Why Shared Soil?

This first episode will cover the “meat and potatoes” of the podcast, who, what, why of women in agriculture. Special guest Kelly McAdam will give background on what the WIA program has been in the past and will share her experience and efforts in building this program.


---------------------
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and New Hampshire counties cooperating. Our programs and policies are consistent with pertinent Federal and State laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. To file a UNH or UNHCE discriminatory harassment complaint, use the Incident Report Form or call 603-862-2930. To file a USDA program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form or call 866-632-9992.

Creators & Guests

Host

Kendall Kunelius

Kendall joined Extension as an Agriculture Business Management Field Specialist in 2022. She earned a BS in Equine Studies: Industry and Management from UNH and has a diverse background in the agriculture industry including horticulture, forestry, livestock, and agricultural business retail management.

Host

Rebecca Dube

What is Shared Soil?

A podcast by University of New Hampshire Extension dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges, and encouraging personal and professional growth for all women in agriculture. Hosts Kendall Kunelius and Rebecca Dube create a relatable and welcoming space to learn and celebrate, that aligns with UNH Extension's commitment to expanding access, strengthening connections, and enhancing well-being for all.

-----------------------
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and New Hampshire counties cooperating. Direct inquiries to [e-mail].

Kendall Kunelius: Welcome to the
first-ever episode of Shared

Soil, a podcast dedicated to
creating community, honoring

challenges, and encouraging
personal and professional growth

for all people in agriculture.
My name is Kendall Kunelius, and

I'm an Extension field
specialist focusing in

agricultural business
management.

Rebecca Dube: My name is Rebecca
Dube, and I provide program

support and technology to the
various specialists of UNH

Extension.

Kendall Kunelius: Which I think
is a really simple way of saying

what you actually do, Rebecca,
you do a lot more than that!

Rebecca Dube: Well, I support a
lot of the different programs,

and one of them includes the
Natural Resources Program. But I

come into Extension from a very
varied background, whether it's

been being a teacher or working
with running a nonprofit. I've

been in the hospital world and
even a touch of the corporate

world. So lots of different
tastes.

Kendall Kunelius: Yeah, I know
the corporate feeling - came out

of the corporate world to come
into education. And I'm very

excited about it.

Rebecca Dube: Well, tell us a
little bit more about you,

Kendall. I know you've got a lot
going on.

Kendall Kunelius: That's one way
to put it. Yes. So within

Extension, I've been here about
a year and a half, and I

currently coordinate our Women
in Agriculture program. I also

work within our Livestock
Business Management programming.

But my background is a little
bit of ag retail. Then I also

competed as a professional
timber sports competitor for

eight years. I've since retired
from that, so I can focus more

on our Extension work.

Rebecca Dube: You've found,
then, being a woman in the

timber field, you must have
faced a lot of unique challenges

of being in what is often seen
as a pretty male-dominated

field. So can you tell us a
little bit about dealing with

that?

Kendall Kunelius: Yeah, so I
think it's pretty safe to say

that 90% of my motivation for
working within our Women in Ag

program comes from my
experiences from competing in a

very male-dominated field. And
having said that, I've chosen to

think about that experience in
my time working within that

area, less about the challenges
and hardships and more about the

opportunities for forward
movement. So that's why I'm so

interested in supporting women
in agriculture. I've kind of

translated from Forestry and
Natural Resources into farming,

but it's still really relevant.
And I still feel like I'm the

kind of person that can bring a
perspective to this of

understanding. Somebody who can
also help move us forward and

make some progress for women and
create some spaces for them to

learn, too. So when I came to
Extension, I was really excited

to hear that we had a Women in
Ag program. I was very lucky to

be on the same team as Kelly
McAdam, because she's the one

that was coordinating that
program and working on those

efforts. So we're incredibly
lucky to have her here today as

our very first podcast guest. So
Kelly, welcome. Please give us a

an introduction. Tell us who you
are.

