Meg Moynihan Stuedemann (MS ’95 agronomy) spends her days milking cows, cutting and baling hay, repairing fences, fixing broken water lines, driving tractors, spreading manure and handling paperwork for Derrydale Farm, which she runs with husband in Le Sueur County. Now she’s been named the 2026 Minnesota Farmfest Woman Farmer of the Year.
It’s a life she never would have imagined for herself growing up in Wisconsin and Tennessee. Her love of agriculture came later in life - during two years serving in the Peace Corps after college. While working in Thailand she witnessed firsthand how agriculture could be both productive and deeply intertwined with the community. There she worked on projects like establishing a village pig bank and helping a school raise ducks. It was such a moving experience for her, when she returned to the United States, she enrolled in the University of Minnesota and earned a master’s degree in Agronomy. Agriculture and community has been a focal point of her life ever since.
Read more on the CFANS website.