Educator's mother the muse behind national farm program

Hambleton started the non-profit organization in 2003 while working as a University of Illinois Extension educator in farm business management and marketing.

She received a grant from the USDA aimed at helping women in rural areas.

There were 10 women in the first class. Hambleton estimates 10,000 women have since completed the 18-hour program, taught in 33 states. It touches on five risk management areas, from farm finances to retirement planning.

“I put this program together and my mother served as the muse,” said Hambleton, who is now an ag economics instructor at Southern Illinois University.

“I sat back in my office and thought, ‘Mom, what would you have needed to have a better experience in your role?’ And all this stuff came out.”

Now retired from Extension, Hambleton was one of only a handful of women in that role when she began her career 35 years ago.

“I’ve worked with women all my life,” she said. “I was like them; I was always the minority in the room.”

She said going to Extension meetings was uncomfortable for her mother, too, “as it is for a lot of women to walk into a room full of men.” Hambleton said at the time, the “Extension style of teaching” was to present a Power Point, take a couple questions, then leave.

“Women are more interactive than that. They learn differently,” she said.

Hambleton’s father was raised in Chicago but moved to a farm in Will County during the Depression. He married “Annie” Kohlhagen and they worked a small dairy and poultry operation together.

“Mom always wanted to marry a farmer because she would visit her grandparents on the outskirts of town. She loved the farm,” Hambleton said.

Annie may not have known a lot about farming in the beginning, but she made sure the money was accounted for.

“We were dirt poor, but my mother managed things clear down to the penny,” Hambleton said. “She was an immaculate record-keeper. She never touched a computer in her life, but she knew her books. I shared that with the class, and that inspires them.”

The program gives women a chance to discuss a variety of life experiences. Some women travel more than 150 miles each way to attend classes. Some don’t want it to end, missing the camaraderie that comes with it.

“After one class that finished up, they ‘forgot’ to tell their families that the class was done. So they continued on with their Tuesday evenings,” Hambleton said.

Topics such as inheritance and farm succession are covered.

Shortly after the conclusion of a course in Western Illinois, an Annie’s Project grad was forced to deal with the death of her husband, who had fallen through ice on a pond and drowned.

“I so distinctly remember that class, because we were talking about risk management plans, life insurance and playing the what-ifs,” Hambleton said. “And here’s a class where it actually happened. There were lots of tears in that class.”

The fact the lessons are drawn from personal experiences — Annie’s experiences — is vital.

“I think that’s why people like this program, because it’s based on somebody’s life,” Hambleton said. “When you tell her story, people pick parts of her story and say, ‘Oh, that’s me!’”

And how would Annie feel, knowing she has inspired a national program that has helped thousands of women?

“She would be so proud,” Hambleton said.