Kelly McAdam: Sure. Well, thank
you, Kendall. Thank you,

Rebecca. I'm really happy to be
here and talking about the Women

in Ag program at UNH Extension.
I've been working for UNH

Extension for 12 years. I grew
up on a dairy farm in the

northern part of New Hampshire,
a small family dairy. But I

wasn't so interested in the cows
as I was the plants. So I took

care of the vegetable garden. We
had a vegetable stand, we had a

roadside stand, and I managed
that right up through high

school. From there, I went to
UNH to get my degree in

horticulture technology. But I
really enjoyed the business

side. I mean, I love the
production side, but I saw where

the business side was really
important, the marketing, the

accounting. So I decided to take
a different path in that. I went

and pursued my education, my
further education in accounting,

and then that's where I really
got into the agriculture

business management piece of
farming. Life happened, I got

married, I had a baby. And I
always wanted to teach. I was a

4-H leader; I grew up in 4-H. So
teaching was a big part of who I

was, as well. So I went into
teaching and I taught high

school in a small K through 12,
in the high school part of that

school, for a couple of years.
Then my husband wanted to go to

UNH, so we moved down to the
central part of the state where

his family lives and I taught in
that high school there for five

years, before coming to
Extension. So I was really able

to work in the education space,
but also really liked building

those business skills. In the
meantime, I also taught adult

education to the schools. So I
would get a lot of small

business owners coming to my
classes, who just needed some

basic knowledge of developing a
spreadsheet for their business

or developing a website. But
really, I got to know what their

challenges were. Then I had this
opportunity to apply for a job

with Extension. That was before
we really had specialized

positions. We were the
traditional County Ag agent. So

I was excited to get back to
agriculture, that's really a big

piece of who I am. I was really
excited about that position. But

I kind of went into it thinking,
well, I don't have a lot of

experience. And I realized in
that process of applying that

the business skills that I had,
and that education was really,

really important. Fast forward a
few years later, we began to

specialize, and instead of
county ag agents, we became

field specialists, and I
specialized in agriculture

business management. So I really
focused on everything. As a new

employee, you're kind of finding
your niche. I did marketing and

I did record keeping and
financial statements and a

little bit of everything that I
dabbled in. But I started to

settle into taxes and record
keeping at that point.

Rebecca Dube: That's terrific,
Kelly, can you tell us a little

bit about Extension itself? I
think sometimes we're the best

kept secret in New Hampshire.
What are some of the things that

Extension provides for the
community?

Kelly McAdam: You know,
Extension is such an important

resource, no matter who you are.
If you're a business owner, or

you are a gardener, or you are a
homeowner, or an active

participant in a community
organization, Extension has

something for everyone.
Extension is a research-based

resource for the public. And we
are based off of the land grant

university, and UNH is our land
grant here in New Hampshire. The

idea behind Extension is that we
take the research that is

developed and everything that
the researchers learn about and

get that out to the public.
We're non-biased,

science-research based, is
really our core values. No

matter if you're in the farming
world, if you're in the health

world, or you're working with
youth, or forestry, there's

something there for everyone.
The resources that we provide

are generally free, which I
think is a really special part

of our services; it doesn't
matter who you are. Whether you

are someone who is very familiar
with Extension or not, your

abilities, whether you have a
lot of knowledge in one area, or

you have no knowledge
whatsoever. I think we're very

accessible no matter who you are
in the States. Extension is in

every state in our country as
well. So no matter where you

live, you have access to your
land grant. And it really makes

a direct connection to your land
grant university.

Rebecca Dube: Oh, that's
amazing. Kelly. Can you also

tell us then, about some of the
program areas that you focused

on? And how you got involved
with the Women in Agriculture

program?

