Adapting the highly successful
Annie's Project to diverse east coast
farm communities
JOHN W. BERRY,
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING EDUCATOR
&
WINIFRED W. MCGEE
ECONOMIC/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATOR
PENN STATE EXTENSION
Annie’s
Project
The mission – to empower female
farmers to be proactive in
addressing business risk through
networks and by managing and
organizing critical information.
Standard
Annie’s
Curriculum
Six-Day Course that addresses:
 Production Risk
 Price or Market Risk
 Financial Risk
 Institutional and Legal Risk
 Human and Personal Risk
Annie’s
Hallmark -Interaction
No more than ½ each session
spent in lecture!
 Networking/discussion
 Class activities
 Guest speakers/panels
The
Pennsylvania
Goal:
To modify the extremely successful
mid-western program for eastern
participants, whose farms are often:
Smaller
 More diversified
 Adding value as a major strategy
 In a “mixed use” community
Differentiating
Annie’s
Project for the
Northeast
Mid-West Annie’s Project
NE Annie’s Project
 Large farms & ranches
 Feedlot beef/goats
 Grain
 Heirloom
 Corn
 Soybeans
 Hogs
 Cattle
 Dairy
Vegetables
VS
 CSA
 Free-range poultry
 Commodity Markets
 Farmstead cheese
 Crop Insurance
 Product liability
 FINPACK Analysis
insurance
 Enterprise budgets
Customizing
Annie’s
Project
 Multi-disciplinary team
NE CRME funding secured
 Interface with PA women farmers
 Creating curriculum
To answer
their questions
 To address
their concerns
 To encourage
and empower
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 1 – Course Introduction
 Meet presenters and other
participants
 Learn how Annie’s Project
“works”
 Risk Tolerance Self-assessment
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 2 – Marketing Risks
 Truly Targeting your Market
 Strategic Marketing
 Planning for Resiliency in
Changing Marketplace
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 3 – Production Risks
 Mapping Past Changes
 Management Tools –
Diversification, Insurance,
Technology and Contracts
 Building your Advisory Team
 SWOT Analyses
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 4 – Financial Risks
 Financial + Marketing +
Production Ties
 Budgets = paper trial runs
 Activities – Using cash flow/enterprise
figures for decision-making
 Farm credit/banker/ag grant
recipient as presenter/panel
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 5 – Human Resource Risks
 Developing a proactive/responsive
leadership skill set
 Working with/for relatives versus
non-related employees
 Creating contingency plans
Annie’s
Project
Agenda
Day 6 – Community Risks
 Selecting the Appropriate
Business Structure
 Evaluating/creating CSA
Contracts
 Regulatory/Environmental issues
 Local Government/Agencies –
Who’s in charge?
Kicking the Tires
–piloting the
workshop
Pilot Session in Exton, Pennsylvania
 Collaborated with Chester County
Economic Development Council
 November, December 2008 and
January 2009
 9 registered participants







2 vegetable growers
2 dairy
1 feedlot beef
1 poultry
1 PASA representative
1 insurance industry representative
1 “exploring” agriculture
 Winter weather!
Challenges
Faced
 Span of classes – 2 per month,




three months
Extensive evaluation of impact
Level of family support for
Annie’s Project/the ag business
Acceptance of new/different ways
to look at and do things
Outside forces


Off-farm employment
Jury duty
Positive
Outcomes
 Rapid relationship building
 Share concerns
 “Test market” value-added products
 Participants as experts
 CSA development
 Insurance consults
 Environmental grants
 Linkage to other classes
 2 participant enrolled in Your Future in
Focus business planning course
 2 participants collaborating with
Extension in development of Annie’s
Project – Women Adding Value
Participant
Feedback:
Why Annie’s
Project was
Successful
 Intimate nature of workshop
 Immediate application to “their
own farms”
 Amount of usable information


Applied to farms
Applied to their lives
 Ability to ask questions of
 Each other
 The instructors
 Guest speakers
A Taste of
PA Annie’s
Curriculum
Session Activity:
Mapping your Production
Change
Tips for
(Would-be)
Annie’s
Project
Instructors
 Not for the faint of heart!
 Know more than what’s in the
Power Point
 Be ready to follow rabbit trails
 Let the participants guide the class
 BUT – Always have 2-3 key concepts
that need to be learned, discussed and
tried out before the session ends!
 Be ready to explore with the class
 Have the “next step” in mind
 Take personal interest in the
participants – be part of their
network!
Next Steps for
Annie’s Project
in the North
East
Train-the-Trainer in State College PA
 June 20 & 21, 2010
 Support from Annie’s National Team
 2-Day Agenda

Stakeholder Meeting
Trainer pre-session
 Women Ag-Professionals roundtable
 Female Farmers roundtable


Annie’s Train-the-Trainer Session
Overview of Annie’s Project – purpose,
mechanics, marketing, financing
 Introduction to Annie’s Project for the NE
Curriculum – familiarization with in-class
activities and the interactive presentation
method

Adapting the highly successful
Annie's Project to diverse east coast
farm communities
JOHN W. BERRY,
AGRICULTURAL MARKETING EDUCATOR
&
WINIFRED W. MCGEE
ECONOMIC/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATOR
PENN STATE EXTENSION