Mastering farm equipment, like cattle chutes, tractors, and chainsaws, can get emotional. Just ask Becky Roberts, a Pittsylvania County animal science extension agent.
“We’ve had women literally sobbing, because they were successful in backing a trailer up or hooking up a truck and trailer,” said Roberts, who works for Virginia Cooperative Extension, “or operating a tractor, and they’d never had that kind of success before, and we were building confidence at that point.”
Welcome to WISE, a three-day agricultural primer that teaches female farmers how to thrive on their back 40. That means caring for cattle, sheep, and goats, rendering tallow, responding to veterinary emergencies, and lending a hand during reproduction and birth.
Top 10 Virginia counties for female producers (SOURCE: USDA agricultural census)
- Rockingham - 1,180
- Loudoun - 1,120
- Augusta - 982
- Fauquier - 873
- Washington - 794
- Bedford - 749
- Albemarle - 683
- Pittsylvania - 596
- Shenandoah - 546
- Scott - 562
“We’re just built differently than a man,” says Roberts, “just differently in terms of where our pressure points are, where we pivot, where our balance is, our natural strengths and weaknesses. So, if I can teach a woman how to change a tire by using leverage, versus just sheer strength, it’s very simple things like that that make you successful.”
Many lessons—low stress ways of moving cattle, for instance—use tips and tricks, not brawn, to help women manage.
“If we can teach them balance, and flight zones, we can teach them how cattle naturally move. They tend to be a lot more successful moving cattle than men are,” adds Roberts, “because men tend to use more brute force, if you will.”
Franklin County extension agent Grace Neller is demonstrating how to neuter calves using balloons, Play-Doh, and yarn.
“You normally look at it as, agriculture’s a man’s world,” says Neller, a cattle farmer. “And, there really hasn’t been much place for us women, and we kind of put ourself in a position that we’re able to do exactly what they’re able to do and I think it’s really important because it lights a little bit of a fire, I think, and when you see women doing it, it’s just a whole different type of, kind of, energy burst. You want to get a part and you want to be a part of that.”
Twenty years ago, there were fewer than a million female farmers. Today, there are more than 1.2 million, according to the USDA, about one-third of the nation’s producers. In Virginia, more than 25,000 women farm about three million acres.
Twenty of those belong to Jamie Meadows and her husband, who live in Giles County.
“I want to learn all that I can about cattle,” says Meadows. “I’m used to just letting my husband handle it, so I want to get more involved in it.”
Learning from women, Meadows says “it’s a lot less intimidating. I’m terrible at backing up a trailer. But, to learn it from a woman, who is going to have less pressure than a man telling you how to do it. I think it’ll be an improved experience.”
Cumberland County farmer Maggie Allen appreciates the sisterhood.
“If you’re on your own farm, you’re really isolated in a lot of ways,” says Allen, who was practicing giving routine vaccinations in the neck of a simulated steer, and runs Epic Farms in Farmville, where they raise chickens, ducks, turkeys, and Khatadin sheep. “And so having other farmers to reach out to, and say, ‘Hey, this happened today, I need to talk through it,’ or, ‘I just need help, like, how to navigate it,’ is incredibly valuable.”
Dara Tucker owns a Keysville cattle farm that’s been in the family since before the Civil War. She used to be an elementary school principal, but left the job to dig into something new alongside her husband.
“Patience is really important, especially for those of us who are relatively new into the field,” says Tucker, “and so, I do know that women have lots of patience. Not saying the men don’t! But I’m very encouraged by learning from other women.”
Farm life has another upside, says Tucker.
“The mom cows don’t complain to me, and the children, the calves, don’t talk back, so. Little bit different. They’re a little bit quieter!”
Organizers say there’ll be more classes for female farmers on tap for fall, including day-long courses in artificial insemination and fence building and maintenance. The WISE events— that’s Women Increasing Skills and Education— are sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University, and take place each fall.