Kelly McAdam: Yeah, so as I
mentioned, my core area is

agriculture business management,
so I started to develop my

specific expertise in record
keeping, business planning. I

started working more and more
with new farmers, but probably

about 10 years ago, our ag
business state specialist asked

me about Annie's project. Now,
Annie's project is a national

program. It's a nonprofit. And
the mission of Annie's project

is to empower women in farm
management through education,

and Annie's Project has existed
since about 2003. The idea is

also that women learn best from
other women, in that they are in

a safe space. They're there to
share their own experiences and

learn from each other.
Agriculture traditionally has

been a male-dominated field. So
there's a lot of opportunities

there for women who maybe in the
past have been seen as the

farmer's wife, or the farmer's
daughter, not really having a

significant role out front, to
really become empowered in farm

management. And they're really
doing a lot of important things

on the farm, whether it's
bookkeeping or the day-to-day

chores, or really everything,
recognizing that and empowering

them to learn from one another.
So my colleague asked me about

offering this program, and I
never really thought about women

needing that space. I was a farm
woman at one point myself and I

firsthand experienced, you know,
I'm driving a tractor and I'm

filling up a pickup bed full of
compost, and the customer is a

man asking, where's my dad, and
oh, you're gonna fill this up

for me? So that was something I
experienced all the time. My dad

was a patient guy, and he taught
me very well. But if I needed to

learn from somebody else, that's
not so easy. I think having a

woman teacher teach that to you
can be really helpful and really

empowering. So the more I
thought about it, I thought that

would be a great opportunity to
bring Annie's Project to New

Hampshire.

Kendall Kunelius: I wanted to
respond to something you just

said real quick, Kelly about the
importance of women-driven

programming. And something in
Extension that we do is

needs-assessment. I want to just
ask you to expand a little bit

more upon where Annie's Project
fit into responding to the needs

of people in our community in
New Hampshire, because I think

that's a really big piece of
what enables us to do our jobs.

We respond to the needs of the
community. So how did you

utilize that program to fit
those needs?

Kelly McAdam: Right. I should
back up a little bit, because

when I came into Extension,
Annie's Project was not the

first Women in Ag women farmer
education program. There was an

annual Women in Ag conference
that had been going on for

several years. I got to go to
that a couple of times, and it

was very well attended. So I
knew there was something around

this, there was an interest. So
farm management seemed like a

good place to focus on and which
Annie's project, of course, is.

That is the mission, is in farm
management education, because a

lot of times the women are the
ones that are keeping the books,

and keeping the records. That
was the view that I had coming

into it. Our first Annie's
Project was offered in 2015. We

filled that class, which was,
again, another sentiment that

there is a need, this is wanted
in our state. And that really,

motivated me to offer this
again, and to keep exploring

this program.

Rebecca Dube: What are some of
the things that the program is

doing now? Where are we now with
this program?

Kelly McAdam: From that first
program in 2015, I was thinking

about, what more can we do with
this? For one of the areas, I

went back to my days of filling
up that pickup bed with a load

of compost. I bet there's women
out there that need or would

like to be taught how to drive a
piece of equipment, or how to

change the oil, or any number of
skills in tractor maintenance.

So that was one of my dreams.
One of my visions for a spinoff

from Annie's project was that
program and in 2019, no, 2017 or

2018 I think, we offered our
first class and again, we filled

the class. So again, it brought
me to the realization that yes,

this is important, this is
needed. But we've also spun off

Annie's project in other ways,
too. So I was noticing - we

would offer an Annie's Project
program, which is traditionally

a three to four week program,
where we meet three to four

hours per week, typically in
person. You can adjust that

either way. You can have fewer
sessions that are longer. It's

really based on what are the
women in the region in the

state, what are they looking
for? And that's an important

component like when you're
asking about needs-assessment.

So one of the things I was
noticing, we would offer that

course every year, is that we
had a lot of women who were

coming from livestock farms.
They were raising poultry they

were raising cattle, they were
raising pigs, sheep, everything.

So I wondered. We try to fit a
lot of information into a short

span of time, whether it's three
or four weeks or what have you.

What if we could focus all of
our farm management education on

the livestock business
component? Covering everything

from marketing, to financial
planning, to even getting into

some of the production topics
like animal health, and

scheduling and rotational
grazing. You know, another

really interesting statistic is
that women farmers traditionally

are organic, they're growing
organically, and they are

working toward sustainable
practices on their farm. So some

of those concepts, like
rotational grazing, would be

really helpful. So that was our
first women and livestock

business course, which was,
again, just like Annie's

Project. It was just for women
farmers, who were livestock

farming. So that was a spin off
there, and we filled the class.

