Despite the snowy conditions, a crowd of 60 took part in Washington County’s second annual Women in Ag Conference Saturday with the theme The Power of You.

The slate of presenters included a fourth generation farmer, an author and photographer, and the director of the Center for Ag Law and Taxation at ISU. Washington County Extension Director Nancy Adrian explains why a variety of topics were covered by the different speakers throughout the day, “We all come to agriculture from different places, and different stages in our lives, and it’s such an all-encompassing industry that there’s a lot to take in and a lot to understand, so we wanted to approach it from several different angles.” Field Agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe added it is important for women to hear from other women in the field. Dr. Ruth MacDonald, the former chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and newly appointed interim senior associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, was able to join the conference and speak via video conference, due to the weather.