Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and, where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.

Farmers Who Don't Farm: The Curious Rise of the Zero-Sales Farmer

“…Its results are briefly discussed below. As mentioned above, a 2013 report by the successor to the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the USDA Economic Research Service, also included data on the number of zero-sales farms by gender in the 1982 and 2007 censuses (Hoppe & Korb, 2013).…”

“…While Gilbert, Sharp, and Felin limited their discussion to black farmers, the same "false 'trend'" appears to exist for other groups disproportionately likely to operate small-scale farms. A 2013 USDA report on women farmers compared COA data from 1982 and 2007 and found that zero-sales farms had increased fivefold-almost twice as fast as any other sales class during that period (Hoppe & Korb, 2013). The authors also found that almost 60 percent of the increase in women farmers between 1982 and 2007 was due to the growth of zero-sales farms (Hoppe & Korb, 2013).…”

Capturing the Multiple and Shifting Identities of Farm Women in the Northeastern United States

“…Concurrent with these shifts in the structure of agriculture is a demographic shift in who is farming. Women in particular are an increasing proportion of farmers (Hoppe and Korb ). In 1978, women were 5 percent of principal operators compared with 14 percent in 2007 (Hoppe and Korb ).…”

“…Women in particular are an increasing proportion of farmers (Hoppe and Korb ). In 1978, women were 5 percent of principal operators compared with 14 percent in 2007 (Hoppe and Korb ). When multiple operators were counted on farms, women constituted 30 percent of all farm operators in 2007, which represented a 29 percent growth in the number of women farm operators in the United States between 2002 and 2007 (Hoppe and Korb ; USDA ).…”

“…In 1978, women were 5 percent of principal operators compared with 14 percent in 2007 (Hoppe and Korb ). When multiple operators were counted on farms, women constituted 30 percent of all farm operators in 2007, which represented a 29 percent growth in the number of women farm operators in the United States between 2002 and 2007 (Hoppe and Korb ; USDA ). The data from the U.S. census of agriculture suggest two potential shifts: growth in the absolute number of women farm operators and increase in the number of women who identify as farmers.…”