Barnabas Sugutt

Cumber, Carol J.

English

Research Papers in Economics

*Contact lead author at Carol.Cumber@sdstate.edu or 605-688-4141. 
 
            E C O N O M I C S 
   C O M M E N T A T O R 
South Dakota State University      No. 529                       March 23, 2011 
Evaluating Women in Agriculture 
Training Programs in South Dakota 
 
              by 
Carol J. Cumber,*
 
   Professor,  
  and 
 Barnabas Sugutt, 
Graduate Student 
 
 
Introduction  
Women’s involvement in agriculture and 
agribusiness is increasingly recognized as an 
important component of success in farm and ranch 
production and management. The South Dakota State 
University Cooperative Extension Service (SDSU-
CES) has implemented projects and programs 
targeted for women in agriculture. The primary 
objectives were to empower farm and ranch women 
in the state and help prepare them for increased 
participation in agricultural decision-making and 
management. According to SDSU-CES, more than 
200 women have participated in Annie’s Project and 
its successor, Sustainable Annie’s Systems in South 
Dakota for Years to Come (SASSY) training 
programs. Although there is anecdotal evidence that 
these programs have benefitted women in agriculture, 
a recent assessment and evaluation study of SASSY 
was conducted to provide empirical evidence as to 
the degree that this program had a positive impact. 
 
Annie’s Project and Sustainable Annie’s Systems 
in South Dakota for Years to Come (SASSY) 
Annie’s Project is an agricultural business program 
for women based on the life of Annette Fleck, a 
farm woman from Illinois. Annie’s Project’s 
primary goal is to empower farm women to become 
better partners through networking, learning about 
management, and organization of important  
information related to farm business and 
operations. Annie’s Project started in Illinois in 
2003 with a class of 10 women, and has grown to 
more than 2,000 women in 23 states. Annie’s 
Project training was introduced to South Dakota in 
2006 in Dewey and Harding Counties with 
collaboration between North Dakota State 
University and South Dakota State University 
Cooperative Extension Services.  
 
In fall 2008, SDSU-CES developed a follow-up 
SASSY training program unique to South Dakota. 
This training was offered fall 2009 and spring 2010 
with the primary goals of sustaining learning and 
promoting the best identified practices learned 
through Annie’s Project. According to SDSU-CES, 
Annie’s Project participants expressed the desire for 
more in-depth information on risk management, 
how to be more effective business partners and how 
to create sustainability in their operation. SASSY 
training was offered over six sessions in Aurora, 
Brookings, Corson, Haakon, Harding, McCook, 
Meade, Pennington, Perkins, and Sully counties. 
 
Assessment and Evaluation of SASSY 
Prior to the formal assessment of the SASSY 
program, evaluation of women in agriculture 
training programs in SD were limited to feedback 
notes and informal comments from end-of-class 
assignments and home assignments. A formal 
survey was developed and distributed in order to 
better understand what is important when designing 
and implementing training programs; identifying 
short term and long term program relevance, 
effectiveness, and compatibility; and providing 
feedback information to improve future training 
programs and increase participation of women in 
agriculture. The survey, developed by SDSU 
Economics Department researchers, was distributed 
to SASSY participants during the last session of training. Of 120 total participants, 60 returned 
surveys, representing a 50 percent response rate.  
 
Survey Results 
High interest in SASSY training was demonstrated in 
that eighty-one percent of the participants attended 
four or more of the six sessions. Over half of the 
participants were 45 years or older, and 88 percent 
were married. The participants consisted of 37 
percent college graduates, 29 percent with some 
college level education, and 14 percent with post 
graduate education. Forty-six percent of the 
participants had been involved in agricultural 
operations for over 30 years, and 16 percent 20-29 
years. Seventy-one percent of participants were able 
to attend a training center within 40 miles of their 
home. The most common form of ownership of the 
farming operation was sole proprietorship (56%), 
followed by partnership (24%). Fifty-six percent of 
the participants were involved in both livestock and 
crop production, with 30 percent involving 1,001-
5,000 acres, and 37 percent 5,001-10,000 acres. 
Annual farm gross income for 43 percent of the 
participants was below $100,000; followed by 26 
percent between $100,000 and $200,000.  
 
SASSY participants were asked to respond to 
questions based upon their experiences in the SASSY 
training program. Nine out of fourteen SASSY  
 training topics (see Table 1) had a mean average of 
four and above (somewhat to very important), and 
the remaining five topics had a mean average of at 
least three (somewhat important).  
 
Learning how to balance farm and ranch life was a 
central subset of SASSY training. Table 2 indicates 
that getting organized, focusing on priorities, being 
flexible, living simply, and building networks and 
focusing on personal time all had high mean 
averages, indicating their importance to the survey 
respondents.  
 
In relation to goal-setting, the highest percentage of 
goal setting occurred in relation to family/personal 
and financial goals, with the lowest percentage in 
relation to their communities (refer to Table 3). 
Nearly all the survey respondents (95%) said they 
will share their goals with their spouse and/or other 
and family members. 
 
The survey also asked farm and ranch women to 
indicate what barriers they faced in relation to 
accomplishing their goals (refer to Table 4). 
Interestingly, although nearly all the respondents 
indicated that they would share their goals with their 
spouse and or other family members, the most 
frequently identified barrier to goal accomplishment 
was a complicated family situation. 
 
