| santa_gertrudis_gal |
Posted - Jul 20 2006 : 07:18:15 AM
Very interesting demographics on farmers. Wish they had added a host of other things to the list of "Who are Farmers." Like what was the breakdown of enterprises on the farm and number of enterprises per farm. Mine would sure look interesting: beef cattle, rabbit, hunting and dogs. Hmm.... I found the stats on women interesting. Wish they further broke that down and separated by agronomy, horticulture, and animals. My bet is that most female farmers fall in two catagories. On the plant side it would be horticulture getting the most hits. On the animal side I think it would be cattle.
I think it is wonderful that women are making great strides in Agriculture Farming. Let's look at the realities....though. Farmers being of the male would prefer to deal with other men in their business. Women have a hard time being sales reps in farming when selling chemicals and seed. I've watched men in the feed store ask for another man to help them. Women Extension Agents come up against the same things.
Ok, lets really take a good hard look at what women are accomplishing in Agriculture. Women are entering the field of Agriculture Education at a higher rate then men. Women are entering college majoring in Agriculture with higher High School GPA's and more money awarded for scholarships then men. Women are graduating from college with higher GPA's from colleges then men in Agriculture. Women are becoming more competitive for the available positions once they have a degree.
Another unlikely area where women have a tough time. Show rings and showing male animals with the exception of rabbits. There they are on equal footing from the judges perspective. Physically we are on equal footing with our male counterparts when showing. Yet when it comes to a male animal (please note not a castrated male), for whatever reason the female handler is at the disadvantage. Ouch! I've been showing animals since I was 12 and I've seen it time and time again. When showing a male animal in a conformation class, you had better have a man on the lead. I remember having that conversation with my daughter. I put it as a question to her then a statement. Please, consider if you have a bull make it to Nationals, you will put a male on the lead? I was surprised at how easy the response was for her, a resounding yes.
Women are making huge strides in Agriculture, we will continue to do so, so smile and know that your grand-daughters will have less difficulty then we have had in acceptance in Agriculture as the principal's of any farming/ranching operation. When I entered college in 1978 about 15% of our Agriculture Department were women, and now colleges are reporting 50%.
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
