Women in Agriculture Heart of the Farm Program Statistics / Trends Jenny Vanderlin, Information Processing Consultant Joy Kirkpatrick, Outreach Specialist Center for Dairy Profitability (CDP) University of Wisconsin - Madison

Women in Agriculture Heart of the Farm Project 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) and the Center for Dairy Profitability

Women in Agriculture Trends* 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 21 st Century. PATS Research Report No. 10. Nov, 2001.

Farm women are involved in all of the major decisions on farming operation Majority of women are responsible for household decisions Women likely to work with financial decisions rather than crop management More than ½ (57%) said they were “very involved” in farm decisions * Heart of the Farm Women in Agriculture, PATS Research Report No. 20. September, Women in Agriculture Other Trends*…

Heart of the Farm Programs Spin-off Workshops: Financial, Health Care, Direct Marketing Pilot Conferences Conferences Conferences Conferences (8 Scheduled) full day conferences; 2 half day Conferences (6 Scheduled) Conferences were offered at various sites throughout the State Over 500 women attended these conferences

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 Average Size of Farm was 600 Acres

Reason for Attending… TOP 3 REASONS 1. Content Relevant 2. Other Women 3. Distance

Logistics…  Willing to travel miles to attend  2006 Respondents indicated they were willing to drive fewer miles than 2003 respondents.

Marketing… BEST WAY: Direct Mail, Extension Newsletters and Local/Ag Newspapers HEARD ABOUT: Direct Mail, Extension Newsletters and Personal Contact

What We Learned… “Liked Best” Discussion Lots of information Network with women “Change” More In-Depth Information More Discussion/Networking Time “Add” More In-Depth Information More Information (on all topics)

Plan early – “Save the date” postcards/flyer Planning committees – topics and promotion Newsletters HCE groups Google groups 2008 – longer super-sessions – hands on What We Learned…

Balancing Act or Is it a 3 Ring Circus Divide participants into groups Have them answer questions in their groups Report back to the full group Questions: how do they balance work, farm, family, technologies that help them, finding time away, etc. Networking Activity

Supporting Women Advantageous to Wisconsin Agriculture Empowerment and Confidence of Women in Agriculture Opportunities and Support for Networking, Mentoring and Sharing Development of Positive Attitude

Questions/Discussion ? Joy Kirkpatrick Outreach Specialist Center for Dairy Profitability

Heart of the Farm Women in Agriculture