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Conference on
GENDER ISSUES IN FARMING SYSTEMS
RESEARCH AND EXTENSION
THE FLORIDA WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
RESEARCH/EXTENSION PROGRAM
by
Christina H. Gladwin*
Like their counterparts in Africa, Latin America, and Asia,
Florida women farm. Some are full-time farmers who drive
tractors and on their own raise major money crops such as beans,
poultry, and even registered bulls. Some run agribusinesses such
as fertilizer supply houses, citrus groves, and nurseries. Other
women are part-time farmers who co-manage the family farm
alongside their husbands, raising hay, chickens (both layers and
broilers), tobacco, vegetables, bees, beef cattle, quarterhorses,
and thoroughbred racing horses. In addition, there are young
women who help out on their parents' farm by taking care of
animals both big and small, by picking and hauling, and helping
to load a tobacco barn. They all describe their role as one of
"pitching in and helping, doing whatever needs to be done to keep
the farm going and the family. together."
Sometimes women contribute to production on the small farm,
as do women on north Florida part-time farms who grow beans and
tobacco, milk cows, and haul hogs to market. Others contribute
to the revenues of large agribusiness firms, most of which are
located in south Florida. These women serve as general managers
of the office, operate microcomputers, and keep the general
*Christina H. Gladwin is an Associate Professor in the Food
and Resource Economics Department, G155 McCarty Hall, FRED,
IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Science), University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
ledger and payroll accounts of the agribusiness. While they may
be daughters or wives of the production managers of the firm,
usually they are trained bookkeepers hired especially for the job
of managing the office or operating the computer. Still other
women have more direct contact with the produce of
agribusinesses, as packers and sorters in packing houses, or as
farm workers in the fields. Finally, many young agribusiness
women are also:farm wives who are juggling full- or part-time
off-farm work with farm tasks like bookkeeping, accounting, and
computer programming.
Why do they farm? Farming is a goal in itself for some
families. As one woman put it, "When you live on a farm and
enjoy it, you're already ahead of the game." Maintaining a rural
residence, satisfying the desire to "stay where you are...," to
live in the country, eat high quality fruits and vegetables, and
raise one's children in a healthy environment, where the mores
and values of neighbors are known and shared, are also reasons
Florida women farm.
The active farm work of all these women exposes the myth
that, "he's the farmer; she's the helper." To help Florida farm
women be recognized and supported as farmers and not just
helpers, I initiated a Florida Women in Agriculture
research/extension (WIA R/E) program in 1981. The program has
features that are similar to a farming systems research/extension
(FSR/E) program; many features, however, are quite different from
a FSR/E program. As the program is described, these similarities
and differences will be highlighted.
The Research Component of the Florida WIA Program
The Florida WIA program, like a FSR/E program, has both a
research and extension component to it. Like a FSR/E program,
the WIA R/E program starts from where the farmer -- the woman
farmer in this case -- is at, and tries to help her fulfill her
farming goals, as she perceives them, through extension programs.
A research component to the program is necessary, in order to
discover each woman's farming goals, plans, and decision
processes, to put her in the context of her farm or agribusiness,
and understand her way of life.
Optimally, each farm woman is interviewed either on her farm
or in her agribusiness office at the start of the program. This
may be done using the sondeo methodology (Hildebrand, 1980), or a
combination of sondeo and more formal survey instrument, as I
prefer. With the latter technique, an interdisciplinary team (of
state extension specialist/researcher and county extension agent)
visits farms and agribusinesses for three to five days, and asks
women a series of survey questions as well as more open-ended and
spontaneous questions about their farming operation. Although
these personal interviews are longer than the typical sondeo
interview, and average one and one-half hours, they provide data
which may be compared to a national average and/or subjected to a
statistical test. In addition, these one-on-one visits provide
invaluable information to the local extension agent who may be
acquainted with the women but not knowledgeable about their
farming needs and problems. The personal interviews also tell
the agent whether (and when) farm women are interested in meeting
together to form a network, and what kinds of educational
programs they want at their meetings.
