1. Joy Kirkpatrick, Center for Dairy Profitability
Anne Pfeiffer, Agricultural Innovation Center
Jenny Vanderlin, Center for Dairy Profitability
Risk Management Education for
Wisconsin Women Farmers

2. For the next 75 minutes…
 History, mission, development, & impacts of Heart
of the Farm and original Annie’s Projects (Joy)
 Financial management spin-off programs (Jenny)
 Annie’s Project for beginning farmers/value added
enterprises (Anne)
 Questions, discussion

3. Wisconsin Farm Women
 38,263 female farm operators* (16% increase
from 2002 Ag Census)
 9,176 identified as the principal operator* (25%
increase)
*US Ag Census, 2007

4. Women in Agriculture Trends*
Women's Involvement
Selected Farm Tasks
0 20 40 60 80 100
Chem Apps
Spread Manure
Other Field Work
Rock Picking
Haying
Breeding Cow s
Feeding Cow s
Clean Stalls/Barn
Calf Care
Cleaning Equip
Milking Cow s
Repair Machinery
Gardening
Errands
Bookkeeping
Task
Percentage
Regularly Sometimes
 Most farm women are
responsible for farm
bookkeeping and bill paying
 Farm errands and vegetable
gardening are common tasks
 Women are more likely to
work with livestock than do
field work
 Women’s age influences the
tasks that women do; in
particular, almost two-thirds
of the women interviewed
(63%) contributed 40 or
more hours of on-farm work
per week.
* The Roles of Women on Wisconsin Dairy Farms at the Turn of the 21st Century. PATS Research Report No. 10. Nov, 2001.

5. Women in Agriculture
Heart of the Farm
 Overall Mission
 Farm Management and Production Education for Women
 Improving Farm Business Decision-Making
 Long-Term Goal
 “…address the needs of farm women by providing education
on pertinent topics, connecting them with agricultural
resources, and creating support networks.”
 Funding Source
 North Central Regional Risk Management Education Center
 Risk Management Agency (2008 – 2011)
 and the Center for Dairy Profitability,
 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Farm Service Agency,
various local sponsors

6. Heart of the Farm Programs
2002-2010
2002
2 Pilot
2006
6 Conferences
2003
4 Conferences
2007
4 Conferences
2004
6 Conferences
2008
5 full day conferences; 2 half day
2005
2 Conferences
2009
5 full day conferences; 1 hybrid
2010
7 Conferences

7. Annie’s Project
 Meet 4-6 times
 3 – 4 hrs/session
 Risk management
 Smaller class size
 Goal: more depth to
topics

8. Value of Heart of the Farm
Contact joy.kirkpatrick@ces.uwex.edu for info on where you can view
this video clip

9. Opened the “gate” to the farm
 Farm succession
 Leadership positions in local organizations
 Connect with resources
 Work with farms that didn’t use Extension before
 Financial evaluation and recordkeeping
 Farm management team (Team Profit)
 Production and housing questions

10. Changes to your operation
 “I’ve learned better ways to look at my operation positively
and to be more patient when things get tough. I think I’ve
learned better communication skills and planning skills to
manage market ups and downs.”
 “…..improved relationships with husband and family
members; expanded farm operations, land, livestock, etc.;
planning for more and feeling in control and better
equipped.”
 “Able to ask more informed questions…”
 “Changed to computer record keeping system, decided to
designate “time off” work for just taking care of myself,
explored hiring an accountant/investment advisor, set up a
more efficient bill paying system at home, revised my/our
will(s) & updated insurance policy beneficiaries, started
running and checking credit report annually”

11. Are you a better manager?
Contact joy.kirkpatrick@ces.uwex.edu for info on where you can view
this video clip

12. Heart of the Farm
Spinoffs
 Health Care
 Planning for the Unexpected Tomorrow
 Financial Management
 Record-keeping Basics
 Accounting Software
 Financial Management 101
 Bookkeepers Boot Camp (new 2010)
 Funding Source
 USDA – North Central Regional Risk Management Education
Center (NCRMEC), Risk Management Agency, Center for
Dairy Profitability, FSA and UW-Extension County Offices.