So again, it brings me back to
okay, there's this need. Another

really special part of that
class is that the women also had

field trips. We developed
planned-out field trips for them

as a follow-up to the class. But
even outside of the field trips,

we were planning for them, and
they were planning their own

field trips to each other's
farms and building that network.

That's another really important
aspect of Annie's Project, is

that the women have this network
andthey call each other and ask

questions. "I have piglets for
sale, and I don't have anyone,

but I just had more than I
expected, do you know, of anyone

that needs any piglets?" Things
like that, that really developed

those connections between the
women.

Kendall Kunelius: I want to just
jump in real quick here. I think

one of the important topics to
address that we haven't quite

touched on yet - we keep saying
that Women in Ag is an

identified group; we know that
there's a need here. But I've

gotten some pushback, at least
within my programming, as we're

starting this and putting
programs out there. They're

talking about, are you being
exclusionary by saying this is

only for women? And we're not. I
think what the important thing

to acknowledge here is that the
USDA does define women as an

underserved population. So I
personally feel like we have a

really great opportunity. The
work we're doing now is

supporting people who have
spoken up and said, we have a

need, can you fill it? And we're
saying, "Yes, we can, and here's

why." But, Kelly, I didn't know
if you had any reaction or

anything you wanted to share in
that sense of - what makes this

women programming so magical or
energized? What is that feeling

in there that really makes this
so important to you?

Kelly McAdam: I think for me,
the moment that gives me

goosebumps is when we're sitting
in a room together. There was

one in our women and livestock
business program where we hadn't

even started the class yet, like
day one. And the women are just

excited to be there. They're
just sharing stories about their

farrowing pigs. It was February,
and everyone's pigs were

farrowing. And that was what the
conversation was, we hadn't even

gotten to introductions. But
there was just this energy. That

really excites me, that I've
helped to create the space. I've

also had a woman come up to me
and tell me that I changed her

life by offering this program.
So it's like things like that.

When you experience that, just
by offering something. I'm not

teaching everything, I'm just
creating the space and designing

the program based on the needs
and based on the input that the

women are telling me. These
classes are open to everyone, so

if a male wanted to participate,
absolutely, we wouldn't turn him

away. We can't turn him away.
And we have had women that say,

oh, you know, I can't make next
week's class, can my husband

fill in for me? And the answer
is yes. I know other states have

had men participate in their
courses. And again, same thing,

we don't turn men away. They are
welcome if they would like to

participate.

Kendall Kunelius: Yeah, I think
that's such an important point

to make. If you want to learn, I
want to help you learn. I don't

care who you are, or what stage
of life you're in or how you

identify. What's important to me
is that learners are coming with

a great attitude and
understanding that what we have

to offer is something that as a
space where, you know, we call

it safe space for a reason. We
want to answer questions and

like you said, it's good
information. It's fact-based,

it's research-based. But also
the part of safe spaces that I

think that people may not
realize is that we're teaching

on equipment that's safe to
learn on. And as a farm girl

yourself, we all know that we
have those tractors or we have

that equipment that's like held
together with JB Weld, and duct

tape. That's not stuff I want to
be teaching people on. So UNH

does such a great job of
providing us with equipment that

is truly safe, is well
maintained, and it's easy to

learn on. So I'm going to boast
about UNH for a second here and

say, it's really neat to be able
to work for an organization,

work with an organization that
wants to provide the best

quality equipment and experience
possible.

Kelly McAdam: Yeah, absolutely.
We've always held our women

equipment safety program at UNH,
and we've always been welcomed

and had great instructors. It's
just a great space to be able to

teach. I think it also just
shows the commitment of the

university to our women farmers.
And that's really important too.

Kendall Kunelius: Yeah,
absolutely. So Kelly, we're the

people in Extension who are
working within this Women in Ag

programming area. I think it
would be neat for us to talk

about where we see this program
going and moving forward. We

have podcasts now!

Kelly McAdam: Yes, very excited
about that.

Kendall Kunelius: We have at
least one big, what feels like a

big step forward, for us in
creating that community. And we

have these three pillars that
we're working within, the first

one being providing that safe
space that we just talked about.

But we also really talked about
the importance of network and

sharing knowledge and developing
critical hands-on skills within

those areas that directly
contribute to farm viability. So

in terms of women running farms,
and that whole, the business

aspect that we bring to the
table, let's talk a little bit

about what the future might look
like for us providing

programming within ag business
management and how we can help

women be really successful farm
owners and managers.

Kelly McAdam: Yeah, and I feel
really lucky. For the past four

or five years, I've had the
opportunity to continue working

on Annie's Project at the
national level. I've really made

a lot of connections with other
educators at other land grants,

and we can collaborate. In 2021,
for example, we took a grain

marketing program and we turned
it into a program for Northeast

women farmers, because we're
direct marketers here,

primarily, not these big grain,
commodity-based systems. And I

think there's a lot more
opportunity there, considering

like you and I are really the
only ones that are doing this

programming here in New
Hampshire right now. I think

there's a lot of opportunity
there, as well as that

collaboration with our Northeast
neighbors, as well as just even

in New England as well. So lots
of potential there too, as we

transition into more climate
change, and the effects of that,

and a lot of conservation
practices and programs that are

coming out in the next few years
in terms of NRCS programs, and

the Natural Resource
Conservation Service. Women are,

because they are served as a
minority group under USDA, they

do get special ranking for some
of these programs. And I feel

like it's very important that
we're messaging that and getting

that on their radar, even if
they're not coming to our

programs. They know about these
potential cost share

opportunities that can help them
prepare as we move into more

risky weather events and other
risk management areas. So I

think that's a really important
piece that we're seeing right

now even.

Rebecca Dube: I think we're
bringing that information out to

people. We're trying a couple of
different venues. One, of

course, is this podcast that we
will be continuing on different

specific topics with different
guests. We hope that people

continue to join us for that up,
we also have a Women in

Agricultural newsletter that
goes out, and you can certainly

sign up for that. You can reach
out to Kendall Kunelius, and ask

to be added to that. Her email
address is kendall.kunelius,

K-U-N-E-L-I-U-S, @unh.edu.

Kendall Kunelius: It will take
forever to learn how to spell

that too. So we'll put it in the
show notes.

Rebecca Dube: Let's put that in
the show notes.

Kendall Kunelius: No fear, we'll
spell it out.

Rebecca Dube: And you can ask
her to sign up for that

newsletter, which comes out
monthly. There's also a variety

of workshops that are going on,
there's always something

different happening, and you'll
read about those in the

newsletter as well.

Kendall Kunelius: Yeah, thanks
for putting that plug in there,

Rebecca. Returning to the
sentiment of creating community,

our goals with any of that
outreach is to make sure that

women feel connected, everyone
can feel connected. But

specifically, I think that
actually plays really nicely

into our next pillar, which
talks about honoring the unique

challenges that women face in
the ag industry. Hopefully,

going forward, we'll be sharing
some stories. And like Rebecca,

you said, we'll have some other
guests on the podcast. But

Kelly, this really makes me
think of your experience that

you shared earlier, loading the
compost. It kind of breaks my

heart to say this, but that's
not a unique experience. It

should be but it's not. And so
you know a little bit about what

I have experienced within that,
I have actually held an active

forklift driving certification
for over 10 years. And how many

times have I heard "You're not
really going to put that pallet

in the back of my truck, are
you?" Or "Where's your boss?

Shouldn't he be the one driving
the forklift?" Anyways, if only

the listeners can see the
expression on my face right now,

it says it all. But I think the
other piece about honoring

people is really what gets to
the heart of this sentiment is

every woman has a unique story.
We're excited to share that. In

response to that, though, I
think there's something to be

said for creating space to
sharing challenges. I think it's

another thing to say we want to
help find solutions for those

challenges as well. So the
outreach component I think is

definitely an answer to saying,
How do we give proven business

solutions? How do we push
information out to folks? And

just like you're saying, Kelly,
the ag world changes so quickly,

and how do we make sure that
we're sending out programming

information or access to
resources in an effective way?

