Stephanie Essick is the Midwest Regional Winner of the 2014 Farm Mom of the Year Award

Monsanto and American Agri-Women recently announced the regional winners of the 2014 America’s Farm Mom of the Year award. After the regional winners were chosen, the public cast their votes for the “National Farm Mom of the Year award.” There is still time to vote by clicking here.

Each of the regional winners are farm moms who have significantly and positively impacted their communities. “There are so many tremendous stories of strength, perseverance, dedication and leadership that it makes it difficult to narrow it down to just a few winners,” says Jessica Simmons, Corporate Marketing for Monsanto. “Every farm mom deserves to be recognized for the work she does. But with the help of the American Agri-Women, we are proud to present this year’s five regional winners.

The 2014 regional winners of the America’s Farmers Mom of the Year contest, include:

• Northwest Region: Jennifer Holle (Mandan, N.D.)
• Southwest Region: Heather Dineen (Waxahachie, Texas)
• Midwest Region: Stephanie Essick (Dickens, Iowa)
• Northeast Region: Kristen Nickerson (Worton, Md.)
• Southeast Region: Bethany Pugh (Engelhard, N.C.)

Stephanie Essick is a Mom and farmer who is passionate about agriculture. She is a fourth generation farmer who realized her passion for agriculture at a young age and went on to pursue a degree in Agri-Business from Iowa State University.  Stephanie truly enjoys farming full-time with her father. Her husband Matt is an agronomist and they have one son that wants to farm like his mom someday. Raising her son on a farm has given her the ability to explain the importance of agriculture and how it helps feed our growing nation.

Stephanie keeps herself busy on the farm but also remains committed to helping non-farm audiences understand where their food comes from. She serves as a local corn grower member, is a graduate of the Iowa Corn leadership program (I-LEAD), volunteers for the Iowa Food and Family Project and is an Iowa CommonGround volunteer. She understands the importance of getting the message out about the foods that farmers produce, because it gives consumers a face to understand where their food comes from.  Stephanie has spoken at many events around the state and she has shown her passion for agriculture and the need to educate consumers with regular conversations online.  Stephanie is a true inspiration to other farm women and its people like her that continue to put a positive spin on agriculture and the importance it has for our nation.

“Being nominated is an honor and I’m truly humbled to be able to share the message about agriculture through this award,” said Stephanie Essick. Essick is very appreciative of the regional award and is excited to find out if she is the winner of the National award.

Each regional winner receives a $5,000 award. The woman, who receives the most votes between April 25 and May 6, will be named the “National Farm Mom of the Year” -- just in time for Mother’s Day. As a bonus, she will also receive an additional $5,000 prize.

“Although these women come from vastly different parts of the country and specialize in varied types of farming, it’s clear they have many more common interests that bind them together -- their love of family, community and agriculture,” says Kris Zilliox, of American Agri-Women. “Each one of them represent today’s women in agriculture so well, we have no doubt that we’ll have a fantastic 2014 national farm mom, no matter who America chooses.”