More women are entering the ag industry and earning respect

Sara Kroll manages the TMR at her parents', Joe and Debbie Kroll's farm in Luxemburg, WI.

Taylor Klein and her boyfriend, Evan, are merging their small herds of milking cows together. In addition to running a farm, Klein hopes to pursue a career in the dairy industry following graduation from FVTC.

Micheala Slind gets up close and personal with a cow during a farm while attending UW-Madison. during school. Let me know if you were looking for anything different.

Taylor Klein and Henriet Jurjens (right) collect and analyze milk samples for high somatic cell counts using a QScout Milk Analyzer as part of the Animal Health course.

Many women are sought after by large dairy operations to raise calves and heifers, thanks to their keen observation skills and attention to detail as well as their nurturing tendencies.

The dairy team from FVTC, from left, Taylor Klein, Tiffany Bestul, Dariann Novitski with instructor Dr. Lori Nagel, took fifth overall in the team division at the National Professional Agricultural Student (PAS) conference in the dairy specialist team division.

Lucy Bley (left) and Katie Van Groll complete a physical exam on a calf as part of an animal health course at Fox Valley Technical College.

Lori Nagel

Fox valley Technical College annual Farm Tour takes visitors to farms using the latest innovations in production and sustainability. The 2018 tour takes place on April 4.

Micheala Slind studied abroad in the Netherlands, visiting this dairy herd in Wageningen.

Once relegated to feeding calves, more and more women are stepping into leading roles in the dairy industry. NWTC student Sara Kroll plans to have a role in all phases of the herd's life: from breeding, to raising and helping with management decisions.

FVTC student Taylor Klein would like to find a career in cattle genetics or cattle mating following gradation. She helped make breeding decisions involving her very first show cow. Here she's showing one of her cows at the Sheboygan County Fair Futurity Show.

In this Dec. 7, 2017 photo, Chippewa Valley Technical College student Katelynn Monson walks through one of the cattle barns at Denmark Dairy in Colfax, Wis. Increasingly, the folks caring for the cows, monitoring their health and managing the herd are women, according to agriculture educators in west-central Wisconsin. The animal science management program at Chippewa Valley Technical College has seen female applicants climb from a minority four years ago to about three-quarters of the total for 2018-19, according to program director Adam Zwiefelhofer.