13. Heart of the Farm – Spinoffs
Structure
 1-hour session (Record-Keeping Basics)
 1-day conference
 Software: AAIMS, Quickbooks
 Bookkeepers Boot Camp
 3-hour session (Financial Management
101)

14. Heart of the Farm -- Spinoffs
Financial Management
 Purpose
 To extend financial management into the
everyday fabric of farm life for Wisconsin’s
Heart of the Farm Women.
 Improve basic accounting and record-keeping
 Because they asked for it
 Objectives
 To motivate farm women to accept
responsibility of keeping good financial records
 To empower women to make reasonable
judgments about finances and business.

15. Heart of the Farm – Spinoffs
Demographics
 Most Attendees Were From Dairy Farms
 Followed by beef, then grain, no hog
farmers
 42% Worked Off The Farm
 Averaged 30 hours per week
 Wide Distribution of Ages
 Largest participation age 45-54, followed by
35-44
 Average Size of Farm is 600 Acres

16. Record-Keeping Basics
 Why Record-Keep?
 Record-Keeping Systems
 Hand-Kept
 Computerized
 Types of Accounting
Systems
 Cash vs. Accrual
 Review of Computer
Programs
 Decision-Making Tools
 Benchmarking
 Partial Budget

17. Accounting Software
AAIMS & Quickbooks
Structure Objectives
 One day workshop -- 6 hours
(includes lunch)
 Computer lab with
QB/AAIMS installed
 Small groups – 25 Maximum
 Exercises:
 Create Company file,
Create & modify Chart of
Accounts, Record basic
revenue & expense
transactions
 Lecture(s):
 Importance, double-entry
accounting, cash vs.
accrual accounting
 Evaluate:
 Financial Performance of
Farm
 Improve:
 Financial Skills
 Problem Solving Skills
 Identify:
 Critical Issues
 Plan for Farm Future
 Develop:
 Accrual Financial
Statements
 Better Decisions Based on
Accrual Accounting
Practices

18. Fabric of Farm Life
Financial Management
Structure Objective/Theme
 3-hour session
 Introduction and Goals
 Academic Lecture:
content and context
 Participation: construct
financial statements
 Conversation: how does
this fit into every day life?
 Participation: solution to
financial statements,
analysis of financial
position/performance
Financial
CORE
-Information
-Analysis
-Management

19. Bookkeepers’ Boot Camp
 5-6 Hours (lunch)
 Introductions
 How and Why of
Managing Records
 FSA Bookkeeping
Requirements
 What Recordkeeping
can do for Your
Bottom Line
 Recordkeeping
Options
 How & Whys of
Recordkeeping
 Organizing
 Requirements
 Position & Performance
 Decision-Making
Structure Objective/Theme

20. Audience for Financial
Management Spin-Offs
 Annie’s Project
 Dairy
 Added Value/Direct
Marketing
 Hmong Community

21. Assessing the Need of Beginning
and Value – Added Women
Farmers Unique risk management and networking needs
 Often don’t grow up “just knowing”
 May not be aware of existing resources
 May need different resources than currently exist
 Lack business readiness skills
 FSA loan officers find women to be consistently less
prepared than men to apply for a loan in terms of
business planning, financial projections, crop
insurance, etc.

22. Why a Targeted Program?
 Rapidly growing population of women farmers
 9,176 Wisconsin farms identified a woman as the
principal operator, an increase of 25% over 2002
and 58% over 1997 data
 1/3 of these women are “new” farmers
 Average farm size is about ½ of state average
 High reliance on alternative markets including
value-added products and market diversification
techniques including fresh market and direct
sales

23. Participant Focused Development
 Curriculum adaptation and development based
on previous Annie’s Project sessions offered to
WI Dairy Farmers
 Review panel of 6 new and experienced women
farmers
 Overwhelming interest in pilot session

24. Who are the Participants?
 Acres Owned
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

25. Who are the Participants?
 Land Owned vs. Land Managed
Manage/Operate
less than owned
Manage/Operate
same as owned
Manage/Operate
more than owned

26. Who are the Participants?
 Farming Experience
more than 25
years
10 to 24 years
2 to 9 years
1 year
has never farmed

27. Who are the Participants?
 Annual Farm –related Income (Gross)
Under $10,000
$10,001-$25,000
$25,001-$50,000
Over $300,000
Abstain

28. Curriculum Overview
 Personality traits and skills
 Assessing business feasibility
 Conducting and analyzing market research
 Financial Management
 Food Safety Regulations
 Additional resources for land access, financing,
grants, and bushiness planning

29. Colors of Personality
 “My communication with prospective
employees/pastor/customers has greatly
improved. (esp. listening) Identifying different
styles of communication & respecting other’s
styles”
 “It gave me particular insights into how my
husband & I work & how that affects our farm
business”

30. Assessing Business Feasibility
 “This presentation, and especially the homework,
allowed us to discuss openly that we are not at
the same place.”
 “This created much discussion for my husband
(business partner) and me. It forced us to realize
and discuss how our vision of the future of the
business is different and that we need to
compromise (each of us) to have a similar vision
for the future.”

