A four workshop program is starting up soon with Greene County ISU Extension as part of the “Women in Ag” series.

Extension Farm Management Specialist Alexis Stevens is hosting a “Women Managing Farm Finances” program that starts on Thursday, November 7th, and on the proceeding Tuesdays and Thursdays through November 19th from 5:30-9pm at the Greene County Extension Office. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that the key topics that will be covered include income statements, cash flow, budgeting and benchmarking, insurance and taxes. Stevens notes once attendees understand how farm financials work, then there is a discussion of whether or not to make changes to improve a farm’s overall profitability.

Stevens believes there is a growing number of women taking on the responsibility of managing the farm finances for an operation.

“It does seem to be the trend: the men are out in the field, they’re out in the barns, they’re doing the labor, and they don’t have the time, or the knowledge, or the desire – and I don’t blame them – because book work isn’t very exciting. So usually the paying the bills and keeping track, that falls on the women. But we want to be more than just bookkeepers where we’re paying the bills, we want to actually start to do some of that accounting and understand what those numbers are telling us.”   

The fee to take the class is $100 and there is a meal served before every workshop. Contact the Greene County Extension Office or click here to sign up.