A programme to help upskill women on sheep and beef farms has just received significant new backing.
From left: UYFB facilitator Justine Kidd, AWDT executive director Lindy Nelson and facilitator Sam Orsborn at one of the UYFB pilot programmes held in 2014. Photo: Supplied
The programme, Understanding Your Farming Business, is run by the Agri-Women's Development Trust with funding from the Government and industry collaboration, the Red Meat Profit Partnership.
The trust's executive director Lindy Nelson said it helped women to gain a better understanding of what drives a farming business and how to measure on-farm performance.
"Traditionally our sector has put skills around women by default and not by design so for a lot of our women running our farming businesses, their pathway into managing and running their farming businesses may have been through marriage so they don't necessarily have the complex set of business skills that they'd like to have in order to make a better contribution."
She said the programme could help couples work better as business partners.
"The aim here is to increase her skills and knowledge so she becomes a better part of the farming partnership, that she has some skills, some new knowledge to bring into it and help lift that critical thinking that's required so even though the women are going through the programme, the men are also invited to participate, and we are hoping that that will be done with our strategic partners in a final module together."
She said the programme was limited to 16 women per region and would begin later this month with workshops in Canterbury, Hamilton, Te Kuiti and Wellsford.