INDIANAPOLIS – Nicole Hayden, who farms with her family in southern Lake County, Ind., was encouraged several years ago by her mother-in-law to participate in an Annie’s Project workshop hosted by Purdue University Extension. Hayden is happy she did.

The idea behind Annie’s Project is to show farm women how to become more valuable partners in the farm operation. During the six-week workshop, participants learn about finances, production, marketing, legal and human resources. Purdue will offer a virtual Annie’s Project beginning Feb. 23.

Hayden said the program was an opportunity to grow professionally and personally. “There are not a lot of opportunities for us to grow and learn new things,” she noted. “I think anyone should grab the opportunity. They discuss real-life topics that are applicable. They’re not the kind of topics you’ll listen to and then go home and never use them again. You will go home and use them.”

At the time Hayden participated in the workshop, her family was going through succession planning. “It was pretty timely for me,” she explained. “We made a family business mission statement. It was also helpful to know we were not the only family going through this. It was great to hear other ideas of what worked for them.”

Annie’s Project – Education for Farm Women was founded by Ruth Hambleton, who was an extension educator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the time. The first workshop was in 2003 at Kaskaskia Community College in Illinois. Eighteen years later, there are now nearly 17,000 alumni, she said.

Hambleton, now president of the Annie’s Project board of directors, named the program in honor of her mother, who was a farm wife in Illinois. The project was the result of a challenge grant from the North Central Risk Management Education Center.

“When I applied for the grant, the program was called ‘Managing Farm Information Systems,’” Hambleton recalled. “Doesn’t that grab you by the collar and make you want to come to a meeting? I decided it needed to be personalized. My mother was a great example. She married into a farm family and had to find her own way through it. This would have been perfect for mom. It’s a very academic program, personalized.”

Networking and interaction are important parts of the workshop, she said. “Something magical happens with a group of women getting down to the bare knuckles of business and they’re having fun doing it,” Hambleton stated. “Annie’s Project educates farm women so they have increased confidence and feel like they are a part of the operation to help make decisions. For many it’s hard to speak up. Annie’s Project gives them the confidence to speak up.”

The organizers of Purdue’s Annie’s Project program are working to be sure participants don’t lose those networking opportunities in a virtual setting, said Jenna Nees, Purdue agriculture and natural resources extension educator in Putnam County.

“The whole concept of wanting discussion learning, we’ll have to overcome that hurdle,” she said. “We’ll have coffee hours, time for team building and for going over homework. We’re working with presenters to build ways to get interaction. We’re planning break out rooms.”

In addition to the traditional Annie’s Project offered during the day, Purdue will host a separate pilot program on urban agriculture on Tuesday evenings. “We know urban agriculture is growing,” she stated. “SWCDs (soil and water conservation districts) are focusing more on urban agriculture outreach. This is another way to bring them in. We hope urban agriculture continues to grow.”

Nees urged women thinking about participating in Annie’s Project to sign up. “There’s always positive feedback. They end up leaving with more information than they started with. They ask questions about farm practices they would never have considered.”

The cost for the traditional Annie’s Project six-week course is $65. The urban agriculture workshop is also $65. Sessions are Tuesdays Feb. 23-March 30. The registration deadline is Feb. 9.

For more information, including a list of topics and a link to register, visit https://extension.purdue.edu/stjoseph/article/39877. To learn more about the urban agriculture sessions, visit https://extension.purdue.edu/PIKE/article/39966.