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Women Managing Farm Finances

Charles Brown

Summary

Women Managing Farm Finances
More than half (53%) of Iowa farms have one or more women producers. The 2017 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll showed women participated in record keeping and/or financial management at substantially higher rates than men. Women farmers often sign and take responsibility for farm loans, tax returns and other financial documents and obligations. Women Managing Farm Finances is a 12-hour course that incorporates interactive learning while allowing time for discussion. The program helps women better understand financial statements, farm family living expenses, and income tax records. The course supports women as they gain skills for utilizing farm accounting software, obtaining loans and managing debt, and family living benchmarking. This program has been presented as a hybrid with sessions offered in-person and via Zoom. In Spring 2021, two courses reached 16 women in southeast Iowa. Of these, 8 women completed a post-course retrospective survey; most valuable topics: 1) benchmarking, 2) ratio analysis, 3) financial goals and 4) record keeping software, most knowledge gained: 1) purpose of financial ratios, 2) how to calculate a current ratio and working capital, and 3) factors that affect financial stability, how to compile data and incorporate into balance sheets and other financial statements, importance of setting short, intermediate and long-term goals in a farming operation. 75% of respondents indicated they will add responsibility for creating new financial reports. 63% of respondents indicated they wanted more farm finance workshops. The Women Managing Farm Finances courses were effective in extending knowledge.

Details

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