In the Tractor Seat: Women Farmers Take the Steering Wheel

Pre- Listening

1. When you think of women farmers, what kinds of roles and responsibilities do you imagine them filling on a farm? Do you have women relatives or friends who have worked on a farm? What roles do they fill?

2. Do you feel that women relate to land in a different way than men do? Why or why not? Explain your thoughts. What, if any, unique strengths do women bring to farming?

Angela Jackson Pridie, beef farmer and advocate with the Organic Grass Fed Beef Coalition, Vermillion, South Dakota

1. As host Mark Sommer begins the interview with Jackson Pridie, he mentions that in recent years “women have made major inroads in organic small-scale farming operations and community supported agriculture.” What factors contribute to this rise in the number of women farmers and why are they particularly drawn to small-scale organic farming?

2. Based on what Jackson Pridie says, why did she go into farming in the first place? What obstacles did she face in doing so and how did she address them? How did she deal with the skepticism of her male counterparts? Was physical strength a problem for her? How did she deal with the heavy lifting farming requires?

3. Jackson Pridie says that “women typically are very good stewards of the land and they work better with small animals and they do better working on small farms. And in most cases, they’re better at directing marketing and they’re better salespeople.” Do you agree with her observation? If so, why? If not, why not?

4. Jackson Pridie remembers her grandmother asking her why, with her educational background, she would consider farming as a career. These days farming is a highly technical profession, requiring computer skills, agronomy, soil science and much other specialized knowledge. Why do some people assume that those with a higher education background wouldn’t go into farming? What would you advise someone with an interest in farming to do to be successful? What would have to change for people to believe that farming is a rewarding profession to pursue? What benefits does a person with higher education bring to farming? What non-academic skills and gifts are essential to successful farming? At a time of dwindling farm population, what does it take to be a successful farmer?

Marguerite Pierce, Pierce Family Farms, Orleans, California

1. Why do you think Jackson Pridie and Pierce have elicited such different reactions from people when they find out that the two women are farmers? Jackson Pridie has had her competence challenged by men skeptical that she’s up to the job while Pierce says that she has “never had any problem with it, and I’ve never met anybody that had any problem with me, as a woman.”

2. Listen again to Pierce’s conversation with Mark Sommer about the shift in the organic movement from small farms and natural food stores to industrialized organics. [link on page 6 starting from “What about the evolution of the organic movement” to “Well that’s the world we live in now”] Pierce says that with the mainstreaming of organic food has generated increasing competition among both small and large farmers. What do you think of her responses to Sommer’s questions? How would you have answered the questions, rephrased here:

1. The organic movement started as a shift in a whole way of life and farming and was about more than just growing without pesticides. Now that it has become part of the mainstream and certain elements have been left behind in some arenas (e.g., small farms, encouraging community, local production) do you think the movement has lost its purpose and direction or is this  natural and necessary part of making healthy food available to a wide range of people? Explain.

3. When talking about buying directly from the farmer at farmers markets, Pierce says that the relationship is more intimate than a supermarket and that “people do get personal because food is a really personal thing…they care where their food comes from; it’s important.” Have you ever thought about food like this? Do you know where your food comes from before it reaches the supermarket? Do you care? Why or why not?

4. Pierce says that “it’s good to eat [food] in season because then you have something to look forward to.” Thinking about the big picture of food as a whole system of production, distribution, sale and purchase, why else might it be good to eat food that is in season? What foods do you buy out of season? Do they taste the way they do when they’re in season?

Denise O’Brien, farmer and executive director of Women, Food, and Agriculture Network, Atlantic, Iowa

1. Did you know that women homesteaded independently or even that they contributed as partners in their the work on the farm? If not, does it surprise you to learn this? Why do you think you never learned about this when studying the movement westward in American history?

2. O’Brien talks about the women’s movement being very urban-based and not reaching out to rural women. She asserts that one of the reasons why it did not appeal to rural women was because of the traditional Christian society pervasive in rural areas. Do you have any other thoughts on why the women’s movement did not generally appeal to rural women?

3. Do you see any way to prevent predatory buyers from muscling older women away from the land after their husbands die? What specific ideas do you think would help older women protect themselves and their property?

4. O’Brien asserts that women have a different emotional bond with the land than men when they are farmers. If you agree, what is this difference? If not, explain your reasoning. Could it be nurtured in men?

5. Why do you think O’Brien sees a connection between women majoring in environmental studies in college and their decision to become farmers 

Maria Moreira, dairy farmer and cheese maker, new immigrant farmer mentor

1. Moreira describes the way of life she experienced in the Azores before moving to America when she was 12. She says that the experience of farming and eating from the land “is still in me; that never leaves.” Why do you think she has been able to retain the reality of this experience while so many of us in the United States have lost touch with our agrarian roots?

2. Moreira says that her experience of farming as a woman is different because she is an immigrant; she says that she and her husband don’t differentiate their roles on the farm and that “we just worked together well. We totally respect our areas of expertise and we complement each other.” How do you think the other women interviewed in this program would respond to the host’s question about how she and her husband differentiate their roles in running the farm?

3. Moreira says that the love of farming is a disease: “most farmers that I know, they say ‘Well, I’m not doing too bad. I’m still paying the bills.’ But they’re working 16 hours a day and they’re ok with that, which in any other business you would say ‘Hmm, that’s not a very smart person.’” Why do you think people love farming so much when it’s so physically demanding and there’s so little remunerative reward? Why do they keep at it?

Concluding Discussion Questions

1. What similarities and differences do you see in why these women chose farming as their profession and life’s work? What draws them to farming?

2. Throughout the program, we heard women described as being generally friendlier at the farmers markets than men, better at direct marketing, If you accept this observation as generally true, why do you think it’s so? How could women convey this skill to their male counterparts?