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Mark your calendar for the 2011 Women in Ag Conference to be held at the San Tan Elegante Conference & Reception Center/ Legado Hotel in Gilbert in Gilbert, AZ on Friday, June 3, 2011. Hosted by the Arizona Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee (WLC), the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Arizona Cattlewomen, Casa Grande Valley Cotton & Ag Women, and the Arizona Department of Ag, the 15th annual conference is open to anyone interested in improving leadership, professional and personal skills.

Themed Agriculture: A Growing Story, the keynote speaker will be Dr. J Scott Vernon, professor in the Agricultural Education and Communications Department at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Vernon is also a pilot, a successful auctioneer and a business owner.  He is a partner in an auction firm that conducts sales for corporations and governmental agencies in California.

Dr. Vernon will speak on There is no Oz. Get over it. The world is filled with flying monkeys and wicked witches: How to save agriculture on our journey down a dirt road. Vernon will help us improve our leadership, find our courage, increase our knowledge and share our heart with all those who depend on American family farmers and ranchers. He will share how he and a group of “munchkins” are making a huge impact in “AGvocacy” all over America.

Children’s author and dairy farmer Cris Petersonwill present, “Kissing Calves and Birthing Elephants: One Writer’s Journey.”  Peterson, milks cows and writes books. Her crazy stories about her experiences communicating about agriculture will make you laugh and inspire you to tell your own story.

In January, Peterson’s book, Seed Soil Sun won the 2011 Book of the Year award presented by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture.  In this clearly written and beautifully photographed book, Peterson describes the seemingly miraculous process by which air and water combine with seed, soil and sun to create nearly all the food we eat.

Stay over for the Effective Communications seminar on Saturday, June 4th.

Accommodations are available now at the San Tan Elegante Conference Center/ Legado Hotel Rates: $79 per night, single and double.  To guarantee this special conference rate, call the hotel reservations line at 888.695.3423.  May 13 is the deadline for the reduced-rate rooms. Conference registration forms will be available April 1.

Editor’s note: For more information, contact Peggy Jo Goodfellow at 480.635.3609 or contact her via email at peggyjogoodfellow@azfb.org.