Female Farmers
女性农场主
In the United States, women in agriculture are not a new concept; women have farmed with their families for centuries. However, women farming either on their own or as true managing partners with their spouses are a growing phenomenon. Many women have now expanded their role from farm wife to that of farm manager and key decision-maker.
Recognition of the expanding role of women in agriculture comes at a critical juncture in American struggle to diversify agriculturally and renew its emphasis on rural development. Policies aimed at rural women typically have focused on their roles as farm wives and mothers who benefit from family nutrition and health programs, but effective agricultural and rural policies need to be based on current rural realities, reflecting women´s economic contributions as well.
The latest census of agriculture reports that women own almost half of all the private agricultural land in the United States. Both the increase in independent female farmers and the amount of farmland owned by women signify an increasing role for women in agriculture.
Most female farmers in Kentucky reside on their farms (71.4 percent), yet more than half (60 percent) do not list farming as their principal occupation. On average, female farmers have spent approximately 20 years on their current farms. Their average age is 60.2 years, 6.8 years more than the average age of male farmers.
Most farms operated by women are fewer than 140 acres. Male farmers, who on the average operate much larger farms, own a smaller percentage (71.4 percent) of their farmland than female farmers do. Male farmers rent or lease almost 30 percent of their land.
Almost half of all female farmers operate crop farms: nearly half operate farms yielding tobacco, hay, and similar products. The remaining farms operated by women are concentrated in oilseed and grain farms, beef cattle operations, and aquaculture and other animal farms. When assessed by market value of agricultural products sold, farms operated by women in general have lower sales than those operated by men.
Role models are needed for women in agriculture. The opportunities and barriers that exist for them are challenges for educators, Extension personnel, and researchers interested in improving the economic and social conditions of agricultural communities and farm families. More information is needed on how women learn about agricultural practices and view those practices and about the contribution of women members to agricultural organizations.
The changing role of farm women has implications for Extension fieldwork. If women obtain more information about farm production and marketing in different ways than men do, Extension will need to offer some different educational programming, such as home study courses or programs targeted specifically to women farmers.
Ann Bell is a Scott County farmer who operates a farm along with other family members. Although the family manages some of the farm together, she is the sole decision-maker and manager of 5 acres and considers herself a full-time farmer. She always had an interest in farming, but did not find her way back to her vocation until she completed college.
"After trying to do every other job in the world I could find other than farming, I slowly got back to it," says Bell about her return to the farm. After someone suggested she should help start a farmers´ market in her hometown, she decided to begin producing fruits and vegetables on her family´s farm with her brother and her father.
"As much as I tried to get away from farming, I realized that´s where I wanted to be. I realized I´d never be happy doing anything else," she says. Bell says the major challenges in fanning for her are "to diversify and market to fit in with our (farm´s) commodities and (to have) all of my family participating on the same land to make a living."
Today Bell grows and sells vegetables at the Lexington and Georgetown farmer´s markets, at retail and wholesale markets, and to restaurants. She is involved in numerous agricultural groups and programs, including the Philip Morris Leadership Program (sponsored by the UK College of Agriculture for farm-business leaders), the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Community Farm Alliance.