And I think, to kind of move on
to the the next pillar, too, is

encouraging personal and
professional growth through

situational experiences. The
other outreach piece we offer

are workshops. So Kelly, tell us
a little bit about your favorite

workshops that you've seen,
maybe some that could use some

improvement, and then any other
thoughts you have about in

person programming for women.

Kelly McAdam: Yeah, so I feel
like I've tried a lot of

different things. And like I
said, we've had this women in

livestock business program,
which probably, between that one

and our women equipment safety
program, those are two of my

favorites. You can just see that
the women are empowered after

they complete those programs.
And they really appreciate what

you can do for them just by
offering this day to come out to

sit on a tractor. You have a
woman teaching you, it's a safe

space; women are cheering each
other on. It truly is a safe

space. I've tried a few other
programs. One that I feel is

really important, and I wish it
would take off, is our managing

for today and tomorrow program,
which is a farm succession

program. Nationwide, it tends to
be - it is an Annie's project

program, and nationwide it tends
to not get a lot of attendance.

But this is all about estate
planning and figuring out your

retirement planning. No matter
where you are and your stage of

life, whether you're young, and
you're not even thinking about

retirement, or you are farming
with this child and you want to

transfer that farm to that
child, whether that's soon or

whether that's many years down
the road. It is never too early

to start thinking about that.
What we see happen is farmers

wait until it becomes an
absolute need, whether that's

because of health or financial.
And we really want to start

planning way in advance. And
women are the ones who get the

conversation going in the
family. That's why we have taken

this program to the Annie's
Project level, is because it's

women who gets the conversation
started. Communication is the

hardest part, you know, no one
likes to talk about writing a

will, and what do we do when mom
or dad pass away. There's always

farmers, the children that are
farming, and then there's the

children who are not farming,
but they have this emotional

connection to the farm. They
want to be a part of it too, but

they haven't been on the farm,
and then active on the farm for

years. So there's so many
different challenges to manage

and to negotiate. And that
program teaches women or just

gives them the some skills and
some resources to navigate that

communication. To talk about:
where should you be focusing

your planning on, what are the
big issues when it comes to

transferring the farm that you
need to know about, talking

about if a parent goes into a
nursing home, and there's a real

fear of a nursing home taking
possession of the farm? Having

that conversation and what does
that look like? Is that a real

fear that we need to worry
about? Or are there some tools

we can use to manage that, so
that is not a risk the family

has to worry about? I feel like
that one is one that needs more

attention. And I hope that in
the future we can start to build

that out a little further. But
again, like I said, nationwide,

that's the trend. It's not a
really heavily participated

program. But truly, truly
important.

Kendall Kunelius: I love how
what you just said, literally

finished the sentence on that
pillar! Because the second piece

of that, from growth through
such situational experiences, is

enhanced preparedness, like
planning, estate planning,

looking forward, confidence. I
think that there is a lot of

uncertainty in farming by nature
alone. Like you were saying with

the climate change, and we can't
be certain anymore what's going

to be happening in our fields.
But that's just Mother Nature in

general, that's farming. We
don't know if we're going to

have a drought year, and then
all of a sudden the carrots

don't grow, that kind of thing.
So how do we become more

confident in the structures that
we can put in place in our

farming businesses, and our
problem solving abilities? I

think once we find that
confidence with ourselves, and

then we couple that with the
tools, like you're saying the

managing for today and tomorrow;
when you know you have those

resources in hand, you really
are fully prepared to solve

those problems. So I love that
you just touched on all that.

