Terry Stuart Forst will be a featured speaker at Women in Agriculture in Fort Worth, Sept. 12-13. Photo by Clay Forst.

Waurika, Oklahoma rancher and National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Honoree Terry Stuart Forst will be a featured speaker for Women in Agriculture, an educational symposium hosted by Tarrant County Agrilife Extension, September 12-13 in Fort Worth, Texas. Inspired by “Annie’s Project,” a national non-profit whose purpose is to educate and empower women in agriculture, Women in Agriculture will include two full days of education and networking where Forst will be featured during an interactive “talk show” style session during the September 13 breakfast.

A fifth generation Oklahoman, Forst is the general manager of the Stuart 7S Ranch—Oklahoma’s oldest ranch under continuous family ownership – which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018. With more than 40,000 acres spanning across parts of southeastern and southwestern Oklahoma, Forst has courageously faced the challenges of Oklahoma weather, changing markets and world events with eternal optimism and a deep faith.

Forst earned her B.S. in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University and after graduation returned to the ranch to work for her father, Bob Stuart, running a successful horse program and overseeing many aspects of the day-to-day operations. She took over management of the ranch in 1992 after completing Texas Christian University’s Ranch Management Program, graduating top in her class. Using what she learned at TCU she developed a new management plan to increase sustainability and profitability, which to this day she continues to revise with Stuart Ranch Meat Company and the opening of the Lodge at Stuart Ranch in December 2022.

As a leader in the cattle and ranching industry, Forst was the first woman president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association from 2009-2011 and its first recipient of the Cattlemen of the Year Award in 2007. Additional honors include OSU’s Master Breeder Award in 2008, named as a “Significant Woman in Agriculture” by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry in 2017 and induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2020.

Women in Agriculture will be held at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott Fort Worth Historic Stockyards and is designed to assist farm and ranch women in problem solving, record keeping and decision-making skills. Information and online registration are available at https://agrilife.org/urbantarrantag or by calling Jacklyn Jones Doyle, Ag & Natural Resources Extension Agent at 817.884.1945.