For many Nebraskans, Kimball County, on the very western edge of Nebraska, is "way out there." But it is home for a group of women wanting to improve their lives and community by educating themselves. The Kimball County Women’s group came together in 1997 to learn how to improve their farming operations and themselves. Their main interest has been commodity marketing, but they also want to learn about farm safety, farm record keeping, estate planning, and alternative farm practices. By learning about these things they expect to become better-informed farm women and better partners in the family business.
For their first year the group chose to focus on agricultural commodity marketing. They wanted to understand the terminology and process of marketing grains. With the help of Glen Price of Farmland Cooperative, and Extension Educator Ray Weed, the group held a series of classes centered on a Kansas Board of Trade training book. From January to April, they held seven lunchtime meetings covering options, futures, hedging, puts and calls, cash flow, and production costs.
Each participant was given a workbook that provided them an opportunity to work through the numbers themselves. The workbooks now serve as references as they try to implement what they learned on their farms.
Jan Bashaw, a group member, and her husband David have used what they learned to market their grain this past year. Taking the material from the course and really using it has taken a lot of "re-education." "We learned by doing," says Bashaw.
The group meets in the winter and then takes a break during the busy summer season. In 1998, they are planning to hold a second winter of sessions that will again cover many aspects of marketing, but this time they plan to focus on meat instead of grains.
The Kimball Women’s goal is the same as that of the IMPACT project: to capture the creativity and imagination of Nebraskans to develop a healthy food system that supports strong ranches, farms, and communities. The Kimball County Women are working to achieve this in their corner of the state.
Contact: JoAnn Mueller, Kimball, 308-235-3633