Hot News

3.11.2008

By BRUCE HOTCHKISS
Senior Editor

WYE MILLS, Md. — “The most informative and inspiring class I have ever taken.”
“It brought sense to the complexity of the farm business.”
“I learned so much I feel empowered to run a farm business.”
“There wasn’t a day that I didn’t learn something.”
These are some of the comments of the 19 women, ranging in age from 25 to the mid-60s and all from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, who recently completed the seven courses — one a week — which comprise the so-called Annie’s Project.
Directed by Maryland county Extension ag agents — Shannon Dill of Talbot and Jennie Rhodes of Queen Anne’s — the course is designed to instill in farm women the necessary background, knowledge and strength to share — or, in some cases, shoulder — the responsibilities involved in running a successful farm business.
The classes were held at Chesapeake College in a collaboration with the college’s Continuing Education program. The first class was held on Jan 16.
A “graduation ceremony” of sorts was held on Feb. 27.
“It was a huge success,” Dill said. “We are very excited about it and Jennie and I will conduct another course next year.”
The women were charged $25 to participate and that included all the materials and luncheon at each session.
The project was underwritten by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency and by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Here are the graduates of the 2008 class in random order:
Alice Tribbett of Ingleside, Rosemary Ford of Chestertown, Debbie Taylor of Preston, Terry Tribbett of Denton, Vicki Tribbet of Denton, Lisa Zuhlke of Preston, Jessica Lovett of Worton and Mary Yeager of Goldsboro.
Also, Crystal Callahan of Cordova, Lorna Baker of Denton, Bobbie Reed of Greensboro, Marie Simpkins of Millington, Pat Rhodes of Centreville, Kim Brown of Church Hill, Joyce Ann Morris of Ingleside, Lori O’Connell of Barclay, Jennie Schmidt of Sudlersville, Bethany Meulenberg of Rising Sun and Anne Foster of Cordova.
The weekly courses focused on topics such as insurance policies, property titles, credit reports, farm financial statements, estate planning — even the use of computers and software to improve farm efficiency.
The project was designed by Ruth Fleck Hambleton, an Extension farm business management and marketing specialist at the University of Illinois in memory of her mother, Annette “Annie” Kohlhagen Fleck.
Annie was a woman who grew up in a small town in northern Illinois.
Her goal was to marry a farmer, and she did.
Annie spent her lifetime learning how to be an involved business partner with her farmer husband.
As a tribute and a memorial to her mother, Ruth founded Annie’s Project, as observed and lived by her mother.
Farm women have diverse backgrounds, the daughter notes, some which prepare women well for the responsibilities of running a farm business.
Other farm women come into farming operations by way of marrying men who happen to be farmers, or by means of their spouse or family members dying and leaving them in charge.
Being married to a farmer or being a woman in a male-dominated business has its challenges, Ruth said.
Some women have learned to handle this responsibility very well, and are valuable mentors to women who have not had it so easy.
Through Annie’s Project, Ruth takes the skills instilled in her by her mother, and educates and helps farm women find the answers, strength and friendship to grow in confidence, business skills and community prestige.
Asked what they considered to be “the best part of the course,” one of the graduates wrote:
“Meeting other farm women and learning together from Annie’s project, but most of all realizing that we were privileged to be a part of the concept that finally farm women have been empowered.”