WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE TRAINING PROGRAMS: THE USA-STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA “SASSY” PROJECT

Women’s involvement in agriculture and agribusiness is increasingly recognized as an important component of success in farm and ranch production and management. Women have unique information needs to help them more fully participate in agricultural decision-making. This has resulted in the development and implementation of agricultural training projects and programs specifically targeting rural women. Although there has been anecdotal evidence that these programs have benefitted women in agriculture, there had been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of agricultural training programs in South Dakota. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of an assessment and evaluation study of the agricultural training program Sustainable Annie’s Systems in South Dakota for Years to Come (SASSY). The research was conducted to provide empirical evidence as to the degree that this program had a positive impact on the participants. This article shares those results.