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Annie’s Project Helps Women Succeed In Agriculture
Producer Amber Baker shows Teresa Phillips how to operate the head gate as part of an Annie’s Project session in Hot Spring County, Arkansas. Baker also participated in the Young Cattlemen’s Series and that was her first time to work the head gate, an essential tool for dealing with livestock.
MALVERN, ARK.
Exploring the move from hobby farm to farm-for-profit is what drew Angela Berryhill to Annie’s Project.
Annie’s Project, a nonprofit resource, teaches women the skills needed to run a successful farm operation, including how to assess agricultural risk and hands-on skills like soil sampling. This spring, Rachel Bearden, Hot Spring County extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, began hosting Annie’s Project classes at the county’s 4-H center.
In Arkansas, 32 percent of farms have women at the helm and the state’s 22,228 women farmers have a $538 million economic impact in Arkansas, according to USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture.
Berryhill and her family run a hay and beef cattle operation in XXX.
“I joined the class to get a better understanding of the aspects of farming that I am inexperienced in,” Berryhill said. “Right now, we only have what is classified to be a hobby farm, and we hope to start a profitable farming business.”
Berryhill is one of a baker’s dozen who have signed up for Bearden’s classes.
“Being a woman in agriculture has a had a stigma for so many years of being the ‘farmer's wife’ or the ‘farmer's daughter.’ Personally, I am proud to have both titles, but I am even more proud to be just a ‘farmer,” Bearden said. “While there is nothing wrong with being a farmer's wife or daughter, Annie's project gives women the resources to be a successful farmer. By becoming a knowledgeable farmer, not only will they be a better partner in their operations, but they will be prepared should the worst happen to their partner.”
Diana Davidson is another who signed up for Annie’s Project.
“I’m a beginner farmer’s wife and would like to get as much information on how to help my husband with managing budget and operation,” Davidson said, adding that she saw Annie’s Project as a networking opportunity "to get to know other ladies in agriculture"
Berryhill said she appreciated learning “hands-on training (for) such things as giving immunizations, taking hay and soil samples, and backing a trailer. It has been also helpful to learn about resources that are available to farmers through such places as the USDA, Farm Credit of Arkansas, the U of A Cooperative Extension, and local banks.
“I hope that I learn to use resources available to me, as well as the information learned in this program to start a successful and profitable farm business for my family,” said Berryhill.
The first Hot Spring County Annie’s Project course took place April 26 the 4-H Youth Center in Malvern and was continuing every Thursday night through the end of May.
For more information, contact Rachel Bearden at 501-332-5267. ∆
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