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Female-Operated Farms up 14 Percent from 1992

© Rena Larranaga

The 1997 USDA Census of Agriculture reported that there were 165,102 female-operated farms in the United States -- up 14 percent from 1992. This number represents 8.6 percent of all American farms.

Since 1982, the total number of farms has decreased by nearly 15 percent, but the number of female-owned farms has increased, says Janet Allen, with USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Year	Number of farms
1982	121,599
1987	131,641
1992	145,156
1997	165,102

Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture

Male-operated farms are more common in all age groups, except above 65. Thirty-six percent of female farm operators are age 65 or older, with 26.3 percent being over 70 years of age.

	Female	Male
Age	Percentage of Farms	Percentage of Farms
Under 25	0.8	1.1
25 to 34	4.4	6.9
35 to 44	16.2	19.7
45 to 54	22.1	24.6
55 to 59	10.5	11.8
60 to 64	9.9	10.8
65 to 69	9.8	9.4
70 and over	26.3	15.7

Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture

Allen says women tend to manage smaller farms in terms of both size and sales. For example, only 18.3 percent of women-operated farms had sales of more than $25,000 in 1997, as compared to 36.9 percent of their male counterparts.

Women also tend to run more livestock specialty operations, like goat and horse farms. While smaller in farm size and sales, women are more likely to own their operations. Allen says nearly 80 percent of women operators fully own their farm or ranch, compared to 58 percent of the men. Farming is the principal occupation of 45.5 percent of the women-operated farms as compared to 50.7 percent of the men.

Allen says that, while data seem to show that agriculture may be the most male-dominated profession in American, there are many questions about whether this portrayal is truly representative of women's role in farming. For the 2002 Census of Agriculture, more information will be gathered on multiple farm operators, thus providing more data on women's participation in agriculture.

Related Links

• USDA Census of Agriculture's Announcement on Women in Agriculture

Tenure of Farm Operators

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