To date, women farmers have been interviewed in six Florida
counties: Baker County (with the help of Dr. Masuma Downie),
Gilchrist County (with Janet Weston), Jefferson County (with
David Zimet and Donna Sorenson), Levy County (with Mary Peters),
Collier County (with Denise Coleman), and Hendry County (with
Nancy Hendricks). Data have already been analyzed from two north
Florida counties (Baker and Gilchrist). Because theory, methods,
and results are described in detail elsewhere (Downie and
Gladwin, 1981; Gladwin, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985a, 1985b, 1985c),
only major results are repeated here.
Results show that on average, the north Florida farm woman is
a part-time farmer and is now farming more than did her mother and
grandmother. Data in Table 1 show men's and women's
contributions on four work dimensions: farm work, off-farm work,
garden work, and housework. The data were collected in an open-
ended way by asking women to recall the major tasks they
performed throughout the year and the time required to complete
those tasks. Although north Florida men spend more time doing
farm work (35 hours per week) and off-farm work (20 hours per
week) than women, north Florida women on average spend 22 hours per
week on farm tasks and 17 hours per week on off-farm work. In
addition, women spend 26 hours per week on housework and during
the spring-summer garden season, an additional 12 hours per week
gardening and processing garden produce. In total, men work 62
hours per week, on average, during the main garden season; while
women work 78 hours per week. Men, however, spend more time
farming than women; but women's farm hours are substantial
and amount to, on average, a part-time job. When compared to
previous national estimates of women's farm work of 11 hours per
week, as reported by time-use diaries in the 1920s and 1930s
(Vanek 1974), it appears that on average, the north Florida farm
wife is farming more now.
Also in an open-ended way, the same women wer6 asked about their
perceptions of themselves, in order to test the strength of the
belief, "He's the farmer; she's the helper." Results showed
that 42 percent of the women considered themselves to be farmers;
while 14 percent thought of themselves as part-time farmers.
Eight percent said they were retired from farming, and 36 percent
thought of themselves as farmers' wives. In this sample at least,
more women considered themselves to be farmers than farmers'
wives. As women participate more in farming, they will tend to
think of themselves as farmers rather than just helpers.
Evidence From National Time Series Data
These results are collaborated by recent data from national
surveys. This is necessary because it is impossible to
distinguish regional variation from change over time with these
data, because the 1930s data are national rather than Florida-
specific data. Fortunately, data from the 1980 USDA phone survey
of 2,500 farm women and the 1984 Ford Tractor survey of 3,300
farm women fill the gap, because these data are directly
comparable. Trying to verify the results of the earlier USDA phone
survey, Ford Tractor Operations in 1984 launched its own mail-out
survey of 9,300 U.S. and Canadian farm women, and received 3,300
responses (Ford Tractor 1985). Questions were asked about the
type and location of the farm, the type of work the farm woman
did on a regular and occasional basis, the kinds of decisions
made jointly or separately by farm husband and wife, and the
informational, service, and dealership needs of the farm family
regarding tractors. Because the series of questions on the farm
woman's involvement in farm tasks were directly comparable to the
same questions on the earlier 1980 USDA national survey, the time
series data in Table 2 allow us to see if U.S. farm women are
farming more now.
In the rows of Table 2 are listed the tasks on a farm that a
woman may perform on a regular basis (column 2), an occasional basis
(column 3), or never. (Because "never" is a residual category, the
percentage of women who never perform the task is omitted from the
table, for brevity.) The columns of Table 2 report the 1980 USDA
results on the left hand side, and the 1984 Ford Tractor results on
the right hand side.
The results of both surveys show that farm women regularly
take care of the garden, do the bookkeeping and financial work, act
as chauffeur and gofer and run for spare parts, and take care of
farm animals. A comparison of the survey results, moreover, show
that more women are regularly doing these tasks in 1984 than in
1980. In addition, both surveys show that occasionally, women
supervise farm work, harvest crops, make major purchases of
equipment, and do field work without machinery. Only one-third
of the women, however, occasionally do the plowing or discing,
and market their products. In 1984, more women are doing all
these tasks on an occasional basis. Clearly, women are very
involved in farm work, and that involvement is increasing!
