The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
202
The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
202eBook
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Overview
Pulling down the barriers that women face requires organizations and institutions to become informed by what the authors call a feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST). This framework values women’s ways of knowing and working in agriculture: emphasizing personal, economic, and environmental sustainability, creating connections through the food system, and developing networks that emphasize collaboration and peer-to-peer education. The creation and growth of a specific organization, the Pennsylvania Women’s Agricultural Network, offers a blueprint for others seeking to incorporate a feminist agrifood systems approach into agricultural programming. The theory has the potential to shift how farmers, agricultural professionals, and anyone else interested in farming think about gender and sustainability, as well as to change how feminist scholars and theorists think about agriculture.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781609384166 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Iowa Press |
| Publication date: | 05/15/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 202 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
About the Author
Mary E. Barbercheck is professor of entomology at Penn State University. She lives near Port Matilda, Pennsylvania.
An associate professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology at Pennsylvania State University, Kathryn Brasier lives in State College, Pennsylvania.
Nancy Ellen Kiernan is professor emerita at Pennsylvania State University. She resides in State College, Pennsylvania.
Anna Rachel Terman is assistant professor of sociology at Ohio University. She resides in Athens, Ohio.
Read an Excerpt
The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture
By Carolyn E. Sachs, Mary E. Barbercheck, Kathryn J. Brasier, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, Anna Rachel Terman
University of Iowa Press
Copyright © 2016 University of Iowa PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60938-416-6
CHAPTER 1
A New Crop: Women Farmers in a Changing Agriculture
The face of farming in the US is changing, and it is with increasing frequency that the farmer's face belongs to a woman. Across the nation, women are breaking new ground in agriculture by responding to renewed interests in the agrifood system with innovations in farming and by marketing farm products. The number of women farmers has increased at a phenomenal rate in recent years, and they now comprise 30% of farm operators in the US, a 19% increase from 2002 to 2007 (USDA 2009b). The Census of Agriculture distinguishes between principal farm operator and other farm operators, and it is in the category of principal farm operator where growth has been even greater. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of women principal operators increased by 29% with the major increase occurring between 2002 and 2007. This number has remained relatively steady since 2007, with a decrease of all women operators by 1.6%, and women principal operators dropping by 4% between 2007 and 2012 (USDA 2014c).
Even with this slight decline between 2007 and 2012, the percentage of women farm operators and principal operators has remained steady at 30% and 14%, respectively, of the total number of farm operators. The overall increase in women farmers between 2002 and 2012 likely represents a dual change for women on farms. First, the largest increase was among women between fifty-five and seventy-five years old, which could mean that women are choosing farming as a second career by purchasing, renting, or inheriting farms and are now assuming the role of principal operator. This increase may also represent a growth in the number of women on family-operated farms who have claimed the role of farmer when historically they were seldom recognized as such, deferring to their husbands, fathers, or sons as "the farmers" in the family or household. It's not clear why fewer women entered agriculture between 2007 and 2012 than between 2002 and 2007. However, because women farmers on average are older than their male counterparts, a greater percentage of women than men may have retired from farming between 2007 and 2012 and been affected by the recession.
* * *
1. FEMINIST AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS THEORY (FAST) — KEY THEMES
Women farmers
1. create gender equality on farms amid broad societal changes in gender roles;
2. assert the identity of farmer;
3. access the resources they need to farm by pursuing innovative ways to access land, labor, and capital;
4. shape new food and farming systems by integrating economic, environmental, and social values;
5. negotiate their roles in agricultural organizations and institutions; and
6. form new networking organizations for women farmers.
* * *
It is in the context of this recent increase of women farmers in an occupation long dominated in the US by men that we begin our book, which is based largely on our research and work with women farmers in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states in the Northeast. In this chapter, we explore how changes in the agrifood system and changes in opportunities for women impact how women farm and how they confront the challenges and barriers to farming. By the final chapter, we draw on this work and the stories of these women farmers to craft a feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST). This theory provides a framework to help explain why women face barriers in farming, how they respond to these barriers, and how they are creating new models of farming. FAST simultaneously examines how changes in agriculture and changes in gender relations have shifted over time in ways that both solidify and subvert traditional gender relations in agriculture. These women no longer fully embrace the traditional primary role of the farm wife within a heterosexual marriage, but rather are assuming a broader range of roles in agriculture and providing both a critique and an alternative to the conventional and patriarchal agricultural system (see box 1).
Here, we lay the groundwork by describing trends both within and outside of agriculture as a context in which women-operated farms are emerging and reshaping the agrifood system. We start by describing the general barriers for women that stem from patriarchal systems and argue that recent changes in agriculture and in gender relations in society as a whole have opened opportunities for women to negotiate these barriers. As a result, women have responded to new opportunities in farming with creative and innovative adaptations to surmount the barriers that still exist. These adaptations are creating space for alternative agricultural and food systems. This assertion sets the context for this book.
