​Annie’s Project is a national risk management educational program for women farmers. Ruth Hambleton, a Cooperative Extension educator in Illinois, created this program. It is named after her mother Annette Fleck, who spent her lifetime learning how to be an involved business partner with her farmer husband.



The graduates of Annie’s Project NJ have used their business plans to add new enterprises, secure farm loans, develop websites, Facebook pages, and point-of-purchase materials for their farms. The classes fostered problem solving, record keeping, and decision-making skills in farm women. Graduates have continued to meet to continue learning about aspects important to women farmers, to network with each other and have farm tours. These courses were designed to give women farmers who don’t have the time to attend multiple days the chance to develop a solid draft of a business plan, estate plan, or financial plan in one day by working with experts in the field and networking with other women farmers to share ideas.