This is partly due to the fact that, more and more, they are
substituting for their spouses who must subsidize depressed farm
incomes with off-farm incomes in this time of farm crisis. It
may also be partly due to technological change in domestic work
within the home. Because of modern home appliances, time spent
doing housework has decreased from 50 to 26 hours per week during
the last 50 years (Vanek 1974). This released time has allowed
modern farm women to increase either their farm work or their
off-farm work. Although some women choose to spend that time off
the farm, in the north Florida sample an equal proportion of them
choose to farm (Gladwin, 1982). As a result, more and more farm
women think of themselves as "farmers" rather than "farmers'
wives."
What do these results imply? The survival of the U.S. family
farm, even if only as a part-time farm, requires that women
farmers be recognized and supported as farmers and not just
helpers or farmers' wives. While every woman wants to build a
home, the average woman's contribution of 22 hours per week of
farm work should be recognized at least as much as her 26 hours
per week of housework. The entire agricultural community (the
land grant university, the extension service, financial
institutions, imput suppliers like Ford Tractor, local churches,
and extended family members) should recognize the growing role
and contribution of the farm wife as agricultural producer on the
family farm, and should give her access to information about
inputs and markets, training from the extension service, credit
from financial institutions, land, and new technology necessary
to co-manage the farm.
The Extension Component of Florida WIA
These are the goals of the Florida WIA Extension Program:
-- to recognize the expanded farming role of farm women
today, as well as their multiple roles in the family, and
to help women gain access to information, training,
credit, land, and new technology necessary to co-manage
the farm.
Starting in 1982, with the help of Dr. Katie Walker and Ms.
Evelyn Rooks (both home economists), and Dr. Jon Van Blokland (an
agricultural economist), the state WIA program was initiated for
women actively engaged in Florida agriculture.
At the start, the strategy followed was to put on educational
programs for farm women in the counties, hold agent training
workshops for extension agricultural and home economic agents,
and publish reports in the popular press and extension circulars.
Educational programs were designed to cover a wide range of
topics. The typical day-long workshop included a slide-tape
module on the farming contributions of women by myself, a 2-hour
session on financial management tools and coordinated financial
statements (balance sheets, income statements, cash flow
statements) by Dr. P.J. van Blokland, a demonstration of computer
software with financial applications by Rom Alderman of the Food
and Resource Economics FarmLab, a talk on stress management by
Evelyn Rooks, and possibly another talk on money or time
management by Dr. Katie Walker. Occasionally, a local lawyer and
a banker would discuss estate planning and credit-use problems,
respectively. Other state specialists were willing to discuss
developing leadership skills (Beaulieu), and understanding farm
policy (Carriker).
Successes
As a result, the following day-long workshops were held and
newspaper stories filed:
Date
Oct. 31,'81
Fall, '82
Jan. 20,'83
Mar. 18,'83
Dec. 1,'83
Dec. 2,'83
Description
More than one hundred farm women attend a two-
hour workshop by Dr. Masuma Downie and myself at
the Governor's Conference on the Future of Small
Farms, Ocala, FL. We present results of a
monograph, Florida Farm Wives: They Help the Family
Farm Survive. At the end of the program, one farm
woman reports, "This is like going to a revival
meeting; I'm going back home and encourage my
neighbors to keep farming!" The program is
subsequently reviewed by Gainesville Sun.
Story on woman farmer program by Ann Sides, IFAS
Editorial, is published by more than ten Florida
newspapers. Numerous radio appearances follow.
A day-long workshop in Santa Rosa County is held
entitled, "For Today's Farm Woman -- Time, Money,
Computers, Estate. Planning, and Stress Management,"
with L. Bowman, home economics agent, a local
lawyer, extension specialists E. Rooks, M. Eason,
and myself. Twenty-five farm women attend.
A program is held on "The Role of Farm Women in
Saving the Family Farm" in a "Know Your Beef
Shortcourse," organized by the Florida Cowbelles
Ass'n, Ramada Inn, Ocala, FL. Fifty women attend.
A day-long agent-training workshop is held in
Macclenny, Fl., on the woman farmer program with
talks on time management (Dr. K. Walker), computers,
farming systems (M. Swisher), Florida farm women
and coordinated financial statements (myself).
Four agents attend.
A program is held on "Partners in Progress: Women
in the Pork Industry," a symposium at the 1983
International Pig Trade Show, Atlantic Civic
Center, Atlanta, GA, with talks on financial tools
by myself, the hog confinement business by the --
first woman "Pork All American," and ways to
promote pork consumption by a President of the
Description
Porkettes. One hundred couples attend.
