Annie's Project in Sheridan County

Published: 2019
By Colleen Buck

Trained to facilitate Annie’s Project in 2016, Sheridan County MSU Extension agent Colleen Buck facilitated the program locally in 2019. Annie’s Project is geared toward empowering women in agriculture by bringing a diversity of topics together for six weeks for learning and further understanding the farm and ranch. The program started in February and participants learned about: federal credit union and bank loans specific to agriculture, markets and marketing, what Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and MSU Extension can do for them, crop insurance, and retirement planning. Finally, all the participants went through a REAL Colors personality assessment to help with communication. One participant responded to the learning experience: ‘I learned how to talk to my husband and put to use what I’ve learned. The class helped break it down and made the information approachable.’ The class included 13 participants from Montana and North Dakota, encompassing four counties and impacting 73,850 acres and 1,600 animals.