{"id":134424,"date":"2026-03-10T13:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134424\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:01:10","slug":"women-in-farming-celebrated-during-pa-agriculture-secretarys-visit-to-berks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134424\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in farming celebrated during PA agriculture secretary’s visit to Berks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deanne Weber stood by a fence line on her 75-acre Maidencreek Township farm Monday morning, a bright-blue sky overhead and warm rays of sun shinning down.<\/p>\n

With cattle roaming in the distance behind her and a small creek trickling along a few feet away, Weber smiled widely in the midst of a picturesque, bucolic scene.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t the springlike weather that had Weber beaming \u2014 though that likely played a small role \u2014 it was getting a chance to chat about her passion.<\/p>\n

She spoke excitedly, telling distinguished guests including state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, state Sen. Judy Schwank and Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach about the trees she had planted in a pasture.<\/p>\n

\"DeanneDeanne Weber, owner of Willow Run Farmstead and a third-generation farmer, converted the farm from a crop rotation farm into a beef farm. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

There were persimmons, poplars, willows and white oaks. While still small at the moment, the trees will eventually provide Weber\u2019s cattle with shade during hot summer days.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy cattle are black and they don\u2019t like the sun; they just soak up the heat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The trees will also provide a bit of food for the cattle \u2014 they\u2019ll eat the persimmons and acorns \u2014 and help the earth soak up rainwater before it runs off into the creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe root systems can just soak up that water that\u2019s coming from all over my land,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The additions of the trees \u2014 known as a silvopasture \u2014 is one of several new features added by Weber, a third-generation farmer, since she took over ownership of Willow Run Farmstead in 2016, converting it from a crop rotation farm into a beef farm.<\/p>\n

And it wouldn\u2019t have been possible without the help of state and local funding, Weber said.<\/p>\n

Neither would the new fencing, the buffer area created around the creek, a cattle bridge over that creek or the buried water lines on the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of local and state funding that came in to make my business what it is today,\u201d Weber said.<\/p>\n

\"DeanneDeanne Weber, owner of Willow Run Farmstead, speaks about her farming experiences during a press conference at the farm in Maidencreek Township on Monday, March 9, 2026. With her are, from left, state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, state Deputy Agriculture Secretary Heidi Secord, Hannah Smith Brubaker of Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture, state Sen. Judy Schwank and Berks County Department of Agriculture executive director Kim Fies. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

Redding said the public and private partnerships that have benefited Weber are exactly the kind that are needed to support agriculture across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t look around at this farm \u2014 or quite frankly, any farm \u2014 and not think about partnerships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And more and more, Redding said, those partnerships are involving women like Weber.<\/p>\n

The secretary\u2019s visit to Willow Run Farmstead looked to highlight that fact, serving as a celebration of Women\u2019s History Month and the United Nation\u2019s designation of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer.<\/p>\n

Redding said the agriculture industry can\u2019t work without women. From their leadership in government to owning and operating farms to managing supply lines to providing education and mentorships, they are vital leaders, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all part of this network,\u201d Redding said, adding that 35% of farm producers are women.<\/p>\n

That includes Schwank, Redding said, who has a long and deep history in the world of agriculture.<\/p>\n

Schwank said she has seen the industry change a lot over the past several decades, and for the better.<\/p>\n

She recalled attending Penn State University for horticulture and sitting in her very first class about soil. The male professor questioned her, asking why a girl was interested in the then male-dominated field.<\/p>\n

Schwank said the industry felt limited for women back then, but things are changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see such a paradigm shift in agriculture,\u201d she said, adding that more and more woman have become leaders in the industry. \u201cDeanne is the face of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Smith Brubaker, executive director of Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture, agreed, saying that farms like Willow Run Farmstead are examples of how women-led farms can push the industry forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re driving innovation and growth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"DeanneDeanne Weber, owner of Willow Run Farmstead and a third-generation farmer, converted the farm from a crop rotation farm into a beef farm. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n

That innovation and growth is crucial in places like Berks, according to Kimberly Fies, executive director of the county\u2019s agriculture department.<\/p>\n

The county has a $1 billion agriculture industry and is home to 850 parcels of conserved farmland. And women like Weber are key to making sure the industry remains strong for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeanne is a shinning example of what our next wave of women farmers will be,\u201d she said. \u201cHer vision is all-encompassing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deanne Weber stood by a fence line on her 75-acre Maidencreek Township farm Monday morning, a bright-blue sky…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-134424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}