Key Takeaways
- Women in Agribusiness has announced the five-member Female Producer Panel for its 15th annual WIA Summit in New Orleans, September 22–24, 2026.
- The panel features producers from across the US, spanning crawfish and rice farming in Louisiana to corn and soybean operations in South Dakota, representing diverse farming backgrounds and generational transitions.
- Panel topics include access to capital, technology adoption, generational farm transitions, and managing inputs and outputs in a changing agricultural environment.
- The panel will be moderated by Dr. Amanda Martin, president and CEO of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF), and opens the second day of the Summit.
- The 2026 Women in Agribusiness Summit is expected to draw 700+ attendees and feature more than 50 speakers and 20+ hours of dedicated networking.
Women in Agribusiness Summit Reveals Female Producer Panel for 2026 New Orleans Summit
Women in Agribusiness (WIA) has announced the speaker lineup for its Female Producer Panel, one of the signature sessions of the 15th annual WIA Summit taking place in New Orleans, September 22–24, 2026. The panel will open the second day of the conference and bring together five women farmers whose careers span multiple generations, production systems, and regions across the United States. The full summit details are available at womeninag.com.
Panel Topics: Capital, Technology, and Generational Transition
The Female Producer Panel is designed to highlight the realities of farm life and the strategic challenges female producers navigate daily. Discussions will cover securing access to capital, adopting new agricultural technologies, planning for generational farm transitions, and building resilience through active input and output management in an evolving market environment. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Amanda Martin, president and CEO of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation, who has previously held senior roles at Farm Foundation and Louisiana State University's College of Agriculture.
Meet the 2026 Female Producer Panel
Amanda Duhon, Co-Owner of Bar D Bar Farms LLC in Maurice, Louisiana, is a first-generation row crop farmer and fourth-generation cattle producer. She and her spouse farm sugarcane, run a cow-calf operation, and sell farm-to-table beef under their own private label. She is also the author of the children's book Case and the Sugar Run.
Amelia Levin Kent, Owner/Partner of Kent Farms LLC in Clinton, Louisiana, is a fourth-generation farmer who started her own operation twelve years ago after being raised on her parents' ranch in Colorado. Kent Farms raises cattle and grows ryegrass, Bermuda grass, forage peanuts, and bahia grass.
Julie Richard, Co-Owner of Richard Farms in Kaplan, Louisiana, transitioned from a career in agricultural policy to farming alongside her husband, a rice and crawfish producer. The Richards operate with a farm-to-table philosophy and balance farm responsibilities with raising three children.
Dawn Scheier, Owner of Scheier Farms in Salem, South Dakota and a director with the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, has farmed corn and soybeans for 42 years. Scheier Farms is a family operation run by Scheier, her husband Pat, and their son Ben, with a focus on sustainable practices and on-farm innovation.
About the Women in Agribusiness Summit
First held in New Orleans in 2012, the Women in Agribusiness Summit has grown into a leading gathering for female leaders and innovators across the agribusiness and food sectors. The 2026 edition will feature more than 50 speakers, 700+ attendees, and over 20 hours of dedicated networking, alongside substantive industry content sessions.