In this chapter, we describe four sets of issues within the traditional agricultural system in the US that create significant barriers for women's full participation in agriculture and their claiming identity as "farmer." These include (1) the persistent legacy of patriarchy on family farms, (2) substantial financial barriers for entry into conventional commercial agriculture, (3) increased use of capital-intensive technologies on commercial farms, and (4) the enduring sexism in agricultural institutions. Concomitantly, the US has seen significant growth in sustainable and organic agriculture and an increasing interest in local food systems, a shift that has provided significant opportunities for women farmers in particular. We next examine trends in gender relations in the US in general, trends that highlight women's increased participation in the labor force and their growing presence as entrepreneurs in the private and nonprofit sectors. Although there have been shifts toward greater gender equality accompanying these changes, women continue to maintain responsibility for reproductive work, particularly caring for and feeding their families. Relatedly, compared to men, women tend to be more aware of, and concerned about, environmental quality, which leads to greater attention to issues of sustainability. The convergence of these trends leads to opportunities for women to creatively engage in agriculture in ways previously not open to them and to participate in reshaping the US agrifood system in ways consistent with their stated values related to caring, health, and their environment.
Sedimentations and Shifts in Agriculture
Persistent Legacy of Patriarchy on Family Farms Has Limited Women's Roles on Farms
Understanding why women farm and how they are involved in farming begins with acknowledging the barriers that women have experienced and continue to face in agriculture. With some exceptions, many agricultural institutions, including family farms, corporate farms, land-grant universities with their associated cooperative extension services, and agricultural agencies such as USDA, have remained resistant to addressing gender inequities. Moreover, we argue that many of these agricultural institutions remain staunchly entrenched in patriarchal ideologies, bureaucracies, and practices that reproduce and maintain barriers for women to enter and to be heard in many spheres of agriculture. Agricultural institutions continue to be male-dominated, and most of the men (and many of the women) involved adhere to patriarchal systems within agriculture.
On most traditional family farms, men identify themselves as the farmer, and women tend to be identified and identify themselves as just farm wives or helpers. Men's claim to the title of farmer is not only associated with the work they perform, but also their ownership of farmland and capital. Inheritance systems, which pass land and farms from father to son, form the core of the patriarchal system. Despite broader changes in gender equity, in general "it is farmers' sons, not farmers' daughters, who become farmers and take over ownership and management of the family farm" (Alsgaard 2013, 347). Wealth transfer to children upon the death or retirement of parents occurs through liquidation or sale of the farm, single-heir inheritance, or multiheir inheritance. Historically, farm families typically relied on single-heir systems with one son taking over ownership and operation of the farm. Farm families are moving toward multiheir inheritance systems, but dividing up assets equally is difficult when the primary assets are land and structures. Despite the move toward multiheir inheritance systems, daughters rarely take over the management of farms (Alsgaard 2013). So for many farm women, the primary path into farming is through marriage to a farmer. Of the women who have entered conventional farming, many have done so through marriage, becoming a farm wife and often remaining subordinate to men on family farms where their husbands or in-laws own the land and make decisions. These women gain financial security, status, and respectability from their position as farm wives (Fink 1992; Sachs 1996).
Many studies have provided critical accounts of the patriarchal character of the family farm. Others, however, have noted a recent movement to less traditional gender dynamics on farms (Brandth 2002; Haugen 1998; O'Hara 1998). Women increasingly reject the position of farm wife in both the US and Europe. Brandth (2002) refers to this as the "discourse of detraditionalization and diversity" (2002, 194) that runs counter to the discourse of the traditional patriarchal family farm. Rather than adhering strictly to agrarian and family farm ideologies, detraditionalization emphasizes the multiple, dynamic, and complex positions that women can have on farms.
One factor that leads to the detraditionalization of family farms is the heavy reliance on off-farm employment as a source of household income. In the US, more than half of farm operators (52%) and almost half of their spouses (45%) worked off the farm in 2004 (USDA 2012a). When men work off the farm, women often take over day-today responsibility of running their farms — a phenomenon referred to as the feminization of agriculture (Lastarria Cornhiel 2006; Deere 2005). In other cases, women work off the farm and may eschew their identities as farm wives as they identify more strongly with their off-farm work or occupation than with farm-related work. In addition to income through wages or salaries, off-farm work provides health insurance and other benefits critical to supporting the household.
More recent studies of gender on family farms have moved beyond studying only women's roles and include understanding men and masculinity. In a study of Kentucky farmers, Ferrell (2012) reveals that men also suffer from rigid gendered expectations and find it difficult to change their style of farming. For example, on burley tobacco farms in Kentucky, changes in labor and technology in production have resulted in tobacco farming becoming increasingly male with wives reporting little or no involvement in tobacco production. Ferrell (2012) interprets men's involvement with tobacco farming as the performance of a locally valued masculinity. At a time when government efforts encourage farmers to diversify their production from tobacco to other crops, Ferrell finds that because tobacco production is very much tied to men's masculinity and identity, switching or diversifying to other crops is a threat to their social and individual identity. In their study of Iowa farmers, Peter et al. (2000) distinguish between two types of masculinity, monologic and dialogic, which are enacted on farms. They find that larger scale commodity crop farmers adhere to a monologic masculinity that has rigid gender expectations and performances that clearly distinguish between men's and women's activities and roles on the farm. This monologic farming masculinity also approaches farming as a domination of nature. By contrast, they argue that male farmers who are engaged in more sustainable agriculture practice a dialogic masculinity with less of a need for control over nature and a greater social openness. The gender role dynamics discussed here provide a context for understanding women farmers' positions within their farm, their farming community, and the broader agricultural system. Although some changes have and continue to occur, the dominance of men and masculinity on farms is a key feature of agriculture in the US.
Financial Requirements Create Barriers for Entry into Conventional Agriculture
Currently in the US, commercial agriculture is economically dominated by an emphasis on large-scale commodity production, mostly for national and international markets. The basis of this system developed after World War II with the increased commercialization, production, availability, and affordability of agricultural technologies. These technologies include synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hybrid seeds, and machinery, which led to increased yields and efficiency on US farms. The adoption of these technologies enabled greater economies of scale on farms, which has been associated with farm consolidation and a trend for increasing the average size of farms over time (MacDonald, Korb, and Hoppe 2013). The shift of acreage to larger farms is part of a complex set of structural changes in commodity crop agriculture. Although most cropland was on farms with less than 600 crop acres in the early 1980s, today most cropland is on farms with at least 1,100 acres, and many farms are five and ten times that size. In 2012, the average farm size was 434 acres. This was a 3.8% increase over 2007, when the average farm was 418 acres. Middle-sized farms declined in number between 2007 and 2012. The number of large (1,000 plus acres) and very small (1 to 9 acres) farms did not change significantly during that period.
Currently, the barriers of entry to large-scale, capital-intensive operations remain steep. Large-scale farms in the US produce the major commodities for the global agrifood system, the top five in 2012 being cattle and calves, poultry and eggs, corn, soybeans, and milk. Together, these commodities accounted for $261 billion in sales, or 66% of total agriculture sales. Large-scale commodity production requires considerable capital investment for equipment, buildings, and high inputs of fertilizer, chemicals, hybrid seeds, and fuel. Crops also necessitate a considerable investment in land. With commodity crop production increasingly occurring on farms with at least 1,000 acres, entry costs for a farmer are high, constituting a significant barrier for those who wish to begin farming (USDA 2014a).
Animal production is also increasingly concentrated on large-scale farms. These trends affected women in particular, as the traditional products they grew and sold commercially (milk, butter, eggs, and poultry) also transitioned toward large-scale, commercial (and often male-dominated) production systems (Adams 1994). In 2012, the USDA reported a total of 60,000 dairy cow operations in the US, and of these dairy farms, 1,750 operations had over 1,000 cows accounting for 46% of the total number of dairy cows and 50% of milk production. Hog production is even more concentrated. Of the 69,100 hog and pig operations, 8,800 had over 2,000 hogs, accounting for 88% of hog production in 2011 (USDA 2012d). Chicken production occurs almost exclusively through contract production, in which farmers raise the birds from chick to slaughter in his and her facilities, but the birds are actually owned by the contracting corporation ("integrators"). The median number of birds produced on contract farms is 402,500 per year, but because there are a few very large operations, the typical broiler is produced on an operation of 605,000 birds (MacDonald 2008). Entry costs for a farmer in broiler production are high, with a typical house for broilers costing approximately $300,000, and many producers have multiple houses.
Access to land, capital, and technology is essential for any type of farming. Many farmers, both conventional and sustainable, obtain access to land and capital through family inheritance. Family farms typically pass from generation to generation, often with the oldest or most interested son inheriting and operating the farm. As agricultural operations have increased in size and specialization, inheritance of land and the farm from family members continues to be a major avenue of entry and access into farming. Barriers of entry for anyone are exceptionally high on these large-scale operations. For women, the barriers of obtaining land and capital are particularly high as they are less likely to inherit the farm or have to enter into difficult, unconventional negotiations with family members for land access.
We suggest these barriers contribute to the observed differences between women's and men's farms in the United States. The majority of women farmers tend to produce on small, diversified operations rather than large-scale, commodity farms. Since 1982, the majority of women-operated farms have had annual sales of less than $10,000, and the share of women-operated farms in that sales category remains about 20 percentage points more than the share of men-operated farms with sales that low. Male-operated farms are far more likely than women-operated farms to produce the major US commodities, including grains and oilseeds and beef cattle, and somewhat more likely than women-operated farms to produce tobacco, cotton, dairy, and hogs (fig. 1). In contrast, women-operated farms are far more likely than men-operated farms to have "other animals" (including horses) and "other" crops (including hay), and somewhat more likely than men to have vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticulture, poultry, and sheep and goats (USDA 2009a).
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Excerpted from The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture by Carolyn E. Sachs, Mary E. Barbercheck, Kathryn J. Brasier, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, Anna Rachel Terman. Copyright © 2016 University of Iowa Press. Excerpted by permission of University of Iowa Press.
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