(Radio Iowa) – About 150 people will gather in Ames this weekend for the third annual Iowa Farmers of Color Conference. Todd Western, who founded the group, is a sixth-generation black farmer in Iowa. “Our farm was established in 1864 in Mahaska County on 160 acres,” Western said. “…Imagine Iowa in 1864, the Civil War is still raging…and yet in the middle of all this tension, this moment of uncertainty the Western family settled in Mahaska County and planted this seed.” The Western family farm is now near Waterloo. Western’s father, who worked at John Deere, too, was killed in a bicycling accident in 2008. Western, his brothers and his mother are now running the row crop operation. Row crop farmers, beginning farmers and farmers raising specialty crops will be at the Iowa Farmers of Color conference.

“Regardless of your color, like, we’re always looking for opportunity right? We all succumb to the same things: weather, politics and markets, so the opportunity is within us,” Western said. “It’s within us as farmers of color and it’s within the broader agricultural family.” Western says urban farmers benefiting from the growing demand for locally produced food will be at the conference, too. “We have all types of different groups that grow all types of different stuff,” he says. “And on top of it, we stress the importance of making sure that we’re growing things that are edible and healthy for us to eat.”

Western says on Monday an older farmer contacted the group, wondering if Iowa Farmers of Color has a way to link him with a beginning farmer who could take over his operation in a couple of years. The organization plans to host events in 2026 for long-time farmers exiting the business and beginning or aspiring farmers. The Iowa Farmers of Color conference will be held on Saturday at the Harvest Vinyard Church in Ames.