31. Taxes and Business Entities
 “This presentation brought to light that our
informal business operation needs a legal
definition.”
 “This session was vital for me, and far too short! I
realize that others might be more knowledgeable
in this area, but I felt that it was too short –
especially because we spent so much time on the
earlier topics and didn’t get into the last part of his
subject matter.”

32. Conducting Market Research
 “I do this for a living, but didn’t realize how much I
knew because was never officially “trained” in it.
So this session gave me some good websites for
my ag businesses and reinforced my confidence.”
 “I am researching adding a value-added product
using the beef I raise. I will do some research
data provided thru sources I learned about in
class to determine what would be a marketable
product.”

33. Food Safety Rules and Regulations
 “Presented ideas for me to incorporate in better
land handling procedures.”
 “Once I (we) have determined exactly what we
intend to produce/grow, I will utilize all the
resources provided that apply to our produce &
operation.”

34. Financial Management 101
 “I have to report to the FSA on a balance sheet
yearly & this was helpful to refresh my memory. It
would have been useful to get some resources
for how to best collect the info needed for the
balance sheet (Notebooks, quick books,
charts/logs, etc…)”
 “It will act as a starting point for me this year. I
didn’t even know any of the terms, so this de-
mystified it for me.”

35. Taxes…part II
 “Keep better records, especially log book in
transfer.”
 “Understand depreciation much better.”
 “I will go home and make more files for different
categories of my farm business – so I’ll be able to
track items better for tax purposes.”

36. Curriculum Evaluation
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Too much
Just right
Too little

37. 6 Month Evaluation
0 5 10 15
Personality assessment/developing a…
Cost/benefit analysis
Business entity alternatives for your…
Market research
Financial management
Food safety rules and regulations
Good Agricultural Practices
Organizing for farm tax preparation
Farm Service Agency programs
WI DATCP’s Farm Center
Grant opportunities
Since participating in the Annie’s Project have you used information or resources
from the classes in any of these categories (check all that apply):

38. What did you value most from
Annie’s Project?
 Professional, supportive approach and access to
resource people
 Business entities and taxes
 Feasibility
 Financial
 Networking
 Market research
 Business feasibility analysis and planning
 On-going connections/resources
 Personality assessment and management teams
 Regulatory information

39. What additional topics would be
valuable?
 Field trips
 Financial management
 Grants info
 Health insurance
 Marketing
 Networking
 More homework
 Taxes and legal entities
 Weights and measurement regulations

40. Participant Needs and Approaches
 Very interactive
 Dedicate significant time to introductions
 Incorporate networking time
 Use small group discussion format
 Frequent check-ins and feedback
 Verbal and written evaluations through-out sessions
 Week-to-week email reminders
 Interested in discussing ideas as well as action
planning
 Hungry for information and eager to learn
 Interested in longer classes, more sessions and
more homework

41. Further Needs
0 5 10 15 20
Second level of topics for the
direct marketer or beginning
farmer
Financial management and
investing for farmers/farm
families
Annie’s Projects that are
offered through video/web
conferencing
Would you participate in other workshops
structured as Annie’s Projects?

42. Thoughts on Women-focused
Classes
 23 out of 25 survey respondents said having a women-only class
is important
 “Although it would be somewhat beneficial to have my husband
here to obtain the same information, I believe that there’s more
open discussion and spontaneous interactions/conversations
when women are primarily in the class.”
 “It’s nice to have peers/role models of women in farming. Having
their own businesses.”
 “Dynamics in primarily female audiences are different than co-
ed. In some situations, such as this course, those dynamics and
the resulting communication are almost as valuable as the
information.”
 “Not enough women feel comfortable discussing these subjects
with men, and there are still men who feel they know “better”
than women how to do business.”
 “Women not always aware of options and may need to overcome
fear of going into business for themselves.”

43. Joy Kirkpatrick, Center for Dairy
Profitability
Anne Pfeiffer, Agricultural Innovation
Center
Jenny Vanderlin, Center for Dairy
Profitability
Thank You