In Will County, 2016 was the year of Women for Family Farms.
Women for Family Farms, which is celebrating five years, is a group that was created as an extension of the Will County Farm Bureau, an organization that intends to serve the agricultural community.
Women for Family Farms president Anne Soucic said the group came first together with a specific mission in mind.
“We help with the farm bureau events as a committee,” she said. “We host seminars and plan trips, more stuff that women do.”
Soucic said it is important to fellow members to keep the group active, especially considering how the agriculture industry is often deemed as male-dominated.
“It’s nice to have girls on the committee,” she said. “When you think of farming, you think of guys.”
Long before Women for Family Farms formed, there was another women’s committee that was created but wouldn’t last.
The hope, according to Soucic, is that Women for Family Farms can continue to serve the needs of its members and the community.
Soucic said in reviewing the last five years, the group has accomplished a number of feats.
The Illinois Farm Bureau awarded the committee a bronze award in 2011 for their service to the community. Since that time, Women for Family Farms has earned gold awards from the state-level organization annually.
Soucic said the group has shown a commitment to serving the community in a number of ways.
“We’ve continued to donate,” she said. “Our profits from both our spring and fall flower sales go toward phone cards for troops. But starting this year, we’re switching over to wreaths for Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.”
Soucic explained that it is Women for Family Farms’ intention to “keep it local” whenever they look to giveback to the community.
Soucic said some members of the group have gone and talked to others in the farming community about agricultural procedures and practices.
“We do our best to put farm knowledge out there for others,” she said.
Soucic said she thinks Women for Family Farms and its contributions to the community serve as one reason why a grant was issued to the Will County Farm Bureau 18 months ago.
“We got a grant from the Illinois Corn Marketing Board to purchase grain tube and auger for grain bin extraction,” she said. “If a farmer was working in their bin and got caught, we got the tools needed to save their lives.”
That equipment is stationed for use at the Channahon Fire Protection District.
To date, Women for Family Farms serves as a group that consists of more than 25 members.
Soucic said the group’s goals essentially remain the same moving forward.
“I’d have to say pretty much we’re just trying to get out [the message that] women do have farm knowledge,” she said.