Rene Johnson vividly remembers the first state ag bankers conference she attended back in 1999..She realized she was one of only maybe five women at the conference when, during a break, all of them were able to fit in the restroom at the same time while the men were so great in number they had to wait in line.“It was very clear, like, oh, wow, this is all guys,” said Johnson, senior vice president and agricultural relationship manager at Lake Ridge Bank in Central Wisconsin. Over the years, the number of women attending has grown, but a conference earlier this year showed her there is still work to do.“I took a look around and it was a little shocking to me because I was sitting at a table of all women with one man, but every other table was basically all men and one woman,” Johnson said. “So it was nice that there was a woman at each table, but I thought to myself, ‘oh, I thought there were more women.’ It was eye-opening to me.”The gains are the result of programs and recruitment efforts to bring more women into ag lending, robust formal and informal networks for women ag lenders, outreach by female and male senior bankers to mentor the younger generation and changing societal norms.While the numbers still lean more toward men, it’s clear more women are choosing ag lending as their field of choice, and more women are heading up ag lending divisions or are in leadership positions at their banks after getting their start in ag lending.It mirrors a trend in farming and ranching where the share of women taking leadership roles is increasing. According to an analysis by TraceOne of U.S. Department of Agriculture data, women now make up more than a third of all U.S. farmers. The number of male producers has declined since 2007, while the share of female producers has increased in every Census since 2002. In Minnesota, for example, nearly 50 percent of farms are female-operated, meaning at least one producer on the farm is a woman.No similar statistics are available for banking, but the ag team at Johnson’s bank reflects and even outpaces that trend: eight of its 10 members are women.“We have been trying to hire for about a year,” Johnson said, “and we get very few men who apply. I don’t know if that’s because men don’t want to work with an all-women team or if it’s just the nature of the beast.”Making gainsHeather Malcolm is a vice president at Bank of the Rockies and has seen the gradual shift. She is attempting to keep the momentum going by mentoring younger colleagues, but acknowledges ag lending can be a tough environment for female bankers to get traction.“I think it was just the stereotypical role that a banker was supposed to be a guy,” Malcolm said of factors that result in mostly-male lending teams. “And it took those adventurous females to be like, ‘nah, I know what I’m doing, I got this. I can go do this.’ But it also took a change in the mindset of the industry to help support those females in those roles because it was such a male-dominated area where thinking had to change, too.”Several women shared stories where they felt they had to prove themselves a little bit more than their male counterparts even if they had knowledge of farming or ranching. For Malcolm, establishing that her roots in ag ran deep was helpful with winning over prospective customers who were guarded about working with a woman..“Showing them that I did come from an ag background, that I did understand what they were talking about when they were talking about calving percentages or what their calves weighed in the fall or what their hay tonnage was … it was knowing the terminology,” said Malcolm, who was only the second woman ever to chair the American Bankers Association’s Ag and Rural Bankers Committee, which dates back to roughly 1913. “Because the thing with farmers and ranchers is they can see through your line of BS in a heartbeat. You really had to know what you were talking about. And if I didn’t know, like if it was a crop I was not familiar with, I said, ‘I am not familiar with this crop, but let me do some research.’”It doesn’t always happen and it’s a rare occurrence in some areas, but women bankers still encounter male customers who don’t want to work with a woman. Malcolm has been an ag banker for 23 years, and despite being a vice president with a long list of qualifications and proven experience, she still encounters hesitancy.One farmer flat out asked her: “Why do I have to have you as my lender? You’re a girl.”In such cases, she takes an approach that is likely familiar to many of her counterparts throughout the industry: “I see that sometimes as more like a challenge of, ‘OK, bring it on and I’ll show you exactly what I know and how to help you’.”Having a depth of knowledge goes a long way in helping establish credibility in a field and lifestyle that places a premium on trust, loyalty and relationships.“Having that understanding of what they’re doing every day just helps them have a comfort level of wanting to work with you,” added Jana Jobman, senior credit officer at Dayspring Bank in Gothenburg, Neb. In addition to graduating from the Agricultural Banking and Finance program at the University of Nebraska, she grew up on a cattle ranch in the sand hills of Nebraska, and that combo has paid dividends.“They can definitely suss out people who are just trying to sell them something versus people who they know have a genuine interest and want to see their operation succeed,” Jobman said.Taking on leadership rolesEd Elfmann, senior vice president of agricultural and rural banking policy at the ABA, points to anecdotal evidence of the growing roles of women in agriculture he’s observed during his dozen years with the association.“Our agricultural bankers committee at ABA has had many women on it, especially over the past 10 years, many more than it did in the past,” Elfmann said. “And I think that’s a reflection of how the industry’s changing. You’re seeing new people come into the industry that maybe weren’t involved before.”He sees that in the ABA’s Ag Bankers Conference, where growing participation by women prompted organizers to expand what had been a women’s networking event into a more structured and popular lunch.“It reflects the population we have attending our conference, frankly,” Elfmann said.