GPS can mean more than Global Positioning System for women farmers, according to agricultural marketing specialist Jane Eckert.

“The G stands for setting goals,” Eckert told a meeting for women who are principal farm operators in Wisconsin recently. “If we don’t have a goal set, then any old road will do and that’s not good enough for business anymore.”

“The P stands for passion because when you have clear and concrete goals that you have a burning passion to make happen, you are more likely to succeed,” said Eckert.

Finally, the S stands for Skills. “We have to be willing to learn new skills,” Eckert says. “That means we have to be willing to leave the farm sometime to take classes and take workshops.” That also means learning about new precision technology and information that can help the thousands of women nationwide who are principal farm operators be more profitable.

Eckert spoke at a conference for women farmers called, Connecting Threads – Weaving the Fabric of Agriculture.