Jan.,'84
Jan. 11,12,
1984
June 21,'84
Feb.,'84
June 26-28,
'84
Nov.1,'84
Copy of the slide-tape presentation on "How Florida
Women Help the Farm and Agribusiness Firm Survive"
is requested for use at a National Rural Women's
Committee meeting by Christina Mosher Wilson and
Shirley Traxler, Secretary's Office of Public
Liaison, USDA, Wash., D.C.
Two programs on the Florida WIA program are held
during a Home '84 Economics agent-training workshop
organized by Drs. K. Walker and V. Mitchell. Sixty
agents attend.
Program on "Florida Women as Agricultural
Producers" is held in the Homemakers Mini-College
organized by Dr. E. Bolton, Gainesville. Forty farm
women attend.
Write-up of the program appears in article by Laura
Lane entitled, "Networks of Farm Women: Why They
Are Springing Up and What They Do" (Farm Journal,
1984). The program is also the subject of articles
in March 83's and Feb. 84's Successful Farming by
Cheryl Tevis. Although the impact of these articles
is hard to measure, it is clear that our message is
spreading through the major farm magazines that
farm women are playing an increasingly vital role
on the family farm and agribusiness and deserve
recognition and support for their contributions.
I am invited to be a member of Ford Tractor's
Women's Council, which is a group of women from the
major farm organizations who advise Ford Tractor
on their policies which affect farm women. I
attend a three-day meeting and evaluate tractors
and advertisements. The impact of this council
should not be measured by attendance (30 women),
but by changes in Ford Tractor's advertisements,
in which women now appear as active farmers rather
than background scenery, and changes in the
training of their dealers, who now deal more and
more with women.
A day-long agent-training workshop is held
with talks on the role of farm and agribusiness
women, enterprise budgeting (myself), coordinated
financial statements (P.J. van Blokland), Computer
Software (R. Alderman), Stress Management (E.
Rooks), and Florida Inheritance Law (P. Stern, a
lawyer). The number of agents attending this year
has increased to ten.
Date
Problems
Although the statewide program received publicity and seemed
to be getting off the ground by the end of 1984, it also had problems:
1. County agents didn't seem interested in the WIA program.
The male agricultural agents weren't at all interested in the
program, in spite of numerous letters and extension articles sent
out to them. In addition, the women agricultural agents in
Florida are few: 17 of 67 counties have a woman agent in
agriculture, horticulture, water, livestock, or farm management.
Many older home economics agents located near family farms in
north Florida, where the program should have taken off, also
weren't interested in a agricultural program about which they
knew little. Finally, I was not in the home economics department
and didn't meet the younger, innovative home economics agents who
might start a WIA program.
This lack of connection with the right agents was a problem
because extension programs in Florida are the responsibility of
the local extension agent, who is virtually autonomous of the
state extension specialist in the Florida cooperative extension
service but directly responsible to both her county commission
and district extension director in IFAS. My role as state
specialist was merely to motivate the agents to initiate the
program, and organize other state specialists to use their
particular expertise at the workshop. Fortunately, organizing
the state specialists was not hard to do, as they are rated by
how many programs they put on, and are prima donnas always
looking for audiences. Unfortunately, finding the right
extension agent and then motivating her to start a WIA program
was (and still is) difficult.
2. Women didn't come out to the day-long workshops. Why?
Although research showed that women were farming more, and needed
access to agricultural information, especially about financial
management, it also showed that they were on average working 66
to 78 hours/week. This heavy work load means that farm women have
trouble finding the time and energy to go out to meetings.
Because many are working at off-farm jobs during the day and
farming and keeping house at night, they cannot attend a night-
time meeting, never mind a day-long workshop. In addition, an
analysis of their values and goals showed that most farm women
are more family-oriented than feminist; this value system might
affect their joining a woman's organization (Gladwin, 1985b).
3. For the agents who were interested in WIA, there was no
follow-up to the one-day workshops. The workshop was held, I
offered to do research, of which many extension agents are
skeptical, and that was it!
