Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Shared Histories and Expertial Challenges for Pennsylvania's Female Farmers
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
While much has been made of the global feminization of agriculture, the United States reports fewer women are calling a barn their corporate office, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census of Agriculture. Ranked in the top 10 for the number of female farm operators, Pennsylvania saw more than a 1 percent drop in the Census count from 2007 to 2012; a seemingly innocuous decline but one that follows a quadruple increase since 1978. Women now run nearly 15% of farms in the state and in 2012, their market value of products sold was $320 million. A unique history binds contemporary Commonwealth female farmers to nineteenth and early twentieth century predecessors; in challenging economic times, women adopted product specialization and contributed to the state’s predominance in agriculture. Today, women operators’ niche production of organics, fruit, grains, and small animal husbandry for milk, meat, and fiber thrives, even with the state’s varied topography and weather. Through interviews with farming women statewide, this study examines what ties these early farmers and modern day operators together and whether the practices of agrarian ancestresses are heritable. The narratives illustrate how female farmers experience and inhabit the land they work and address whether modern day specialization is a contextual manifestation of an agricultural heritage. Can the past have meaning for a collective future?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dianna Clemens-Heim is writing her thesis in the Masters of Humanities program at Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA, where she works as Prospect Researcher in Institutional Advancement. Author of two editions of “Cumberland Valley Barns: Past and Present,” she is a member of, and Facebook administrator for, the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania. Her ‘barnstorming’ has introduced her to women around the Commonwealth, interested in vernacular structure preservation, and proud of the contributions to upper Appalachia’s agriculture by female farmers.
Shared Histories and Expertial Challenges for Pennsylvania's Female Farmers
While much has been made of the global feminization of agriculture, the United States reports fewer women are calling a barn their corporate office, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census of Agriculture. Ranked in the top 10 for the number of female farm operators, Pennsylvania saw more than a 1 percent drop in the Census count from 2007 to 2012; a seemingly innocuous decline but one that follows a quadruple increase since 1978. Women now run nearly 15% of farms in the state and in 2012, their market value of products sold was $320 million. A unique history binds contemporary Commonwealth female farmers to nineteenth and early twentieth century predecessors; in challenging economic times, women adopted product specialization and contributed to the state’s predominance in agriculture. Today, women operators’ niche production of organics, fruit, grains, and small animal husbandry for milk, meat, and fiber thrives, even with the state’s varied topography and weather. Through interviews with farming women statewide, this study examines what ties these early farmers and modern day operators together and whether the practices of agrarian ancestresses are heritable. The narratives illustrate how female farmers experience and inhabit the land they work and address whether modern day specialization is a contextual manifestation of an agricultural heritage. Can the past have meaning for a collective future?
