About Annie’s Project

Annie’s Project is a risk management educational program for women farmers that began in the Midwest and spread throughout the country. It is based on a real woman farmer Annette Fleck, who spent her lifetime learning how to be an involved business partner with her farmer husband. Her daughter, Ruth Hambleton, who became a Cooperative Extension educator in Illinois, created Annie’s Project.

Annie’s Project gives New Jersey women farmers the tools to help them succeed by focusing on five areas of farm risk – marketing and pricing, production risk, financial management, human and personal risk, and legal risk. The course covered a wide range of topics including personal finance and business management practices, developing marketing plans, farm transfer and estate planning, using social media, advertising and media outreach, production record keeping and food safety issues.

Participants learn about becoming better risk takers and risk managers in the production, marketing, financial, legal and human resource areas of farming. Topics fostered problem solving, record keeping, and decision-making skills. At our past conferences Professors from Rutgers University and farm professionals taught family finances, budgeting and cash flow, important financial documents, farm transfer and estate planning, business planning, understanding farm insurance policies, creating a positive work environment, motivating and retaining employees, leadership assessment and skills, generational issues and action planning.

New Jersey’s Farm Management Training for Women program evolved out of two focus group meetings with women farmers. Annie’s farm management experiences were shared with over 300 women farmers beginning in February 2011 through courses in Cape May, Warren, and Somerset County.

Annie’s Project New Jersey gives New Jersey women farmers the tools to help them succeed, and to become better risk takers and risk managers by focusing on Five Areas of Farm Risk:

• marketing and pricing risk
• production risk
• financial management risk
• human and personal risk
• legal risk

Annie’s Project New Jersey is unique in that participants focused on creating farm business plans, used social media education for marketing and business development, employed social media tools to assist in networking during the sessions as well as after graduation.