The Networking Solution
Fortunately, these problems were interrelated and have
possible solutions. According to home economist Rooks (personal
communication), the key to solving the problem of uninterested
agents is one-on-one program-planning visits with an agent in her
office after the agent-training workshop. Another helpful
strategy is to have a friendly discussion with a sympathetic
district extension director who can influence agents to start a
program. A solution to the problem of women too busy to come out
to meetings, according to home economist Mary Peters of Levy
County, is to let county agents send out WIA newsletters composed
of short articles written by state extension specialists on a
quarterly basis.
The best solution, suggested by home economist Denise
Coleman of Collier County and reiterated by Laura Lane of Farm
Journal, is to form networks of farm women or facilitate networks
already formed, such as WIFE (Women Involved in Farm Economics),
Farm Bureau Women, Florida Women in Citrus, the Cowbelles, the
Porkettes, American Agri-women, etc. According to Lane, "A
network is an informal cluster of people who share information
and give each other psychological support."(Farm Journal, 1984).
It requires members with a common cause or goals; resources from
the outside to work with, and a core of six or less leaders who
will organize the larger group. If such a group is formed, it is
then acceptable for a male agricultural agent to work with the
group; examples are given by Leonard Cobb and the-Jackson County
chapter of WIFE and Bill Boudarak and the Lake County group of
women horticulturalists. By networking, women can get access to
special extension training, influence public policies related to
agriculture, promote agricultural products in an urban
environment, and receive mutual support from others like
themselves.
In January, 1983, after reading about north Florida farm
women, Denise Coleman approached me with a suggestion that we
work together to form a network of agribusiness women in Collier
County, south Florida. But she insisted, "South Florida is not
like north Florida; these are not farm women. They're
agribusiness women; they don't live on farms." I suggested that I
come and see for myself, and together we did a sondeo of
agribusinesses and women office managers in Collier County. In
the following March, 1983, Coleman organized a day-long
workshop entitled "An Agribusiness Women's Network," with talks
on woman's contributions to agribusiness, finances, accounting
problems, and national farm women's movements. Because this
network is on-going, sequential "lunch-n-learn" seminars have
covered topics of time management, estate planning, coordinated
financial statements, strengthening family ties, and labor
management. There has also been an open house whereby farmers
could drop in to try out new computer software, an annual
family style bar-b-que designed to kick off the year in
September, and a luncheon of local produce for county
commissioners and the media which coincides with National
Agriculture Day in March. In all, more than 110 women form the
network.
Since then, more networks of farm women have been
independently started in south Florida: in Dade County by
horticulture agent Mary Lamberts, in Manatee County by
agriculture agent Phyllis Gilreath and home economist Brenda
Bennett, and in Brevard County by home economist Joy Satcher. In
addition, home economist Lisa Abrams of Palm Beach County is
working with Karen Spooner, state president of WIFE, in a Belle
Glade chapter of WIFE. In north Florida, home economists Mary
Peters of Levy County, Muriel Gravely of Hamilton County, and Pat
S. Barber of Baker County are now trying to start WIA networks.
In Suwannee and Columbia Counties where the Florida FSR/E program
is operating, agriculture agent Mickie Swisher and farm
management agent Debby Watts are carrying on a coordinated
production and financial management program for farm women. And
finally in Central Florida, horticulture agent Catherine Neal is
organizing agents from five other central counties to put on a
regional WIA workshop with existing women's citrus organizations
(Florida Women for Citrus, Women in Citrus) and Bee Etinger of
the Adult Education Program of Valencia Community College.
Conclusion
In order to encourage more women to farm and actively
participate in agribusiness management, networks of farm and
agribusiness women are developed at the county level by the
Florida WIA extension program. Research is also conducted in
order to understand the farm or agribusiness woman's goals,
plans, and decision processes, and to understand her in the
context of her farm family life. The objectives of the Florida
WIA groups formed by county extension agents are to:
-- be a support and networking group for women in
agriculture,
-- share information and bring in speakers to address
problems or issues of concern to women in agriculture,
-- promote local agricultural products and increase positive
media visibility for agriculture, and
-- encourage women to become involved in and pursue careers
in agriculture.
Because of these objectives, the Florida WIA research/extension
program has some features that are similar to, and some features
that are different from, a farming systems research/extension
(FSR/E) program. Similar features include: necessary linkages
between the research and extension components of the program, an
emphasis on accepting the (woman) farmer as she is, not as she
should be, and a focus on a needs assessment of local women
farmers at the start of the extension program.