Because it makes sense, it
totally makes sense. Yeah, so I

want to chime in on the
workshops piece, because this is

the part that I have the most
fun with. I love love, love

teaching tractor safety. I mean,
well listen, any excuse for me

to sit on a tractor is a good
enough excuse on its own. But I

think as a business person, I
keep going back to the root of

why do I like teaching tractor
safety or truck and trailer

driving or chainsaw safety? And
I think it's because it opens up

a world of business revenue
streams or revenue channels for

women that they may not have
really considered for

themselves. I'm a big fan of
considering business ventures

that make sense for you and your
business, and are flexible. One

of those things, I think, is
animal transportation. As we're

seeing a higher demand for local
meat, as we're seeing people

growing their own animals, they
need to get them to the

processor. So when we talk about
workshops as well, we're not -

yes, it is a little bit about
women coming together and really

sharing those experiences. But
we are trying, I want to say,

innovative methods to equip
women with skills that translate

into dollars into their pocket
as well. And that really excites

me in terms of the farm
viability piece. How do we help

women maintain viable farms and
have that income to put aside

for retirement or develop those
businesses that are really

attractive to keep going? A
successful business by nature is

going to be something that has
succession, it continues, it has

an exit plan. But ultimately,
that's a last resource or a plan

that you hope you don't have to
use, is using your exit plan. So

there's really a beautiful -
it's like a Venn diagram with

six different circles and they
all converge really nicely

around this idea of women in
agriculture programming. I think

that's really maybe the best
place to to leave it and then

we'll ask you for your last
thoughts but saying, as folks

are listening to this very first
episode of this podcast, think

about all those circles as being
the episodes. We're coming

together around this topic. And
we're really excited to be

sharing all of this with people
who want to hear and encounter

with us. So Kelly, what are your
last thoughts? Give us give us

some wrap up there.

Kelly McAdam: I'm really
excited, first, to have you

working with me, Kendall. That's
really exciting, because I know

you've taught for us in that
course, before you came to

Extension - the farm equipment
safety course. So I know we now

have this expertise on staff.
And I feel like our programming

does have this future because
it's not just me. So that's

good. So as far as succession
goes, that's very much a

positive.

Kendall Kunelius: I see what you
did there. I was like, oh, my

gosh, we just - look at us,
walking the walk, talking the

talk.

Kelly McAdam: Exactly. So you
know, moving forward, either

having the ability for women to
have access to these resources,

like this podcast, is just
phenomenal to have these various

resources available. And to see
and know that there is this

continuous offering of programs
as well. So when you have a team

working on this together, you're
able to continue to bring the

programming to this audience and
continue to address the need,

continue to engage the need as
well. I'm excited for that. In

Annie's Project as I went from,
"okay, yeah, I'll try this out"

to "oh, yeah, this is really
important." And I can see "oh,

yeah, I've experienced this
too." I've been in those shoes,

and I know what that's like. So
I'm glad to see it is where it

is, and that is continuing to
enter the future as well.

Rebecca Dube: Well, thank you,
Kelly, so much for joining us

today. We're happy to have you.
And we're going to be talking

next week about Women Talk
Tractors. And Kendall, do you

want to give us a little preview
into what that will be?

Kendall Kunelius: Sure. I'm the
woman and I'm going to be

talking about tractors.

Rebecca Dube: Her favorite
topic!

Kendall Kunelius: One of many.
But yes, one of my favorite

topics. We're going to be
debunking the myths about why it

feels taboo as a woman to be
focusing on things that include

equipment and machinery, and
tractors. I'll get a little bit

more into my personal experience
with farming and farm equipment

and why I think it's so
important for women to have

access to safe equipment to
learn on and to have people who

have hands-on experience to be
teaching and facilitating those

programs.

Rebecca Dube: Well thank you
everyone, and we'll be talking

with you soon.

Kendall Kunelius: Shared Soil is
a production of University of

New Hampshire Cooperative
Extension, an equal opportunity

educator and employer. Views
expressed on this podcast are

not necessarily those of the
university, its trustees or its

volunteers. Inclusion or
exclusion of commercial products

in this podcast does not imply
endorsement. The University of

New Hampshire, US Department of
Agriculture and New Hampshire

counties cooperate to provide
Extension programming in the

Granite State learn more at
extension.unh.edu