Scottsbluff native Brittany Fulton has been appointed as Extension Assistant for Nebraska Women in Agriculture. She will be responsible for teaching, training, managing educational activities and events, and other duties related to the Nebraska Women in Agriculture (WIA) program.
Her appointment was announced by WIA program director Jessica Groskopf, an Extension Educator based at the Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center in Scottsbluff, where Fulton will also be based.
Fulton comes to UNL after a seven-year stint at the Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, where she served as Director of Stakeholder Communications (2018-20), Associate Director of Organizational Communications (2016-18), and Associate Director of Web Content (2013-15). She graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2012 with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture communications. At UW she was a public relations and marketing intern for Wyoming Stock Growers, the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the UW Dean’s Office.
Nebraska Women in Agriculture is designed to assist women in their agricultural business, according to the program’s website at https://wia.unl.edu.
According to the website, “the (UNL) Department of Agricultural Economics recognizes the vital role that women play in the agricultural industry and is committed to bringing Nebraska ag women relevant management education, focused on both business and family.”
Nebraska WIA programs include the annual farm and ranch management conference targeted toward women, attended by about 275 women each year. In Nebraska WIA also offers Annie’s Project educational programs, designed to strengthen women’s roles in modern farm enterprises.
Groskopf said women are a significant and growing percentage of the population employed by, managing, and owning farms and ranches in Nebraska. Nebraska’s 24,730 female producers (counted by the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture) represented 32 percent of all producers in the state. Their numbers have increased by 22 percent since the 2012 USDA Census. Seventy-two percent of female producers are involved in the day-to-day decision making of Nebraska’s farms and ranches.
Fulton will teach educational programming, train Extension professionals in Annie’s Project facilitation techniques, identify emerging issues focusing on underserved audiences, manage educational activities and events, and pursue grants and other resources.
“I am excited to be back in my hometown and working with such a great program. Agriculture has always been a passion for me and I want to share that passion with other women throughout the state,” Fulton said. “Growing up on the farm and my experience at NCBA has given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in livestock, crops, ag policy, and telling the agriculture story. I hope to be able to share that knowledge and continue to learn in this new role.”
Brittany and Jesse Fulton are both involved in the family farm east of Scottsbluff, where Brittany is the fourth generation on the land. In the past, the farming operation included sheep, cattle, and row crops. Currently, it is mostly comprised of sheep and working to expand. Growing up, she was heavily involved with 4-H and FFA and showed livestock at the fair.
