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Annie’s Project, Heart of the Farm, and Beyond—Moving Past Introductions to Farm Financial and Risk Mana

Annie’s Project, Heart of the Farm, and Beyond—Moving Past Introductions to Farm Financial and Risk Management. Aliesha R. Crowe University of Wisconsin-Extension Rusk County. University of Wisconsin Program on Agriculture Technology Studies Research.

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Annie’s Project, Heart of the Farm, and Beyond—Moving Past Introductions to Farm Financial and Risk Mana

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  1. Annie’s Project, Heart of the Farm, and Beyond—Moving Past Introductions to Farm Financial and Risk Management Aliesha R. Crowe University of Wisconsin-Extension Rusk County

  2. University of Wisconsin Program on Agriculture Technology Studies Research • most farm women are responsible for the financial record keeping on their farm and also share in the decision-making to borrow money and/or expand the operation¹

  3. Other Responsibilities Source: Wisconsin Family Farm Facts, No 20, September 2003. PATS-research findings

  4. Farm Women in Rusk County • 306 Woman Operators2 • 31 Sole operators • 275 woman operators on farm with more than one operator • 58 Principal operators3 • Producers are interested in: Measuring enterprise profitability, low cost production systems, cost of production calculations, dairy herd health, private woodlot management4

  5. HEART OF THE FARM--WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE + ANNIE’S PROJECT Mission Farm Management and Production Education for Women Improving Farm Business Decision-Making Goal The Heart of the Farm - Women in Agriculture Conference Series and Annie's Project address the needs of farm women by providing education on pertinent topics, connecting them with agricultural resources, and creating support networks.

  6. Possible Future TopicsHeart of the farm will continue to provide program topics identified by women in agriculture. Future program topics may include: Farm Transfers Nutrient Management Financial Software Retirement Farm Safety Marketing Production Issues Risk Management Mission Farm Management and Production Education for Women Improving Farm Business Decision-Making Goal Heart of the Farm Women in Agriculture Conference Series The Heart of the Farm– Women in Agriculture Conference Series addresses the needs of farm women by providing education on pertinent topics, connecting them with agricultural resources, and creating support networks. For More Information about the Heart of the Farm program contact: Joy Kirkpatick, 608.263.3485 (joy.kirkpatrick@ces.uwex.edu) or Jenny Vanderlin 608.263.7795 (jmvander@wisc.edu) www.uwex.edu/ces/heartofthefarm

  7. Pictures and Comments 2005-06 Schedule November 2005 Marinette County Contact: Scott Reuss, Marinette County, 715.732.7510. February 2006 Rusk County Contact: Aliesha Crowe, Rusk County, 715.532.2151. 2 March 2006The Plaza Hotel Eau Claire, WI Contact: Bob Cropp, Pepin County, 608.272.5214. 3 March 2006 LaSure’s Hall Oshkosh, WI Contact: Kevin Jarek, Outagamie County, 920.832.5119. “An excellent chance to network and meet a support group” “The humor everyone used was very uplifting” “Only women...It was great meeting other women” “It was so nice to finally have a farm women meeting” Sponsors “Excellent Conference!” “I enjoyed it very much and learned a lot about myself and about how I can improve our lives on the farm” “This was my first Extension Program, it was an Excellent Experience!” “Women have different needs and bring different issues to the field”

  8. One day conferences in Rusk County 2003: “Got Risk”, Play (stress management), Health Insurance, Planning for the 5D’s(18 women) 2004: Health Care Options; Managing Family, Farm, Jobs, and Personal Priorities; Price Risk Management, Nutrition, Tatting (21/12 women) 2005: Cancelled—only 5 women pre-registered 2006: Farm transfer; female leadership in agriculture; nutrient management; value-added agriculture trends (15 women) 2007: Two advanced focus topics: Dairy Price Risk Management, and Using Excel for recordkeeping(6 women)

  9. Other Women in Agriculture Programs • 2003 HOF Network formation • 2003 “HOF Mini-conference”—Business Management • 2004 “Women Investing” • 2006 Individual Financial Management Counseling (2 women + 5 families) • 2006 Annie’s Project (15 women)

