Women Involved in Agriculture – A Kansas Annie’s Project

K-State Research and Extension in Lyon County will be offering a six session course in January, February and March of 2012. “Women Involved in Agriculture – A Kansas Annie’s Project” is designed to empower rural women to be better business partners through networks and by managing and organizing critical information.

This Kansas project is an off-shoot of the Illinois not-for-profit Annie’s Project started by Ruth Fleck Hambleton, a retired University of Illinois Extension Farm Business Management and Marketing Educator and daughter of Annette Kohlhagen Fleck, for whom the project is named. Annie’s Project is based on the life of a farm woman who grew up in a small town in northern Illinois. Her goal was to marry a farmer, and she did. Annie spent her lifetime learning how to be an involved business partner with her farm husband. Together they did great things, but it wasn’t easy.

Farm women have diverse backgrounds, some which prepare women well for the responsibilities of running a farm business. Other women come into farming operations by way of marrying men who happen to be farmers, or by means of their spouse or family members dying and leaving them in charge. Being married to a farmer or being a woman in a male dominated business has its challenges. Some women have learned to handle this responsibility very well and are valuable mentors to women who have not had it so easy. Through Annie’s Project, they find answers, strength, and friendship. Farm women grow in confidence, business skills, and community prestige.

There is a $50 registration fee for the six sessions to be held on Saturdays. Topics of the sessions will involve group networking and personality assessments; determining costs of production and understanding financial statements; marketing, risk management and making marketing decisions; learning to use Quicken 2012 for ag records; Kansas ag lease law and determining equitable leases; and estate planning along with FSA, NRCS, and other conservation programs.

The sessions are scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., although we will have some flexibility in the scheduled times based on topics and presenters. Dates will be January 7 and 14, February 4, 11 and 25, and March 10. Lunch will be included with the registration fees, along with other materials for each of the registered attendees. The class will be limited to the first 25 registrants and we anticipate this filling quickly, although we will be keeping a waiting list in case someone determines they will be unable to attend all sessions.

Registration forms are available at the Lyon County Extension Office, or on our website at www.lyon.ksu.edu. The registration deadline is December 23, 2011, so it is right around the corner. Don’t hesitate to register, as the sessions that have been held in neighboring counties have filled up quickly and those who were not able to attend are looking for additional places to learn.

We look forward to having a fun time with 25 very eager participants! If you are a woman involved in agriculture, you should strongly consider attending these six courses.