According to USDA, there are 30,497 women producers in Kansas that farm over 19.6 million acres. K-State Research and Extension recognizes the importance of this demographic to the vitality of agriculture and rural communities across our state. The volatility in the farm economy highlighted a need for more education in risk management. This project specifically focused on production, marketing, financial and legal risk areas by teaching principles of crop insurance, crop marketing, government farm programs and calculating cost of production.
In order to reach participants across the entire state, programs were delivered in hybrid-format where the keynote speakers were provided via Zoom webinar, with trained facilitators at each of the 26 in-person host sites conducting hands-on activities to help participants apply the information they learn to a real-world case farm. Four sessions in a series were conducted, each focusing on the above topics and collectively building upon each other to create a comprehensive risk management plan. Two-hundred and twenty-six participates attended the 4-part series and twelve more viewed the recorded videos and materials later as an online class.