  10. Evaluations from HOF and Annie’s • “Would rather have known more financial information” • HOF: Financial, farm accounting, computer software • Annie’s Project: Request for entire workshop: COP (4), market analysis, excel spreadsheets, Production record-keeping

  11. Moving Beyond the Introductory Programs Heart of the Farm Network Formation No regular meetings Virtual connection Mentor/Mentee farmers

  12. Moving Beyond the Introductory Programs • CASE STUDY FARM 1 • : Farm woman attended HOF Conference in 2006 • Husband/Wife purchased their own farm in 2006 • Finpack Analysis of Farm Financial situation summer 2006 • 2006 Annie’s Project Participant

  13. CASE STUDY #1: After attending Annie’s Project in Fall 2006 • “My goals are: • make a business plan • get the somatic cell count down • get the milk output up • get the parlor built • protocols for dry cows, mastitis, milking, fresh cows, calf feeding dry cow housing "system" and cleanliness dry cow feeding dairy cow housing for winter and feeding, both physical feeding and nutritional calf housing for winter and a grazing plan for them, again physical feeding and nutritional raising our bull calves for organic feeders • All without spending a million dollars! I think it can all be done without a terrific outlay of cash, but I think the benefits will really make a difference in my bottom line as well as SCC, cow longevity, decrease in teat damage and many other things.”

  14. Case Study #1 • Formation of a Milk Money5 Team to address milk quality goals Team members: farm woman, milk plant rep, veterinarian, UWEX Ag. Agent • Met for three months • Cultured all high cell count cows • Updated milking system • Began transition to Organic treatment protocols because of Organic Certification • Evaluation of dry cow housing • Currently writing her business plan

  15. Case Study #1

  16. Case Study #2 • Farm Family—current husband/wife operators • Older children interested in participation in farm • Want to expand on current record-keeping practices including use of computer software • Annie’s Project 2006 participant

  17. Case Study #3 • Operates farm with Husband • Attended all HOF conferences, Annie’s Project, and HOF network planner • Currently using computerized records • Utilized state specialist for evaluation of buildings for low-cost parlor installation • Financial Management Counseling--calculated break-even point, Cost of Production

  18. Case Study #3 “I am interested in the ‘Team Profit’.  We are at a point here that we are contemplating either expanding or quitting.  We are also thinking of moving all operations to our place and not renting [landlord’s].  I told [my husband] that we need help in evaluating our situation.”

  19. Impact

  20. Learning Awareness Decision-making Purchasing software Using break-even analysis Practice Implementing practices from teams Using Software Impact SHORT TERM MEDIUM TERM LONG TERM

  21. Topic specific workshops: Balance Sheet Challenge6 Excel Exercises7 Cost per CWT8 spreadsheet Farm Specific Programs: Milk Money Teams Team Profit Computer Software training Tools

  22. Example Exercise: Balance Sheet Challenge

  23. Summary: • Establish programs specifically for Women in Agriculture • Provide relevant topics for farm woman who are making decisions and playing vital role in farm operation • Provide opportunity to network with other farm women • Provide programs that do more than scratch the surface of topic or issue based on participant input • Provide farm-specific programs that involve all operators

  24. Resources 1. Wisconsin Farm Family Facts, The Roles of Women on Wisconsin Dairy Farms at the Turn of the 21st Century, No. 16, November 2001. 2. 2002 Census of Agriculture – County data, 504 Wisconsin, Table 48 3. 2002 Census of Agriculture – County data, 503 Wisconsin, Table 47 4. Rusk County Agriculture Survey 2003 5. World’s Best Milk Quality Website http://www.uwex.edu/MilkQuality/ 6. Survivor--The Balance Sheet Challenge, Robert K. Cropp, UWEX 7. Spreadsheets for Farmers http://www.spreadsheets4farmers.com/worksheets.html 8. Center For Dairy Profitability Decision Making Tools http://cdp.wisc.edu/Decision%20Making%20Tools.htm

  25. Aliesha R. CroweRusk County UW-ExtensionAgriculture Agent311 E. Miner AvenueSuite S140Ladysmith, WI 54848phone:715-532-2151fax: 715-532-2279aliesha.crowe@ces.uwex.eduhttp://rusk.uwex.edu

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