PRESS RELEASE: Female Farmers Highlighted at 2026 Women in Agribusiness Summit

NEW ORLEANS, May 18, 2026 – Women in Agribusiness has announced the speakers for its Female Producer Panel – from a crawfish farmer in Louisiana to a soybean farmer in South Dakota. This signature panel will open the second day of the 15^th annual Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit in New Orleans, September 22-24.

The highly anticipated Female Producer Panel showcases the paths these female farmers have taken in their careers and discusses the realities of life on the farm, as well as planning for generational transition, securing access to capital and adopting new technology, and showing resilience by strategically managing inputs and outputs in an ever-changing environment.

The five-member panel includes:

Moderator: Amanda Martin, Ph.D., who is president and CEO of Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF). Martin directs leadership development initiatives advancing agriculture, food systems, and rural communities at the state and national levels. She had been senior director of external relations at Farm Foundation and held leadership roles within the College of Agriculture at Louisiana State University.

Speakers: 

Amanda Duhon, Co-Owner of Bar D Bar Farms LLC in Maurice, Louisiana. She is a first-generation row crop farmer and a fourth-generation cattle producer who is married to Kelsi Duhon, a sixth-generation farmer and cattleman. They farm sugarcane and run 30 head of crossbred cows in a cow-calf operation and sell farm-to-table beef through our private label. She also has written a children’s book, Case and the Sugar Run.

Amelia Levin Kent, Owner/Partner, Kent Farms LLC, was born into agriculture on her parents’ ranch in Colorado. She is a fourth-generation farmer who started her own farm in Louisiana twelve years ago. On Kent Farms in Clinton, Louisiana, Kent and her husband, Russell, raise cattle and the family grows ryegrass, Bermuda grass, perennial (forage) peanuts and bahia grass.

Julie Richard, Co-Owner of Richard Farms in Kaplan, Louisiana. Richard was on the fast track for a career in ag policy development until she met her husband Christian, a rice and crawfish farmer. Now, they divvy up the tasks on the farm so they can both be active in the lives of their three children and embrace their “farm to table” philosophy.

Dawn Scheier, Owner of Scheier Farms and director with South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, has been a dedicated corn and soybean farmer for the past 42 years. Scheier Farms is a family-owned and operated enterprise managed by Scheier, her husband, Pat, and their son, Ben. They are committed to sustainable farming practices while encouraging innovation on their farm in Salem, South Dakota.

These exceptional women in ag will join more than 50 other speakers at the 2026 Women in Agribusiness Summit, which, along with critical industry content, features 20+ hours of dedicated networking among 700+ attendees. The Summit, first held in New Orleans in 2012, has nurtured a community of esteemed female leaders and innovators and their advocates to foster more positive, productive environments for professional women across the agribusiness and food sectors. Learn more at www.womeninag.com.

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About Women in Agribusiness

Women in Agribusiness (www.womeninag.com), an Arc company, is the foremost organization dedicated to leading the growth in global female agribusiness leadership with a platform that encourages collaboration for innovation and development. Its renowned annual Women in Agribusiness Summit serves as a vital platform for women to network with professionals across the agriculture value chain, build business relationships, learn from esteemed thought leaders and stay informed on key commercial topics in agribusiness. Follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About Arc

Arc is a B2B events, data and media platform, backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital. Founded to redefine business networking, Arc organizes over 150 events a year and operates critical content platforms in HR, agriculture and food, financial services and investing, and education. Arc has over 350 talented colleagues located in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands and Singapore who focus on seeking out new ways to connect communities, wherever, whenever or however people need to come together to grow their businesses. For more information, visit www.arc-network.com or find Arc on LinkedIn.