Skip to content
May 25, 2018

Women in Ag: A Tradition that Will No Doubt Continue

Read how the importance of women in ag is one of the many vital lessons agriculture can teach us.

Everywhere you look in agriculture, there are stories of the strength of our country’s family farming traditions. In my most recent column in Central Florida Ag News, I shared lessons that my own family ranch has taught me, and one of them was that women are an important part of the agriculture equation. Whether it’s a story of two daughters continuing their late father’s legacy on the family ranch or the lessons learned on a five-generation cattle and citrus operation, the family farm has always benefited from women in ag. With 97 percent of the nation’s farms falling under the “family farm” designation, women’s leadership roles in agriculture will only increase going forward.

Lessons on Women in Agriculture

Women are important in agriculture. The strongest female role models I have had in my life are hands down my mother and grandmother. They have both worked for the family citrus and cattle operation and taught me that success is earned, not given to you. Whether it be a freeze, a disease, or any other sort of adversity, they knew how to handle it and they never let it get the better of them; that is a valuable lesson I carry with me.

Stats on Women in Ag

Family farms throughout the nation have benefited from women like my own mother and grandmother stepping into the field, the barn, and the grove and handling whatever problems or chores needed attention. According to female farmer statistics the USDA cites from the last Ag Census, there were 969,672 women in ag in the U.S. in 2012, meaning women comprise 31% of all farmers.

Women in agriculture farm 301,386,860 acres in the U.S., and they have an impact of $12.9 billion on the U.S. economy. Those numbers are expected to increase with this most recent Ag Census as more women are taking on leadership roles in agriculture, both in the U.S. and globally.

AgAmerica supports all ag producers, both women and men, in good times and bad. Explore how our custom loan products can help prepare your ag operation for the future by contacting us and speaking with a knowledgeable team member today!

Logo for a site footer of a social opportunity lender.
AgAmerica Lending® LLC is a licensed mortgage lender. NMLS ID# 372267
Copyright AgAmerica® LLC 2023. All Rights Reserved.