Women In Agriculture Conference Focuses On Balance As Wife, Mom, Dairy Partner KAREN BUTLER Maryland Correspondent CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin Co.) Farm women from Penn sylvania and surrounding states gathered for a day of learning and fellowship recently. The Women in Agriculture spring conference, sponsored by Protiva, drew ap proximately 100 to the Holiday Inn at Chambersburg. The meet ing was geafed toward women in the dairy business, and featured talks by industry personnel and a series of workshops. Dr. Lisa Holden, assistant pro fessor of dairy and animal sci ences at Penn state, set the tone for the meeting with a lively talk on time management, “The Balance as Wife, Mom, and Dairy Part ner.’’ She discussed time-saving tactics including making sched ules, using lists, and combining multiple tasks. She talked about priorities, asking the women what legacy they would want to leave. “It’s a pretty good bet you’re going to milk tomorrow. It’s a pretty good bet you’re going to cook dinner. But are these the priorities?” she asked the group. She made her point in a demon stration using a pint jar, some ping-pong balls, and pennies. The jar was a day in your life, the ping pong balls were the priorities, and the pennies the everyday tasks. She had a volunteer start filling the jar with the pennies. Soon there was no room for the ping pong balls. But when the ping pong balls went in first, the pen nies could easily slide in around the balls, and everything fit Patsy Perkins, owner of Idea link, an Atlanta, Georgia training firm, was the keynote speaker for the event The organization helps agricultural producers realize their full potential through effective communication, leadership skills, and envisioning the future. Her talk was titled “Get Jazzed—The Four C’s of Harmony.” “God gave us all 100 percent potential. In studies, they say we use about 5 percent of that poten tial. So what happens to that other 95 percent? Why don’t we use it?” she challenged die group. “Maybe it’s that we think what we want is unrealistic, that it can never hap pen. We don’t see ourselves ac complishing these things. And basically what happens is that we build a wall,” she suggested. The talk focused on ways to tear that imaginary wall down, allowing women.to fulfill their potential. The first way is through effec tive communication, Ms. Perkins said. Effective communication is a two-way street, said the energetic speaker. There is no such thing as a lack of communication, “... just ineffective appreciation of it. Effective communicadoin is the most important factor in business and management today. We all know that communication is also the most important factor in all our personal relationships too.” Barriers to communication she highlighted included failing to ap praise the receiver’s background and perceptions, failing to define the message, and failing to acknowledge that the receiver of the message might not .share your point of view. “Why not go into a school and give a talk on farming for Earth Day?” she suggested, “There are a lot of people here today who know a whole lot about the earth, a whole lot more than someone Dr. Lisa Holden talked to the group about “The Balanced as Wife, Mom, and Dairy Partner.” from the Sierra Club. Why not share that information?” Confidence is a second way we can realize our full potential ac cording to Ms. Perkins. In order to have people take you seriously, she said, you need to project a sense of self confidence, “Your self image is a compilation of the opinions you have about yourself. Those opinions control the real use of your potential.” She advo cated finding a balance between being passive and aggressive. A friendly facial expression, firm and to the point voice, relaxed hands, and appropriate posture all combine to present an assertive persona. Consideration was third on Ms. Perkins’ list of ways to achieve harmony. “Never miss the oppor tunity to say something encourag ing to or about someone” was one of her catch phrases on this topic. She stressed the importance of treating people the way you would want to be treated, especially those people who you might dis agree with. The fourth “C” she discussed was collaboration. She suggested networking, within and outside of agriculture, as a valuable resource for the dairy women. Find the Lebanon Society 21 Members of Lebanon Farm Women Society 21 treated their sweethearts to a banquet at the Old Country Buffet in Feb. Gerie Heagy made beautiful potpourri heart favors for each member. The Match meeting centered around safety and was hosted by Ruth and Carolyn Hostetler. Steve Ulrich from Mellon Bank gave a presentation on Personal Banking Safety. His information was inter esting and helpful in protection against fraud and counterfeiting. Mary Ann Keith, agricul tural administrator for Mid- State Bank and Trust Co. shared her expertise. common ground you share with others, gain an understanding of who they are, and insure that they understand who you are. Mary Ann Keith, agricultural administrator with Mid-State Band and Trust Company, talked about the emotional side of eco nomic decisions. She said more often than not women are the ones on the farm responsible for bal ancing the books. Since men and women have different styles of communication, when it’s time to make a major financial decision there is often miscommunication. She suggested the best way to work through the communication process is to hold regularly sche duled meetings to discuss the farming operation. This gives all the people involved practice dis cussing things, so when a major decision needs to be made, the people are comfortable with the communication process. Dorothea Fitzsimmons, D.V.M., from Protiva, presented an update on Posilac and ex plained the biology of BST. A post-approval monitoring pro gram designed to pick up prob lems with BST and make sure it is safe has been developed by Pro- Ruth and Carolyn arranged a makc-your-own hoggie bar with lime Jell-0 and chocolate cake for refreshments. The business meeting consisted of county news and upcoming events with president Millie Son noyen presiding. She suggested that the group see a musical together. A baby shower was given to Kynel Himmelberger. Secret Pal, SL Patrick’s, and Easter gifts were exchanged. Dorothea Fitzsimmons, Patsy Perkins, owner of D.V.M. talked on the ABCs idealink, was the keynote of calf TLC. speaker. Dorothea Fitzsimmons, 0.V.M., on the left, moderated a panel discussion on BST. Panel members included, from left: Shirley Krail from Lebanon County, Julie Yarrlngton from Harford County, Md., and Patti Hege from Franklin County. tiva in conjunction! with FDA. The program includes a controlled study of 28 commercial dairy herds. “No new issues have been raised as a result of this program,” said the veterinarian. A producer panel moderated by Dr. Fitzsim mons addressed issues that had arisen during the use of Posilac on the farm. Lancaster Society 18 Lancaster County Society 18 of Farm Women met in March for a pot luck meal at Ella Mae Her shey’s home. More than 21 mem bers and guests responded to the roll call by revealing things that irritate than. Guest speaker Greg Scott, mem ber of the architectual firm that designed Pennsylvania’s Hospice, shared how every detail was planned to provide a home-like place for the “End of Life Experi ence." Scott said that the firm’s conviction is that the afternoon of human life should be as meaning ful as its the beginning. The Hos- Lancaster 8 Lancaster County Farm Women Society 8 met on March 12 at Mount Joy Country Homes Com munity Room. Kathryn Hess had devotions and hotesses were Gladys Ney, Martha Drager, Mir iam Grinder, and Shirley Trimmer. The April 9 meeting will be held at Reich’s Church in Marietta. Afternoon workshops included Quick, Nutritious Meals on a Bud get sponsored by the PA Beef Council, ABC's of Calf TLC by Dr. Fitzsimmons, and Anticipat ing Spring by Melanie Hunsecker, landscape designer for Phillips Seed and Garden Cento 1 and part ner with her husband in a dairy farm. pice was designed to have wide windows in order to see the sun shine, flower beds, fountains, and water gardens. More than SCO vol unteers, from nurses to chaplains, minister to the padents, who range from a few hours of age to 101 years. Husbands and guests are invited to share in the upcomimg luncheon at Country Table Restaurant. Let tie Nissley planned a trip to Ellis Island in New York for members on May 20. Spring Rally at the Hershey Convention Center is May 13. Berks Society 3 Berks Society 3 of Farm Women met at the house of Mary Hills, Boyertown. Members had a business meeting by playing hang man with the answers being the by-laws of the group. Everyone also made a dessert and then they woe judged by Mends and guests. (Turn to Pago BIS)
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