 
Table 1.  Importance of Topics Covered by SASSY Training in Percentage 
Importance topics 
covered by SASSY 
training 
Very 
Important 
5 
Important 
4 
Somewhat 
Important 
3 
Least 
Important 
2 
Not 
Important 
1 
Didn't 
receive  
information 
0 
Mean 
Average 
%  %  %  %  %  %   
Financial records  66.7  19.3  10.5  1.7  -  1.7  4.46 
Marketing strategies 
and plans  59.7  26.3  10.5  3.5  -  -  4.42 
Production records  54.4  31.6  10.5  1.7  -  1.7  4.33 
Other  66.7  -  33.3  -  -    4.33 
Livestock production  58.9  25.0    3.6  5.3  5.3  1.8  4.21 
Goal setting  46.6  31.0  15.5  5.2  1.7  -  4.16 
Communication skills  52.6  21.1  19.3  3.5  -  3.5  4.12 
Health and well being  41.4  32.7  19.0  5.2  -  1.7  4.05 
Relationships  48.3  25.6  17.2  3.5  -  5.2  4.03 
Natural resources  25.0  37.5  25.0       10.7  -  1.8  3.71 
Crop insurance  26.8  32.1  19.6       12.5  -  8.9  3.46 
Niche marketing  26.4  28.3  26.4  9.4  1.9  7.6  3.45 
Crop production  26.8  26.8  26.8  5.4  7.1  7.1  3.39 
Animal insurance  25.0  26.8  17.9  5.4  8.9       16.0     3.05 
Source: SASSY training survey, 2010.  
Table 2.  Ways of Finding Balance for Farm and Ranch Life 
  Very 
Important 
5 
Important 
4 
Somewhat 
Important 
3 
Least 
Important 
2 
Not 
Important 
1 
Mean 
Average 
  %  %  %  %  %   
Getting organized  62.0  25.4    8.5  3.4  -  4.47 
Focusing on priorities  50.9  28.1  15.8  5.2  -  4.25 
Being flexibility  37.9  41.4  17.2  3.5  -  4.14 
Simplifying life  40.4  31.6  26.3  1.7  -  4.11 
Building networks  43.9  21.0  26.3  8.8  -  4.00 
Personal time  39.0  27.1  25.4  5.1  3.4  3.93 
Source: SASSY training survey, 2010. 
   
 
Table 3.  Goals and Time Frame 
 
     Goals  .         Time Frame   .  
 
Yes 
 
No 
Short-
term 
Mid-
term 
Long-
term  
  %  %  %  %  % 
Family/personal  83  17  40  23  37 
Finance  81  19  29  33  38 
Operation  79  21  32  37  31 
Production  77  23  41  40  19 
Marketing  64  36  67  22  11 
Community  48  52  53  30  17 
Source: SASSY training survey, 2010. 
 
 
 
Table 4.  Barriers to Goal Accomplishment 
Barriers  # of 
responses 
% of total 
responses 
Complicated family 
situation  36  33.0 
Lack of funds to 
support plan  30  27.5 
Too busy  22  20.2 
Other  12  11.1 
Hard to put ideas into 
words  9  8.2 
Total  109  100 
Source: SASSY training survey, 2010. 
 
 
 
SASSY participants received training in 
recordkeeping and financial planning. Recordkeeping 
in relation to tax returns and financial statement 
preparation, monitoring agricultural production and 
business progress, tracking deductibles, identifying 
receipts, and a decision making tool for making 
production decisions were all discussed, with the 
respondents identifying all these areas as important to 
very important. Forty-two percent of the participants 
still had difficulty in calculating commodity prices 
and evaluating financial ratios post-training.  
 
Finally, survey respondents were asked how quickly 
they would apply what they had learned from the 
SASSY sessions. Sixty-seven percent of the 
respondents indicated that they would try it out right 
away, with the remainder concluding that they would 
wait until an approach was proven or used by other 
famers/ranchers first.  
 
 
Conclusion  
SASSY participants who responded to the survey 
agreed with the trainers regarding the importance of 
the topics covered.  Record-keeping was considered 
most important in preparation of tax returns, financial 
statements, and monitoring business progress. 
Although the training increased confidence in making 
financial calculations, more training in this area 
would be helpful. Although most shared goals with 
their spouses and family members, a complicated 
family situation was considered the leading barrier to 
goal accomplishment. A session to address this might 
be warranted. Sixty-seven percent of respondents 
indicated that they would immediately use the skills 
and knowledge acquired in SASSY training. The 
respondents expressed increased confidence based on 
the topics covered in the program. 
 
 
  
 
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For further reading: 
Annie’s Project: 
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/annie 
North Central Risk Management Education Center: 
http://www.ncrme.org/Grants/documents/SouthD
akota_000.pdf 
The Ag Risk Education Library. Annie’s Project 
Summary: 
http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/verification/vrregister
.dll/publicresults?ProjectNumber=RME-
D4K02431 
The Ag Risk Education Library. SASSY Project 
Summary: 
http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/VerificationSearch/D
isplayProposal.aspx?PN=RME-DF202638 
For additional information contact: 
Robin Salverson 
SDSU Cooperative Extension Service 
Phone: 605-375-3412 
E-mail: robin.salverson@sdstate.edu 
 
Stacy Hadrick 
SDSU Cooperative Extension Service 
Phone: 605-347-1195 
E-mail: stacy.hadrick@sdstate.edu 
 
Adele Harty 
SDSU Cooperative Extension Service 
Phone: 605-859-2840 
E-mail: adele.harty@sdstate.edu 
******************************************** 
ECONOMICS COMMENTATOR 
******************************************** 
Economics Department       
South Dakota State University            Phone: 605-688-4141 
Box 504   Scobey Hall               Fax:   605-688-6386 
Brookings, SD 57007-0895     E-Mail: Penny.Stover@ sdstate.edu 
 
125  copies of this newsletter were produced at a cost of less than $100 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Evaluating Women in Agricutlure Training Programs in South Dakota

http://repec-sda.sdstate.edu/repec/sda/pdf/Commentator/No529.pdf

Evaluating Women in Agricutlure Training Programs in South Dakota

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Research Papers in Economics