As a sixth generation Iowa farmer, Pam Johnson has been sharing agriculture’s food, fiber and fuel stories her entire life.
“Being an advocate for agriculture, it’s part of who I am,” she says.
Her achievements on the farm and across the industry led to her receiving the 2024 Top Producer Women in Ag Award, sponsored by the Farm Journal Foundation.
Johnson grew up on the farm, then went to college to be a nurse but came back to the operation after she got married.
“Maurice and I were married back in the ‘70s. And like a lot of people started out really small on a rented farm with 10 sows,” she says. “We were in growth mode then, and we’ve been in growth mode for the last 50 years.”
During that time, they grew their hog and grain operation to the nearly 1,200 acres of corn, soybeans and CRP ground they farm today.
“We farrowed to finished hogs for 38 years and went out the door together every day and worked in the field together too,” Johnson says. “I used to be the grain cart driver. And when we raised pigs, you know, [I was] the partner who was out the door doing everything from farrowing to sewing up pigs, vaccinating, you name it, sorting, moving.”
Their growth also included adopting strip-till and no-till practices and embracing precision farming.
“Through the years adapting to new technology, not just seed genetics, but also crop management practices, and seeing ones that work better, and they certainly paid off this year on this farm during the drought,” she says. “We had the best corn yield we’ve ever had.”
When Johnson’s sons came home to farm after college, she became an even more active advocate for agriculture, as she realized farmers would not have a future with $2 corn.
“Building demand is not a spectator sport,” she says.
That was when she became an early innovator and a voice for the ethanol industry.
“I’ll never forget, at National Corn, when we started the 15 billion gallons by 2015. Ethanol was a word a lot of people didn’t know, even farmers.”
But she knew adding value to commodity crops was the only way to revitalize agriculture and save rural communities.
“We learned about ethanol but not only that, we learned about what can happen when farmers work together,” she says.
Johnson worked her way through leadership roles on the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the National Corn Growers Association, becoming the first female president of NCGA, and her legacy is encouraging others to use their voice.
“Don’t sit back in the corner,” she says. “Raise your hand, say yes, step forward. You can do it. So that’s how I’m remembered: raise your hand, say yes.
Johnson is no longer leading associations, but she’s still advocating for agriculture. Her role in the operation has also evolved into a senior manager, coaching the seventh and eighth generations on their farm.
“We’re lucky enough to have two kids who want to come back and join us in the business and raise their families here,” she says. “It’s really great to see that succession plan, people step into your shoes and even doing it better than you did.
She says their success has given them the opportunity to give back and pay it forward, not just to her family, but to the agricultural industry and local community. That’s why Pam Johnson is the 2024 Top Producer Women in Ag award winner.
