‘Women Preserving Farmland for the Future’: Non-profit hosts educational workshops for female farmers

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council (ARCD) is hosting a workshop this week for women farmers and farm landowners in Carter County called “Women Preserving Farmland for the Future.”

The workshop spans three days and provides a wealth of knowledge to local women in the farming industry, with the intent of preserving local farmland for generations to come.

Content is catered toward “women farmers, widowed farm landowners, daughters who have inherited farmland, and other women who make management decisions on Carter County forest or farmland,” a release from organizers states.

Attendee Barbara Sutherland told News Channel 11 that the farm she lives on was founded in 1841, and the farm she grew up on dates back to 1779. She said workshops like these have helped her plan the future of that land while preserving its heritage.

“What you want to do with your farm as you get older,” Sutherland said, referring to questions asked and answered during these events. “What is the linkage going to be? Is it going to go in [a] trust? Is some of the family going to farm it? Or what is going to happen to [the] farm when you’re no longer here? I have farmed for a very long time, so my plan is pretty well worked out.”

Sutherland said this program helps farm owners decide how to keep their property alive for years to come, with an emphasis on land conservation.

“It’s also making the correct decisions for your farm, because a lot of farmers do not have family that want to continue in the farming operation,” she said. “And this gives some options on what you can do to protect your farm.”

The ARCD said the workshop’s ultimate goal is to prevent farmland loss in Carter County by providing farmland owners with the resources, connections and tools needed to sustain a farming property or forest.

Attendees can speak with conservation, extension and estate planning professionals during the workshop to help plan for the future of their farmland. According to the ARCD, “Tennessee is losing farmland at an alarming rate; from 2001 through 2016, 659,000 acres of farmland was paved over, fragmented, or otherwise developed.”

The ARCD said this can be prevented through farmland education on facets like succession planning and land conservation easements or trusts.

Sutherland said workshops like this also provide camaraderie and connections among women in the farming industry.

“And there’s always older women in the community that can be a real mentor, to help you do what you need to do. So, advice from other landowners, other women that have run farms or helped run farms, I think that’s one of the best things we could do. Listen to people, because they’ve been through the experience. They know what to do.”

This workshop is the fourth in a series that’s reaching each county in Northeast Tennessee. Information about the next county to host this workshop will be announced soon on the non-profit’s website, ARCD.org.

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