Two features of the Florida WIA R/E program, however,
distinguish it from a FSR/E program. Unlike a FSR/E program, the
Florida WIA extension program does not necessarily aim to
increase the yields or gross sales of women farmers, as would a
FSR/E project in the Third World, for two reasons. First, over-
production rather than under-production is the problem in U.S.
agriculture. With supply exceeding demand for most farm
products, U.S. farmers face problems of declining prices and farm
incomes in the absence of an "export boom." In this economic
environment of farm crises and bankruptcies due to low exports
and therefore low farm incomes (USDA, 1985; Gladwin and Zabawa,
1984), the Florida WIA program focuses more on financial
management than production management problems.
Second, national and state data show that U.S. farm women
tend to be financial managers more than production managers on
their family farm: 69% of U.S. farm women regularly keep the
books and financial records (Ford Tractor, 1985); whereas
only 49% of the women occasionally harvest crops and only 37%
of the women occasionally do the plowing. Only a minority (5.4
percent) of women are farm household heads. For these reasons,
improving the financial skills of farm women is an important aim
of many county WIA extension programs. Keeping the farm in business
often means keeping the farm woman up on the latest financial
management tool, be they balance sheets or income statements or
user-friendly computer software.
The second feature of the Florida WIA R/E program that is
different from a FSR/E program is the former's emphasis on
organizing or facilitating networks of farm women. A FSR/E
program in the Third World may work with farmer cooperatives, but
does not typically put time or money into organizing them. Given
the problems faced by the Florida WIA extension program (lack of
interested agents, women too busy to come to meetings, and no
follow-up proceduress, there was no choice but to organize or
facilitate networks of women in agriculture at the county level.
These networks could then meet regularly; alternatively, they
could meet annually or bi-annually and communicate mainly through
a WIA newsletter. In either case, the Florida WIA R/E program
serves the needs of farm and agribusiness women at the county
level.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This paper was made possible by the
gracious hospitality of Florida farm women in Baker, Gilchrist,
Collier, Hendry, Jefferson, and Levy Counties, the cooperation of
Rick Kinder of Ford Tractor, the help of Dr. Masuma Downie, Dr.
Katie Walker, Janet Weston, Evelyn Rooks, Laura Lane, Denise Coleman, Nancy
Hendricks, Mary Lamberts, Donna Sorenson, Mary Peters, and funds
provided by National Science Foundation Grant BNS-8218894.
Table 1. Average hours/week of farm work, off-farm work, housework
and garden work of men and women.
Baker and Gilchrist Counties
(n-48)
Men Women
Average hours/week of farm work 34.7 21.8
Average hours/week of off-farm work 20.2 17.4
Suob-toal: 54.9 39.2
Average hours/week of housework 1.9 26.52
Year-round. total: 56.8 65.72
Average hours/week of spring-
surer garden work* 5.1 12.35
Garden-season total 61.9 78.07
*Applies only in the 8 to 10 weeks of the spring- smmr
gardening season.
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The name may be new, if not the idea
-Networks of farm women
Why they are springing up
and what they do
* A network is an informal cluster
of people who share information and
give each other psychological sup-
port. The idea is catching on among. .
women who farm, and work off the
farm, too. The network I know best
is in Florida.;
Why Florida? That's the home
base of Christina H. Gladwin, an-
thropoiogist turned ag economist at
the University of Florida. who has
been researching farm women's work
and worries since 1979. In the process
she has become a champion and
friend of women on farms and in ag-
ribusiness and a catalyst for self-
help groups.
Networks eist because of a blind
spot in agriculture, Gladwin says.
"Farm women often have been ex-
cluded from training, new technolo-
sy, land purchases and credit, but
when they band together they can get
what thy need." nwo summ,,a-.w..u.u
a ty need.DIANE ANGE IS A PART-TI
ages more than 22 hours a
Women am forthright about acre of staked tomatoes a
their needs when interested people in- often works all night, empt
quire. I learned that from a network which separates honey front
in the formative stage in Collier on the farm, has had a full
County. We had coffee first, then party for Hendry County, F
each woman introduced herself. Said country taking courses."L
one: "I'm a rancher's wife. a 'gofer,' "and owg your subject
By LAURA LANE
ME FARMER. Yeeround her farm work ave
week. She and her husband Fulton have 200
nd sol honey wholesale. In the spring Diane
ying franms from 600 hives into an extractor
Scombs. Diane, who can do almost everything
ime job for four years as appraiser of rel pro.
a. (photo upper right). She has crisscrossed the
aning for Its own sake turns me on," sta says,
Inrea set-confidMnes."
