2006 Conference News Brief

“Women Managing the Farm: a comprehensive program for farm owners, partners & rookies”

To aid women who are helping to grow the nation's food supply – whether by design, marriage or inheritance, the “Women Managing the Farm,” conference is slated for Feb. 17-18 in Wichita , KS .

“We're building on momentum from last year's conferences,” said Dana Hoffman, who is the producer policy specialist with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, and coordinated a series of four regional “Women Managing the Farm” seminars last year. Partnership funding of $115,000 to develop the multi-state conference came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency. Numerous partnering organizations in the initiative include state commodity and general farm organizations, federal and state agencies as well as farm credit services.

Over the 1-1/2 days of the conference, presentations regarding business planning, managing employees and more will be interspersed with opportunities for networking and learning from others attending the conference. Capital requirements of farming make it a big business, but how do you conduct business when your "board" may be family members -- some who understand well the dynamics of farming and ranching, and maybe others who are "shareholders" of the family business looking for a return on investment. The WMF conference has been developed for all women involved in an operation, from the full-time manager, to the absentee landowner needing a bit of insight about managing their investment.

Some of the funding will be used for chartered busses, so that participants who live far from Wichita can meet at certain points and travel together on the busses.

More information on "Women Managing the Farm" is available by emailing or calling the Kansas Rural Family Helpline at 1-866-327-6578.