Callahan Blazes Trail for Women in Agriculture

Colleen Callahan was a small girl alongside a large pig when she determined her career goal. Attending a major livestock show, she had just earned the title of champion barrow at only nine years old.

When Orion Samuelson, a broadcaster at WGN Radio, leaned down to interview Callahan on her win, she could picture her future so clearly. “I know now that that was the spark. I wanted to do what he did,” said Callahan.

Callahan has shared with Samuelson many times the spark she felt during that interview at the start of his career 60 years ago. “I didn't want to be the one that was being interviewed, I wanted to be the one that was asking the questions. I wanted to be him,” Callahan said.

From the nine-year-old girl in the show ring to director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Callahan’s career has bloomed since that first spark.

A competitive and determined nature has enveloped Callahan from a young age, specifically during her time in 4-H. “I wanted to compete. I wanted the competition. I know that about myself, that I am competitive,” said Callahan.

She watched as girls in glittery dresses and tiaras competed for county fair queen, a title she could easily forgo. Callahan recalls telling her parents, “I don’t want to hand out the ribbons. I want to get the ribbons,” she said.

Her competitiveness has served her well during her climb to success in a male- dominated industry. She knew it would not be easy to pursue a career as a woman in agriculture, as there were so few women doing so in the 1970s, but she was willing to work for it.

Her recent recognition at the Illinois Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers meeting in January is evidence of her career success. At this meeting, Callahan received the Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award, which is an annual award that recognizes non-members for their efforts and support of farm managers and rural appraisers.

“I was surprised and really was honored by the fact that they thought of me in the way that they did. Being in public service now and hearing someone say “thank you for your service” over such a long period of time really meant a lot,” said Callahan.

The meeting focused on women’s contributions to agriculture and featured an all-female panel that discussed women’s roles in agriculture. Alongside Colleen Callahan on this panel was Ruth Hambleton, co-owner and founder of Annie’s Project - Education for Farm Women.

“I love listening to Colleen. She is so disciplined. I mean, when I grow up I want to be like Colleen,” said Hambleton. “When I was in college, people would always bring up her name because she was the trailblazer ahead of me.”

Annie’s Project was named after Hambleton’s mother, Annette Kohlhagen Fleck, who struggled as a woman in agriculture herself. “She grew up visiting her grandparent’s farm at the edge of town and decided she wanted to get into the business of farming. Back then, the only way for a woman to do that was to marry a farmer. She met my dad who was just on the other side of town and she married him,” said Hambleton.

The charitable organization strives to educate and meet the needs of farm women across the United States. While Hambleton participated in the panel, she had a chance to talk about Annie’s Project, which Callahan has been familiar with from it’s beginning.

“I remember when she started Annie's project and I was helping her get the word out,” said Callahan. “And it took a long time, she said, for women to almost let themselves come to the meeting that she was organizing to help them learn how to do the bookkeeping and how to learn how to ask the right questions. It wasn't something that was considered part of a woman's role on the farm historically.”

The Illinois Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers is a 91-year-old professional organization that originally formed at the University of Illinois. Robert Woodrow, who served as the immediate past president of the society in 2020, chose Callahan as the recipient and presented the award to her.

Growing up on his family farm in Tazewell County, Woodrow became extremely familiar with Callahan’s work as an agricultural broadcaster. “I've known Colleen for years, and I listened to her growing up on the farm. I'd eat lunch and listen to the noon show,” said Woodrow.

Woodrow said that Callahan was a great fit for the Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award as this year's meeting theme was women in agriculture and awarding Callahan would honor that theme.

Callahan reflected on her time as a child when it was unheard of to see a woman on the television or hear a woman on the radio reporting agriculture news. She remembers standing in the living room as her mother would turn on the Channel 3 News. Staring in awe at the television, she would watch the market reports and tell her mother that she could do that someday.

Her mother would encourage and reassure her that she very well could do that someday. However, Callahan recognized that no other women were doing that at the time and doubted her abilities. To this, her mother would say, “That doesn’t matter, you can do it.”

Not long after her college graduation from the University of Illinois in 1973, Callahan found herself in a job interview at WMBD radio and television station. She anticipated and knew that she would be asked one specific question, “What will you do for programming knowing that the listeners are expecting to hear a man deliver that information?”

From her experience growing up on a grain and livestock farm, she knew exactly what farmers were listening for when they turned on their television or radio. After all, her childhood consisted of long days outdoors doing chores with her father, who she would use as a model example listener.

“If I can present information in a clear, concise and presentable manner, it shouldn’t make a difference if it’s a man, a woman or a dog barking that information,” Callahan said.