Fourteen percent of the 2.1 million farms in the U.S. were owned by females in 2012, according to USDA. That percentage is likely to grow as more the half the farms and ranches in the country are expected to change hands. This photo essay offers snapshots of five operations owned by women.
This reimagining of a role that has for so long loomed large and male, in the American imagination hasn’t come without conflict.
Source: New York Times, January 11, 2019. (paywall) Link. “Our current generation of land managers is aging out of that role,” she said. “You could look at that as a disaster, or you could really look at that as an opportunity to change the paradigm.”
INSIGHTS: Women running successful ranches is not new. This piece points out that those running them now and, in the future, may present ways of thinking that offer new opportunities for animal health pros. Cory Carman, a Stanford grad who runs an Oregon operation reflects this in her comment about being told she looks different. “If I don’t look like a rancher,” she said. “I don’t have to act like one all the time, right?”