What Makes a Woman in Ag a Demeter Award Recipient?
- Michelle Pelletier Marshall
- May 20
- 2 min read
By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Women in Agribusiness Media (May 20, 2025)
For more than a decade now, Women in Agribusiness (WIA) has been recognizing outstanding women in ag with the WIA Demeter Award of Excellence. Each year during a six-month process, nominations funnel in, and just before each annual WIA Summit, three recipients are chosen.
Last year, we received over 50 nominations rich with praise, descriptive explanations and examples, and admiration for the possible recipients. One candidate received eight nominations from eight different colleagues. Now that a woman in ag who is making a difference!
So while we have our official guidelines for nominations (see them here) for the Demeter Award, our audience intuitively knows the qualities of an exceptional woman in ag. Here’s what past nominators have had to say, and I’m guessing that this will inspire you to nominate an outstanding colleague (or yourself!) for the 2025 Women in Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence.
“Her innovative and business-like approach, coupled with excellent public speaking skills, underscores her as a clear visionary and an invaluable team player. She is a positive influencer across different age groups, establishing her as an outstanding mentor in the dynamic field of agriculture."
“The nominee has been instrumental in navigating complex agricultural policies, effectively bridging the gap between farmers and policymakers.”
“She is one of the most trusted voices in the space of agricultural marketing and analytics. She has been able to not only advise male farmers into making smarter marketing decisions (at a time when commodity prices are sharply falling) - but also been encouraging and instrumental in helping women in the ag space (whether they are farmers, fellow marketers, or journalists) to better understand the complexities of global supply chains, extreme weather patterns, the commodity futures markets and the cash markets (which have a direct impact on farm families' livelihoods)."
“Her leadership extends beyond policy advocacy; she has been a cornerstone in her company, inspiring her colleagues through her dedication, knowledge, and work ethic. She fosters an environment of continuous learning and improvement, encouraging her team to stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies in agriculture.”
“She has grown attendance by nearly four thousand due to the overall outreach and strategy she has developed.”
"She is singlehandedly changing the dialogue around women in agriculture. That and ceaselessly making herself available to mentor and engage young women in any industry…”
Submit a nomination for the Demeter Award here, and peruse all the recipients back to 2013.
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