soybean Association senior director of advocacy, Steph Carlson, National Pork Producer Council assistant vice president of state and national relations, and Kristin Stien, Ever.ag grain market advisor, will anchor this panel.
Ruth McCabe, certified professional agronomist leads the Conservation Team at Heartland Co-op. A passionate advocate for sustainable farming practices in the Midwest, McCabe specializes in cover crop, prairie management, and edge-of-field structures. As a 2022 Nuffield Scholar, she traveled and studied global conservation practices in grain producing countries. She will share the pros and cons in her presentation, Around the World in Search of Conservation Strategies: Top Take Aways for Ag Women.
Angie Treptow, senior vice president of retail operations & customer experience for Farm Credit Services of America, will focus on Lending and Leadership in a Time of Uncertainty. She and her husband Darrin live near Jesup and are the parents of three children.
During the luncheon, Iowa Women in Agriculture will shine a spotlight on the recipients of the IWIA 2025 Lifetime Achievement in Agriculture and Winds of Change Up and Comer Awards.
The afternoon’s choice of breakout sessions will feature:
Kristin Stien, grain market advisor at Ever.Ag will share Smart Strategies for Mastering the Grain Market and Forging Farm Success. She developed a passion for agriculture and people in the ag industry while growing up on her family’s Iowa farm, and pursued a degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University. Stien has worked in commodity marketing since graduation. She enjoys engaging clients in conversations focusing on profitability, risk-monitoring and management, and the future of their operations. She and her husband, Luke, and their three children live and work on their farm near Atkins.
Jennifer Harrington is an attorney at Buchanan, Bibler, Gabor & Meis in Algona where her practice focuses on estate, business, and agricultural law, with an emphasis on farm succession planning. She will discuss Farm Succession for Realists: Legal and Tax Tools to Make It Work. Harrington has worked as a staff attorney at the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University, where she helped to produce the Estate and Succession Planning for the Farm workbook.
Linda Shenk, Iowa State University associate professor and Tamara Deal, Guthrie County landowner, will team up to present Inviting Others to Join Your Ag Story, a community building/storytelling workshop with a focus on agriculture. “We want more people communicating about how we do agriculture in the Midwest and how these choices impact the environment we all share,” Deal says.
Natalie Kovarik will challenge and entertain in her capstone address, Fortune Favors the Brave: Harvesting Success in Agriculture Through Acts of Bravery. As co-host of the top-ranked podcast, Discover Ag, she shares ranch life from her home base at Kovarik Cattle Company in the heart of the Nebraska Sandhills with her husband, Luke, and three sons. Kovarik, who uses visual storytelling and thought-provoking conversations to bridge the rural/urban gap, will urge women to amplify their voices to solidify the legacy of agriculture for generations to come.
A Welcome & Networking Reception is set for Wednesday, July 30, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Reclaimed Rails Brewing Company in Bondurant, with featured speaker Ashley Hunter from Purple Ribbon Beef, a multi-generational farm near Britt. Following the reception, participants are welcome to end their day with a stroll through the Bondurant Farmers Market.
Participants also will have the opportunity on July 30 to attend an afternoon pre-conference tour featuring local food production and entrepreneurship, hosted in cooperation with the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Agriculture Program. The tour begins at The Holton Homestead in Elkhart, Iowa, where the group will visit a bee yard, commercial honey kitchen, and farm store. The group also will travel to Pine Grove Family Farms in Bondurant where the Smith family works together to raise beef and pork for local direct markets and offers an on-farm store. Route maps will be provided to help participants locate individual tour sites. Participants are asked to drive their own vehicles and carpool when possible for the tour. There will be one or two ISU vans available, for those who request group travel.
Early bird registration will be $75 until July 28, and $100 following that date and at the door. Registration will include the pre-conference tour, evening welcome reception, and continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks at the conference.
Register online in advance on the IWIA web site, by mail, or from 7:15 a.m.-8:00 a.m. on the day of the conference. Room blocks for July 30 have been set up at the Courtyard at Marriott-Ankeny, 2405 SE Creekview Drive; and the Residence Inn, 1515 SW Main Street; Ankeny, IA 50023; register by June 30, 2025 for the Residence Inn, and by July 7, 2025 for the conference rates.
Early bird registration is required for those attending the Pre-Conference Tour. For questions about the tour, or to reserve a seat in an ISU van, contact Madeline Schultz at 515-294-0588.
For conference information, contact IWIA president Cheryl Tevis at 515-353-4425 or visit www.iowawomeninag.org for a full Conference agenda and registration details.
The premier sponsor of the 2025 Iowa Women in Agriculture Conference is Farm Credit Services of America. Additional sponsors include: Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Bankers Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Heartland Cooperative, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Women in Ag, Iowa Soybean Association, and Iowa Cattlemen’s Association.
Registration information coming soon!
