A larger-than-life Ayrshire cow statue helps to serve as a landmark for Hameau Farm in Belleville, Pennsylvania. Each summer, parents come from cities such as Arlington, Philadelphia and New York to drop off their daughters for a two-week farm camp.

Editor’s note: The following is based on a speech presented by Dagmar Beckel-Machyckova, the co-owner of Golden Calf Company, LLC. Dagmar gave this presentation at the 2014 Women’s Business Conference in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

If women, particularly young women, could see more strong female role models in agriculture, it might help them meet their challenges and inspire them to be more successful. That’s the premise behind a unique conference held last April in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Female leadership is lacking in Idaho’s dairy organizations. The number of women serving on the boards of Idaho’s dairy organizations is hauntingly close to Agatha Christie’s best-selling mystery novel And Then There Were None (sometimes known as Ten Little Indians).

Women in dairy are always on the go. Balancing farm with home and often off-farm jobs, they are, no doubt, “the heart of the farm.” If you are looking for quick fixes to common problems that save you time and money, you are in luck.

We asked our HERd management columnists to share about their female role models who have had an impact on their dairy careers. They also open up about how they think the dairy industry will change in the coming years and their hopes for future dairywomen.

After the traditional wedding season, many farm families have welcomed a new family member this past year. My new book, Farming’s In-Law Factor, co-authored with Dr. Megan McKenzie, has some tools to help you have more harmony and less conflict on your farm.

Editor’s note: The following blog is reprinted with permission from dairy blogger Krista Stauffer. Follow more of her dairy marriage advice at her blog.

Cassie Musser is at least the ninth generation working on her family’s farm in Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, which was first established through a Revolutionary War grant. Today, Den Be Farm is home to a milking herd of about 160 Holsteins, Guernseys and Jerseys.

In 2006, Amy Shiplett came back to her parents’ farm in Chilton, Wisconsin, with the intent of feeding calves and assisting with field work, but her role evolved quickly when her father was diagnosed with cancer in 2007.