Final Abstract:
10 Years of Serving Women Farmers: Lessons Learned, Strategies for Success
The University of Vermont launched the Women´s Agricultural Network (WAgN) in 1995. Since that time,
WAgN has responded to hundreds of queries about how to replicate the program, how to successfully target
women as an audience, what types of education women most need and how to sustain the program with
limited funding. WAgN is a comprehensive model that provides outreach, technical assistance, and
education to women farmers at every point of business development from pre-startup to exiting the
business. It is one of the first programs in the country to integrate the needs of women farmers with the
expertise of Extension, USDA programs, and regional, state and local partners. This poster addresses the
core strategies that have kept the program successful as well as those areas that have just not worked well
for us. This work also includes some thoughts on managing the tension that is inherent whenever a public
organization focuses outreach efforts on a particular segment of the population. The poster also includes
some of the opportunities and challenges inherent in replicating a program like WAgN.
Mary Peabody, University of Vermont Women´s Ag Network