Interest in the beef industry growing among women

The percentage of women working in beef production is on the rise. That’s something that ISU Extension Regional Beef Specialist Erika Lundy-Woolfolk gets excited about, just talking about it.

Lundy-Woolfolk is a seventh-generation Adair County farmer. She has loved agriculture, and specifically cattle, from a very young age.

Going off to college at Iowa State University, Lundy-Woolfolk saw clearly that the number of women in agriculture is growing.

“I think that’s a testimony, at least for the animal side of the ag industry, that it’s a growing interest for women,” Lundy-Woolfolk said.

Both of Lundy-Woolfolk’s grandmothers were strong exemplars for her of a woman working in agriculture, as she grew up observing them farming right alongside her grandfathers. Her grandparents are Bud and Lola Peterson and Neil and Sandra Lundy.

“I’ve never known it any different,” she said. “On one side, they’d get up and milk cows together at 5 a.m. On the other side, my grandma was always there in the summertime making hay, whether that was hauling bales in or running the windrower.”

One of five girls in her family, Lundy-Woolfolk said she was expected to help on the farm all throughout her childhood. She began her own cow herd through a heifer project, which was a project she found a lot of value in. Her mom was also very active on the family farm.

During and after college, Lundy-Woolfolk became acquainted with the ISU Beef Center and her role as a beef specialist came later. While there are research aspects of her job, much of it is one-on-one or small group consulting for beef producers, whether that be through phone calls, emails or classes.

This month, Lundy-Woolfolk was a part of facilitating a class for female beef producers who live in Adams, Taylor, Ringgold and Union counties called “Boots in the Barn.”

The program, based in Lenox on Wednesday evenings this month, was expected to provide women with research-based information that pertains to cow herd management. This includes topics like pasture management, the breeding season, cattle health and feedlot management. Joining Lundy-Woolfolk in leading the class were field agronomist Aaron Saeugling and field agricultural engineer Tony Mensing, who are also both with ISU Extension.

This class is similar to the Annie’s Project, an agriculture class for women offered a few years ago in Adair County. Where this class differs is it focuses less on the business or financial side of agriculture and hones in more on beef production, giving knowledge and hands on experiences for participants. It is not a new program. In fact, it has been offered in Adair County before.

“Some of our participants have maybe done the Annie’s Project, but they’re more interested in the hands on production opportunities [this class offers],” Lundy-Woolfolk said. “The women’s programs are always a little more unique, with a smaller group. Females tend to be more engaged and ask more questions than we would get at a typical Extension meeting. That’s one of the highlights, too, that we hope we can bring some good educational material, but that they can learn from each other, too.”

Right now in the beef industry, Lundy-Woolfolk explained production costs are staying high, and there is record low for cattle inventory. That reinforces or supports the need for strong reproductive efficiency right now.

Pasture management has been an important topic among producers because of recent dry conditions.

From a market standpoint, prices are adequate right now.

Erika and her husband, Matt, have a young son, Lane. They farm together and own and operate MRW Cattle Resources, a company that provides advanced solutions for seedstock producers.