Farm programme bound for Kaitaia

RMPP chairman Malcolm Bailey

A development programme for women involved in sheep and beef farming will expand next year to benefit 500 more farms throughout the country, with Kaitaia among the first rural centres to host it.

Launched in 2014, Understanding Your Farming Business (UYFB) was scaled up this year and delivered to 350 women, taking the total number of graduates to 780 over the last four years.

In mid-February Kaitaia will be among the first of 32 rural centres nationally to host UYFB, including a second programme, Wahine Maia Wahine Whenua, designed for women who are trustees, managers or partners in Maori sheep and beef farming businesses.

The programmes, run by the Agri-Women's Development Trust and funded by the Red Meat Profit Partnership, are designed to lift performance and profitability in the red meat sector, by equipping farming women with knowledge, skills and confidence to contribute more fully.

More than 200 enquiries had been received for the 2018 programmes before registrations opened last week.

AWDT executive director Lindy Nelson said there was a thirst among farming couples and individuals to learn how they could sharpen their businesses financially and work more closely with family and advisers to achieve future growth.

"Research with our graduates consistently shows that when women gain confidence and skills to contribute more effectively, positive changes are seen across the farming business," she said.

A recently-completed pilot programme in Gore and Feilding, which had brought UYFB graduates and their farming partners together to focus on business planning as a team, had provided further insights into how women were helping to improve and measure farm performance.

"We're hearing from men that the increased involvement of their partners in farm planning and decision-making is reducing stress on them and opening up new conversations and perspectives," Ms Nelson said.

"They are now sharing the workload and more able to bounce ideas off their partners who are playing a greater role, alongside family and financial advisers.

"Farmers are taking time together to question why they make certain decisions, look at how they can do better and who can help them. They are looking harder at their goals and plans, and communicating more effectively with bank managers and other advisers."

RMPP chairman Malcolm Bailey said the UYFB programmes weren't just about upskilling women in farming. They were also about building resilient farm partnerships so that the mental load was shared.

"It's a culture shift, but one we really think the industry is ready for," he said.

Conversations between farming partners had progressed from general discussions to specific plans for improving the business with defined outcomes. Some had taken on farm consultants and new staff.

AWDT patron Mavis Mullins said Wahine Maia Wahine Whenua graduates had gained the farming business knowledge needed to better engage with their iwi and hapu farming organisations.

"As with UYFB, understanding the key business drivers is leading to different conversations around the decision-making table," she said.

¦For 2018 programme dates and regions go to www.awdt.org.nz/programmes/