FarmHer: Danelle Myer, One Farm, Logan, Iowa

FarmHer sprung out of an iconic Superbowl commercial, featuring images of farmers and ranchers set to a strong speech by the great Paul Harvey. Following that commercial I read an article pointing out the lack of women shown, and the lack of attention on women in agriculture as a whole. That article was the catalyst that spurred me into action. Not knowing how to find women to photograph, I tracked down two of the women who were interviewed in that article. Fully expecting them to say no, I was pleasantly surprised when both women put their trust in me and welcomed the FarmHer project to their farms.

Danelle Myer was one of those women.

Myer and I set a late spring date to photograph her as she worked planting. That day rolled around, and Mother Nature had other plans as Iowa was hit with a late spring snow storm, leaving three inches of snow covering the ground and halting Myer’s planting for the day. That unseasonable storm pushed our meeting back into the late summer but allowed me to capture another unique part of Myer’s farm operation: harvesting produce and selling at the farmer’s market.

Myer grew up on her family’s conventional corn, soybean and cattle farm near the small town of Logan, in far western Iowa. Following college, Myer spent two decades working at a career in the marketing and public relations arena in Nebraska before returning to her farming roots. In 2010 her deep connection to the land drew her back to the family land in Logan to create a farm life and business of her own, One Farm.

Today at One Farm, Myer grows a wide variety of chemical-free produce for regular customers, farmers markets and restaurants in the Omaha area. She raises her crops on farmland rented from her family and in a newly constructed high tunnel growing house.

On the hot, windy late summer day that I visited One Farm, Myer was harvesting and prepping for the local farmer’s market. I watched as she picked and sorted through bushels of ripe tomatoes and crisp yellow peppers, then followed into the barn for sorting and cleaning. Myer worked steadily and smoothly, treating the produce with care as she prepped it for her customers. Following her harvest, I followed Myer to the local market and photographed as she sold the produce to her regular customers. Our journey that day and the images captured clearly showed Myer’s care about the food she grows, the land she uses and the people she feeds.

To see stories of Myer and other FarmHers and RanchHers, follow the FarmHer journey at www.FarmHer.com and @Farmher1 on Social Media; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.