Bismarck Tribune

By LAUREN DONOVBy LAUREN DONOVAN

Ruth Hambelton has a special place in her heart for farm and ranch women.

She knows they either do too much, or too little, for a list of reasons longer than a day's chores.

Hambelton created a program called "Annie's Project," to teach women how to become genuine partners in an ag-based business.

"Annie's Project" will be offered at 15 locations in North Dakota, starting Jan. 22 for six consecutive Mondays.

Women will learn about financial management, marketing, legal issues, computer technology for the farm and where to find helping resources.

Hambelton, who is an extension educator for the University of Illinois' extension department, said the best part of the program is what women learn from each other.

"Annie's Project," which she named in memory of her mother, who spent a lifetime as a farm partner, was launched in 2003 and has already reached more than 2,000 women in 14 states.

This is the second year it is being offered in North Dakota and the first year through any county extension office west of the Missouri River.

Susan Limesand of rural Jamestown drove three hours round trip to take the program last year.

She learned about it after locking herself out of her car in front of the Farm Credit Services office and seeing a brochure while waiting inside for the locksmith to arrive.

Before taking the program, she said she knew the address of her and her husband's dairy farm and the work they did, but that was about it.

She said she got more from the course than she bargained for, in confidence, knowledge and in interactions with other farm women.

Limesand, 52, said the program encouraged open and honest communication and has led to a stronger and more positive marriage. She said her attitude that farming was a "no brainer," plus her own inattention and interest in other entrepreneurial ideas made her a big risk.

"In the first week of 'Annie's Project' I learned more than I did in 30 years here. I was here physically, but not mentally," she said.

Hambelton said her goal is to help women have a hand in fashioning a really terrific life on the farm, whether they're old, young, widowed or single, by giving them the tools they need to understand and participate in finance management.

She said women who take the program range from those who have total control over the farm finances, to those who have absolutely no clue, except that money shows up.

She said the idea is to bring both groups to the middle, so that women in total control learn to share and train someone in the event they become unable to do so, and women with no input at least have rudimentary knowledge of how money moves through a farm.

Reasons why some women are in the dark range from a deliberate desire on the man's part to keep her that way, to her own wish to not know.

"We take away the stigma that farm records are complicated and hard to do and teach that they should be done on a regular basis," she said.

"Annie's Project" provides information that's new to everyone at some level and in some areas, offers the opportunity for experienced farm women to help mentor women who are newcomers, she said.

One way or another, women always have been part of farms and ranches, whether it's in providing labor, record keeping, or raising the next generation of farmers.

"We're getting reports that women feel more valued as a result of 'Annie's Project.' Women said their men are talking to them about marketing plans, or expansion," Hambelton said. "About one-third of the women are coming at the request of the man in the family and he's admitting he's not a good educator."

In this region, "Annie's Project" will be offered at interactive television sites in Dickinson, McClusky, Underwood and Watford City. Other locations are Bowbells, Carrington, Cavalier, Devils Lake, Fargo, Grafton, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Minot, Oakes and Wahpeton.

Classes are restricted to about 20 participants.

For information, contact the local county extension office or go to www.ag.ndsu.edu/anniesproject.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511, or lauren@;westriv.com.)