“It’s also a reflection of how agriculture has changed a lot in the last 10, 15 years, the demographics of agriculture,” Elfmann added. “And I think it’s a good thing at the end of the day. It makes it a broader, more diverse coalition of folks.”Dinese Watson is one of the women who’s led the ABA’s ag committee. She’s a veteran banker who is well-respected by her peers. She said it took a few women to forge their way into senior roles for others to begin doing the same..“I just think over time it’s become more accepted,” said Watson, the senior vice president and ag lending manager at Merchants Bank in Indiana. It comes down to representation, she added, allowing the younger bankers to emulate those who came before them.“They’ve seen more people in those roles,” Watson said. “And so I think that once there had been ladies who were in those roles, more and more ladies saw themselves in their roles and then were attracted to the career.”Mentor and menteeDelena Teague is a loan officer who specializes in ag for Bank of the Rockies in White Sulphur Springs, Mont. She knows the ag part of the business, having grown up on a farm and married into a ranching family. She’s attended numerous bank functions, conventions, association meetings and the like, but can’t recall ever meeting another woman ag banker at any of them.That’s what makes her mentorship with Bank of the Rockies’ Malcolm that much more valuable.“I don’t think I would have even decided to make the leap into this area if it weren’t for her, because she is so well respected in this industry and in ag in general,” Teague said. “So it’s definitely, ‘if she can do it, then that means I can, too’.”Teague also feels comfortable seeking out her male colleagues for help, but being able to get counsel from another woman is different..“You can be vulnerable with a woman,” Teague said.Teague said people like Malcolm and those who came before her made the path that much smoother for the next generation, even though it still has its bumps.“I would say it’s probably easier for me than it was for her, just because I have her to go to,” Teague said.“I’ve talked to a couple other younger gals throughout, either through commercial lending school or through ag banking, just to help them along as well,” Malcolm added. “And I’m always open to visiting with others to help them, so it’s a little easier on their journey just because I know it can be really hard and really stressful.”For Watson, a senior banker, mentorship is a two-way street. “I feel like they mentor me as well,” she said.They’ll raise questions that didn’t occur to Watson and thoughts on how to get things done if not for the details on how to get there, which is where Watson’s experience comes in.“They have great energy and bright ideas,” Watson said. “I may have a vision or task to complete but have gaps for how to get to the end. But through collaboration, which gives me energy, they can take the idea, mold and shape it to complete it in a way that may be better than mine.”Networking for successA banking conference years ago, while also eye-opening, was helpful, too, for Shannon Hillesheim as her career was getting underway.In a meeting room mostly full of guys, Hillesheim spotted another woman she recognized from the Graduate School of Banking who zoomed over to greet her. Soon, the woman was introducing Hillesheim to other women in the room, including two bankers who were also there for the first time.“I don’t know what I would’ve done had she not made that connection right away,” said Hillesheim, who is now the market president for Midwest Bank in New Ulm, Minn. “It made it so much easier. You just get more confidence the more people you network with, having some people standing with you. And still, before we go to the conference I call those two people, ‘are you going to be there? What time are you going to be there?’ And I just think it’s so important that we need to advocate for one another and bring each other up.”For young women bankers looking to establish or advance their careers, Hillesheim sings the praises of the national and state banking associations for doing a great job promoting visibility for women in banking and providing support for them. She encourages women starting in banking to take part in industry events..“And by all means invite another female banker along with you,” added Hillesheim, who is only the second woman to be market president in New Ulm.Her CEO lets her take the time off to participate in such events, including belonging to the ABA’s ag and rural banking committee.“It was a great experience for me and really helped my growth,” Hillesheim said.Where it startedJohn Blanchfield said the stage was set about 50 years ago for more women to enter ag finance when college became a more common path for women, especially those in rural, ag-based communities. Once on campus, they took ag economics classes that gave them the chops to begin making meaningful inroads into finance.“So they started graduating people who had farm backgrounds and now had economics backgrounds,” said Blanchfield, who was at the ABA for 25 years and is now a consultant. “And so all these little factors, big and little, came together.”He also credits the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ag credit program, first operated by the Farmers Home Administration, with laying a foundation. That’s where he first saw women in loan officer roles and as county supervisors.He thinks back to when he started at the ABA and “basically none” of the committees or task forces had women on them. That’s no longer the case.The gender shift in banking parallels that of the general business world, he said, where women have always been involved, but mostly filled roles that fit with outdated stereotypes. He pointed out it took until 2004, when the ABA was already 129 years old, for Elizabeth Duke to become the association’s first female chair.That it took so long for women to shatter the glass ceiling and take leadership roles is “crazy,” he said, but the conditions are right to build on them and it will make the industry that much stronger.“There is no question that there are many more women today in senior ag banking or senior management positions at banks throughout the country than there were in the past,” Blanchfield said. “It hasn’t been easy, but progress has been made.”
