Articles and News about Women in Agriculture

News

• 2019 Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference

• National Farmers Union Women Conference

Articles

• Mina Westbye: Norwegian Immigrant, North Dakota Homesteader, Studio Photographer, "New Woman"

This is a case study of a female immigrant that became a farmer during the Homestead Act of 1862. Addresses issues of gender equality.

• Women's Role in Montana Agriculture: "You Had to Make Every Minute Count"

This article is a historical recount of the role of women in Montana's agriculture since the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 until 1940's.

• Montanans at Work: Businesswomen in Agricultural Communities

This article describes the "brain drain" from farm to town during 1920-1940, when many women acquired the necessary skills to work in town and leave the farm behind.

• Women in Agriculture: Professionalizing Rural Life in North America and Europe, 1880-1965 - Introduction

This introduction provides a summary of the professional trajectories of women in agricultural fields and food commodities for the first half of the 20th century.

• Women On The Great Plains Recent Developments Research

Survey of research developments focused on frontier women in the Great Plains from 1970 until 1985. This work focuses on scholarly perspectives and methodologies to address issues of rural women in the Great Plains.

• A Profile of Female Farmers in America

This work describes female farmers and ranchers in America in late 1970’s. The analysis focuses on demographic characteristics, income, off-farm employment, and ownership.

• 2012 Census Highlights-Women Farmers

Statistics about women in agriculture in the national arena; USDA-NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

• Creating Farmer Networks: A Toolkit for Promoting Vibrant Farm Communities

This toolkit provides information and resources needed to create a successful farmer network. It is intended for farmers, extension agents, community organizers, and other agricultural professionals.

• Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender, and climate change

This article focuses on how notions of women's vulnerability and virtuousness recur in climate debates, questions the legitimacy of these generalizations, and analyses its impact on climate policy.

• Persistent women and environment linkages in climate change and sustainable development agendas

This paper explores why and how notions of women-environment linkages influence decision-making and policies regarding climate change.

• Agriculture Needs More Women| The Atlantic

This article addresses the gender gap in America's agriculture.

• Feminization of Agriculture in the Context of Rural Transformations: What is the Evidence?

This report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank Group (WBG) suggests a new set of measures to support claims about changes in the gender composition of farm workers in developing countries.

• If there is no water what's the point? Female Farmers in Arizona | The Guardian

This article focuses on the challenges female farmers overcome in dryland areas, mentorship, intergenerational relationships, and the succession of the farm to female companions.

Books

The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

Carolyn Sachs, Mary E. Barbercheck, Kathryn Braiser, Nanacy Ellen Kiernan, and Anna Rachel Terman. 

University of Iowa Press, 2016.

Soil Sisters, A toolkit for Women Farmers

Lisa Kivirist. New Society Publishers, 2016.