“Change Happens: Make It An Opportunity” Margaret Viebrock – Washington State University

Our Mission We strive to empower women in agriculture to achieve goals and manage risk through education, networking and technology.

Problem Solving Approach to Managing Change TOPICS 1.Business decision making models 2.Using financial records to improve the bottom line 3.Problem solving methods 4. Managing risk

“Take Away” Message  Understand why it’s important to go through a process to determine if I can make a change in the way I do business. What did we know? Women said: They sometimes made decisions based on intuition, not facts.

“Take Away” Message  This tool will help analyze most any situation. What did we know? Women said: I don’t always know if I’m making any money or not … sometimes I’m farming because I love what I do and I know how to do it well!

“Take Away” Message  Farmers can use the SWOT analysis for other situations. What did we know? Women said: I need to know if I’m prepared financially for poor weather, lower prices or a crop disaster and at the same time can I afford a new capital purchase.

“Take Away” Message  The concepts in the scenario can be changed to fit a personal situation. What did we know? Women said: It’s not always about what I grow; I need a tool to help with personnel, quality of life and family situations.

WHY SWOT? How Did We Teach SWOT?  Farm Credit developed the scenario  Facilitators trained for each site  29 locations – webinar for presentation  Small group work sessions with worksheets  Discussed answers and outcomes

What Happened? What 311 women plan to do:  257 update business goals  243 use their farm vision to guide decision making  226 use tools to analyze business for profit/loss  194 establish working capital to grow/sustain business  194 make changes to be better prepared for potential risk  192 check credit report  180 use SWOT Results to date: 80 farmers 8 - month follow-up 27% used SWOT 36% analyzed business for profit/loss 29% now use balance sheet 32% checked credit report 31% checked out government programs and insurance 36% are better prepared to handle opportunities or setbacks Results to date: 80 farmers 8 - month follow-up 27% used SWOT 36% analyzed business for profit/loss 29% now use balance sheet 32% checked credit report 31% checked out government programs and insurance 36% are better prepared to handle opportunities or setbacks

Women Working on the Farms During WW II

This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number