(submitted photo/Madison Thibault)

By Alice McFarlane

Women in Ag

Connect and learn from Women in Ag

Nov 19, 2019 | 4:49 PM

Women in Ag was created to support and join together women from across the agriculture industry whether they work in the field or in an office.

From this came CONNECT – The Heart of the Farm, a conference for women to network with others in the industry, develop education and knowledge, while celebrating each other and another farming season.

Women in Ag Executive Director Ginelle Pidwerbesky said they wanted to take it a step further and open doors for high school students who were interested in a career in agriculture and help them learn a little more about the industry.

“We ran a contest for the first time this year and had really great submissions. We accepted written or video essays where students explained why they were interested in agriculture and what they hoped to get from attending the conference,” she said. “Two students were selected and their conference registration and accommodations were taken care of. They were paired with individuals with our network and Ag in the Classroom to help encourage conversation, mentorship and support.”

Madison Thibault from Yellow Creek and Grace Waldenberger of Marquis were selected.

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Madison is a Grade 12 student at Wakaw School and has lived on the four generation family farm her whole life.

“One of my teachers gave me the poster and it seemed really interesting and I only found out about it a couple of days before the deadline. I thought it sounded really cool,” she said.

Madison was already planning a career in agriculture but the conference offered some unique opportunities.

“I was hoping to become a little more involved with the agriculture community because I haven’t really been a part of it and, who knows, maybe I’d sit next to someone who might be my boss in the future,” Thibault told farmnewsNOW. “I was really happy I went. The conference was really well put together. I learned a lot of about the value of educating people about agriculture and how badly people need to know about it. People should know more.”

Thibault said she was very happy she went and hopes others will participate. It also reaffirmed her decision to go the University of Saskatchewan next fall and study agronomy.

“It was a really awesome conference and I think it would be really cool for anybody to go. For anyone interested at all in agriculture it would be a really good event to go to,” she said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF