Building the Capacity of ANNIES Educators to Help Women Farmers and Ranchers Improve Agricultural Sustainability

Building the Capacity of ANNIES Educators to Help Women Farmers and Ranchers Improve Agricultural Sustainability

Summary

Building the capacity of Annie’s Project educators in the twelve NCR-SARE states is important due to educator attrition and development of new educator tools, curricula and collaboration opportunities. Emerging needs among the farm women who participate in educational programs provided by these educators is another factor necessitating on-going educator networking.

The Annie’s National Network Initiative for Educational Success (ANNIES), led by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, held a Professional Development Program (PDP) in Grand Island, Nebraska on June 5-6, 2012. The event brought together 22 educators serving women in agriculture from eight states including: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota and South Dakota. There were also two partnering organizations who attended as guest speakers and five agri-business and farm women who participated in a focus group.

The ANNIES team developed an educator workbook and additional online resource materials for educators to access and use when planning and delivering Annie’s Project risk management education courses for farm women. Those attending the conference also shared best educational practices.

The team provided on-going support to educators by providing networking opportunities among peers, developing funding partnerships, providing additional training, developing new curricula, conducting educator webinars and conference topic calls, and increasing public awareness of risk management educational programs for farm women.

The mission of Annie’s Project is to empower farm and ranch women to be better business partners through networks and by managing and organizing critical information.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The stated project objectives and performance targets for 2012 follow.

• Deliver a 1 ½ day professional development face-to-face conference for north central educators interested in teaching risk management education to farm and ranch women.

  • Nebraska was selected for 2012 due to interest in re-starting Annie’s Project in the state.

• Encourage 40 people from the NCR to attend the event; including educators, farm and ranch women, and industry partners.

• Design hands-on activities to encourage educators to network and learn from each other.

• Conduct a focus group to help inform educators about the educational needs of farm women and emerging issues.

• Offer travel assistance to educators to help them attend the conference.

• Develop and share best education practices and methods focused on teaching sustainability through agricultural risk management in the areas of

  • Finance, human resource, legal, marketing and production.

• Provide on-going support, resources and collaboration opportunities to help educators improve sustainability through Annie’s Project courses that teach agricultural risk management skills and build community networks.

• June 5-6, 2012 NCR-SARE PDP Article in ANNIES Newsletter
• June 5-6, 2013 NCR-SARE PDP ANNIES Educator Notebook
• June 5-6, 2012 NCR-SARE PDP Hands On Activities
• June 5-6, 2012 NCR-SARE PDP Agenda

Accomplishments/Milestones

The team delivered a 1 ½ day PDP, June 5-6, Grand Island NE. The ANNIES team at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (www.extension.iastate.edu/feci/annie) and (www.extension.iastate.edu/annie) worked with Cheryl Griffith, Women in Agriculture Project Coordinator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln  (http://wia.unl.edu) and Ruth Hambleton, President and Founder at Annie’s Project Education for Farm Women Not-For-Profit (www.anniesproject.org) to plan and host a 12-hour Annie’s Project Professional Development Program. The PDP was designed to be valuable training for not only organizing and teaching Annie’s Project courses, but for offering other extension and outreach programs, as well.

Key agenda components included best educational practices for women learners, key principles and core values of Annie’s Project, explanation of risk management focus, networking opportunities, NCR-SARE goals and resources, how and why to hold a local listening session prior to courses, curricula selection, speaker selection, course budgeting, marketing and recruiting, course evaluation (standard pre-course and post-course instruments), synergistic programs for women or their family members, and fund seeking opportunities.

The program was held in Nebraska in Year One of the grant because the state expressed interest in re-starting an Annie’s Project program. The previous Annie’s Project state coordinator and several trained Annie’s Project educators no longer worked with extension (or in the same positions) and new educators were interested in offering the program in the state. Cheryl Griffith took on the role of Annie’s Project state coordinator for Nebraska. Educators in all NCR-SARE states were invited to attend.

There were 28 people attending the conference. This included 22 Annie’s Project educators from eight NCR-SARE states: Illinois (1), Iowa (8), Minnesota (1), Missouri (2), Nebraska (7), North Dakota (1) Ohio (1), and South Dakota (1). Among the attendees were seven Annie’s Project state coordinators, four educators with no prior Annie’s Project experience; and four trainers with a great deal of Annie’s Project experience, including one program evaluation research scientist and the founder of Annie’s Project.

Gary Lesoing, NCR-SARE state coordinator for Nebraska, attended the conference, hosted a NCR-SARE display and was a guest speaker. Ann Finkner, Sr. Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Farm Credit Services of America (FCSA serves IA, NE, SD and WY), also attended the conference and was a guest speaker. Two additional industry/agribusiness women and two farm women attended a focus group session during the conference, as well.

Hands-on activities encouraged educators networking. There was a wide range of experience among the conference attendees. Hands on activities and breakout sessions allowed educators to network with one another, to share best practices and learn about Annie’s Project in other states. The activities included discussing how the Annie’s Project core values are implemented to meet the learning preferences of women, discussing how teaching risk management improves sustainable agriculture, practicing favorite hands-on classroom activities shared by those in attendance, practicing writing impact statements, and sharing ways each educator can contribute to the Annie’s Project network.  

A focus group helped inform educators. There was a focus group held during the conference to help understand emerging needs and how to reach farm and ranch women. The focus group included Terri Post, FSA state outreach coordinator for Nebraska; Rita Sallinger, FCSA Financial Officer; Kris Althouse, farm woman; and Victoria Lipovsky, farm woman. Two of the Nebraska educators, Cheryl Griffith and Jeanne Hansen also participated. The focus group was led by Dr. Mandi Anderson, evaluation research scientist at ISU.

Travel assistance was provided to educators. This NCR-SARE grant provided travel assistance to help educators attend the conference in Nebraska. There were 12 educators who requested about $300 each. There were 6 educators who did not request travel assistance. The grant provided travel funds for the four trainers from Iowa and Illinois to attend the conference. In addition, mileage was reimbursed to the two farmer participants in the focus group.

Best education practices were shared for teaching sustainability. Agricultural sustainability is enhanced when farm and ranch women contribute to good decision making and implement strategies to reduce financial, human resource, legal, marketing and production risks in their family businesses. During the PDP conference, the ANNIES educators discussed the Annie’s Project best education practices and how these are implemented to improve sustainability.

Annie’s Project is a methodology for delivering multi-session educational programs to farm and ranch women that leads to transformational learning. The methods include educator teamwork, needs assessment, curricula adaptation, local small-group delivery, local partnerships, program evaluation and participant follow-up. There are high expectations the courses will provide valuable management tools, encourage life-long learning and empower women to actively engage in managing risk. Annie’s Project is designed to be widely adaptable within guidelines.

Local ANNIES educators follow these key principles with every course taught:

• Teach all five areas of agricultural risk management: financial, human resources, legal, marketing and production.

• Allocate half of class time to discussion and hands-on activities.

• Invite local service providers to serve as guest instructors.

• Provide unbiased, research-based information applicable to local needs.

• Create a learning environment where mentoring is spontaneous.

Local ANNIES educators consistently apply the following core values:

• Guided Intelligence – to build on women’s natural tendency to share, teach and learn with other women.

• Connection – to create opportunities for connection to other farm women and to local service providers.

• Discovery – to help women make sense of topics through hands-on activities and discussion.

• Safe Harbor – to provide a comfortable and secure environment where all questions are welcome.

The ANNIES team provided on-going support. The ANNIES team at ISU and the Annie’s Project Education for Farm Women Not-for-Profit provided resources and educator assistance to Annie’s Project educators in other states. These activities were not funded by this NCR-SARE grant, but they contributed to the successful outcomes of this grant.

Resources, Curricula, and Assistance Offered in 2012:

• Monthly educator topic calls or webinars on issues such as program evaluation, curricula development, public value, marketing and outreach, collaborative opportunities, and gift and grant seeking.

• Bi-monthly educator newsletters with networking opportunities, news and information for educators plus success stories of both educators and farm women, and ANNIES national leadership team messages.

• Adaptation and development of targeted and new curricula.

• Maintenance of public and educator website and Facebook pages. The public website shares information like course dates and locations, written and video success stories and news, Annie’s Project background, and state contacts. The educator website shares resources for local course delivery, marketing materials, evaluation instruments, grant writing tips, speaker vetting tips, and learning objectives. The Facebook page shares current events, educator and participant commentary, success stories and questions.

• Marketing templates and assistance.

• Professional evaluation protocols, survey instruments, and reports.

• Training as requested by states.

• Development of state, regional and national industry, government and university partnerships

• Annual post RME conference meeting for networking and information sharing.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The most important outcomes of the 2012 project year were:

1. Better trained educators who understand sustainable agriculture concepts, good extension programming and Annie’s Project methodologies ; who access resources and contribute to the Annie’s Project educator network; and who delivered more and higher quality education for farm and ranch women on risk management topics;

2. Establishing a partnership with Farm Credit Services of America to provide financial assistance and personnel support to Annie’s Project educators in its four-state area of IA, NE, SD and WY; and

3. Spring boarding the educator collaboration on a USDA NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant to develop and pilot farm transition planning curricula for farm and ranch women.

Learning Outcomes: Experienced and new Annie’s Project educators learned more about using the Annie’s Project methodologies to engage farm women in managing agricultural risk and sustainability. They were more motivated to deliver high quality Annie’s Project courses. These educators were better prepared to identify the current and emerging needs of farm and ranch women and to offer educational programs that meet those needs.

Behavior Changes Outcomes: Experienced and new educators delivered more agricultural risk management courses for farm and ranch women in the NCR-SARE; both the standard Annie’s Project courses, and special topics courses. Educators in the region collaborated on new course development and delivered seven pilot Managing for Today and Tomorrow courses in 2012 on the special topic of farm transition planning. Educators in Iowa drew on the experience of educators in Wisconsin and Ohio to develop and offer value added, small-scale and niche focused Annie’s Project courses. Educators in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and the Western Region state of Wyoming collaborated to create a new partnership with FCSA to leverage financial support for Annie’s Project programs in those states. Educators participated in ANNIES monthly conference calls and the annual RME post-conference meeting. They also called on one another for support and assistance in developing Annie’s Project programs in their state. These educators contacted local Farm Service Agency and National Resources Conservation Services professionals to help market educational programs and to serve as local guest speakers. They also used the Annie’s Project methods to utilize local listening sessions to customize and improve local course delivery in order to meet the identified needs. Educators did a good job of utilizing national evaluation methods and instruments.

Societal Outcomes: The increased numbers of educators, and the enhanced extension and outreach skills of educators contributed to more high quality courses being offered to farm and ranch women.

Educators participating in the PDP and influenced by the Annie’s Project state coordinators participating, fulfilled the Annie’s Project mission to empower farm and ranch women to be better business partners through networks and by managing and organizing critical information.

By utilizing the resources and network, these educators reduced the overall time and costs of planning, marketing, delivering and evaluating Annie’s Project courses.

The farm and ranch women participant evaluation results demonstrated farm and ranch women improved their knowledge and made significant behavioral changes. They enhanced the financial viability of their family farms and ranches, planned for generational succession, contributed to rural communities, increased rural lifestyle satisfaction and improved agricultural sustainability as captured through the collection of impact stories.

Collaborators: