Women farmers need to be recognized for their work

Editor:
It’s almost impossible to imagine but according to the recent Women Farm survey of farms in Ohio, there are 32,237 women farm operators doing a variety of work in traditional farming, niche farming, agri-tourism and organics.

As a woman farmer I would like to have more access to information, better linkages to other women farmers, and opportunities to grow my farm revenue. Every day more women are becoming farmers, yet we still seem to lack outreach from the government and non-profit groups that focus on the farming profession.

Somehow we remain invisible. Many thanks to Women Farm, a non-profit group that is working to bring technical and business information to women farmers in ways that really “work” for women farmers.

Now we just need groups like the USDA Service Centers, which are designed to be a single location where customers can access the services provided by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies to acknowledge that women have unique skill sets and unique management styles that require mentoring so that we can find ways to work within the traditional business models that are the basis of most farm operations.

I look forward to the day when these more traditionally funded groups reach out to us women farmers as a group. We’re out here doing the work. Now we need the recognition.
Annie (Candice) S. Warmke
Philo, Ohio