Bob Wells has a lot of respect for his mother.

Wells, an ISU extension field specialist, had so much respect for his mother, Annie Wells, and the choices she made regarding agriculture and family, that he named a session of courses for Iowa women in agriculture after her.

“Growing up on a farm, she knew that she wanted to marry a farmer, and she did,” Wells said. “She spent her life learning how to become the best farming partner she could, and together they did great things, but it wasn’t easy.”

Annie’s Project, the session of short courses for women in agriculture, was named after Wells’ mother after he realized the need for educational opportunities for women in farming.

“There are currently 91,000 farms in Iowa and 22,000 women listed as farm operators. This is up 20 percent from the 1997 Census of Agriculture,” Wells said.

“Women have a different learning curve and a different set of needs.”

According to the Annie’s Project Web site, there are three main barriers that farm women face. Formal education processes are too lengthy or too difficult to fit into their schedules. Husbands or immediate family members are not good teachers of the kind of information women need to be effective business partners and professionals; lenders, merchandisers, insurance agents and market advisers, although knowledgeable and dedicated to their professions, have limited time to educate others about their skills.

Annie’s Project started three years ago, when Wells received a grant from the North Central Regional Risk Management Education Center. Wells said the idea came after watching other programs for farm women, and also because of the fact that agricultural extension programs typically only have male participants.

After the success of Annie’s Project, two additional conferences have been planned in Cedar Rapids and Storm Lake for late January. These should also give farm women additional opportunities.

The Overall Conference for Rural Women will be held January 21 and 22 of 2005 and will feature Michele Payn-Knoper, a dairy breeder and columnist from Indiana.

Wells said the focus of the conference will be on the more challenging aspects of farm management.