A four-week course designed to help women in Ag learn market strategies will take place in Webster County beginning next month.
The Webster County Extension Office is offering the Women Marketing Grain classes July 20th, July 27th, August 3rd, and August 10th. Webster County Program Coordinator Linda Cline says her office most recently held these courses in 2017.
?Kelvin Leibold, our farm management specialist for this area, will be leading the discussions,? Cline said. ?Women get to learn about basis, futures carry, cost of storage, and all of the crop marketing terms. Sometimes these women are helping out their husbands. I?ve also found that sometimes these women are taking over the farm, maybe they are widowers. They need to market their grain, and so this is what we are offering this year.?
The goal of the classes is to help women become better business partners and owners by learning to manage and organize critical information for their farm operations, establish networks with other farm women and agriculture business professionals, among many other things. Cline says the courses have gone over well in years past.
?In 2017, I probably had 10 or 12 women so we are looking for about that many now,? Cline said. ?It?s not for everybody. It just depends on your interest. We?ve already had women who have signed up for it. That?s exciting. The women are just hungry to learn the terms, learn how to market their grain, and how they can get a better cost so they know what the break even points are for their markets and so that way they can market appropriately during the year.?
Cline noted that it has not been decided yet if the classes will be held in person at the Webster County Extension Office in Fort Dodge, or virtually through Zoom.
Anyone women wishing to participate must register by July 13th. The registration fee is $75. Registration can be done on the ISU Extension website.
