Women Farmers in America

Excerpts from the report: Just over 128,000 of the Nation's 2.5 million farms are solely or principally operated by women, or 5 percent of the total, according to the 1978 Census of Agriculture, the first census to publish data on sex of farm operators. Although male operators have historically dominated farming, females not only contribute substantially to some types of agricultural production but their numbers are also growing. U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that the number of women employed solely or principally as farm operators and managers doubled from 1970 to 1980. Because of reporting procedures, the number of female farmers is somewhat understated in the agricultural census. Most farm wives do some farmwork and many share responsibility of running the farm with their husbands, but for census reporting purposes, only one operator per farm may be designated. Operator designation is determined by the individual couple and usually the husband is selected. Females designated as operators most often run the farm enterprise alone or are widows of farmers.