Women who fee ill-prepared for
their changed roles-off-farm or
on-have numerous opportunities
for both professional help and mutu-
al support from other farm women
during 1984:
If you want training in farm
marketing, ag finance, new technolo-
gy and activism, you can enroll in a
workshop for women in agriculture
planned by the Center for Women's
Services, Western Michigan Universi-
ty. Kalamazoo. Mich. 49008. Cost
will be S50 for registration and all
Smeals, but this. fee does not cover
lodging at the Kalamazoo Center Hil-
ton. For further information, call the
Center: 616-383-6097.
0 The U.S. Department of Agri-
culture will offer its 1984 Fan"
Women's Forum in Washington,
D.C. April 11-13. The program will
focus on Speaking Out in Behalf of
Agriculture. Attendance will be lim-
ited to 150. Write Shirley Traxler,
Secretary's Office of Public Liaison.
USDA. Washington. D.C. 20250 or
call 202-447-2798.
* All farm and ranch women are in-
vited to a marketing conference in
.FAM*RMJOJrt4AO*1sN Y I9
Where
you can
get help
_I
Family living.
MANY WOMEN ARE FARMERS-not just helped of their husbands-
and the ag community ought to ecogniaz that. believes Christina H.
Gadwin (blnow) of the Univrity of Florida. She research how
womn pitch i (ase other photos) and helps them st up nMtworks.
a cowboy at roundup time, book-
keeper, microcomputer operator,
substitute mail carrier, and I'm in
real estate."
Such a variety of crops and respond.
bilities flowed out that I was amaz-
ed how easily thee 15 women could
reach a consensus on help they
wanted:
0 computer operation at home or in
a business 0 marketing profitably
what we produce 0 debt refinancing,
cash flow and budgets 0 how to
cope with family stress 0 basic estate
planning 0 managing time "so
we're not so tired" 0 how to have
moe clout with OSHA and other
agencies that "regulate us."
Even before the meeting broke up,
the women heard an accountant dis-
cuss computer capability, and since
Chicago Feb. 26-28 at the Hyatt Re- -
s" ncy, O'Hare Airport. Registration
Sfee is S150. For further information.
write FWN Marketing Conference,
Box 643, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201, or
phone Bernice Rogers at 414-
..423-0100. "
-.: '.. Two seminars for rural women in
.. business are being planned at the
...University of Minnesota-Morris
Campus, during February or March.
For exact dates and other detail, call
Gail Nelson at 612-589-2211. This is
c; continuing education for the network
named Rural Women Mean Busi-
"
then there has been another session
for learning about computers. They
are etng what they asked for ...
programs such as When Your Hus-
band Dies. Managing Your Time,
Coordinated Financial Statements
Building Family Strengths.
. "Sometime our network needs ea-
parts, but it's easy to underestimate
how much women help each other,"
says Deise Coleman county Exten-
sion home economist, whose Immo.
kalee office is both meeting place and
point of contact for the 126 women
who comprise the agribusiness net-
work. "Whatever the problem,
someone in the group likely has faced
it and can offer guidance."
.Adds Gladwin: "Specialists can
bffer advice on enterprise budgets, as
I did today, but we must not over-
Themes for 1984 will be-tIbe
yFaces of Business and
"Business is Taxing." .
S**An educational conference for
young farm and ranch couples in-
-cluding classes on accodtiing, mar-
keting and bargaining is scheduled
at the Tan-Tar-A Lodge on Lake of
the Ozarks. Osage Beach Mo,
Feb. 26-28 by the Missouri Farm
Bureau. In charge is Leroy Deles
Dernier, Box 658, Jefferson 'City,
Mo. 65101, phone 314-893-1400.
A statewide seminar on farm
marketing for farm women will be
look family tensions, women contin-
ally remind us. A woman admitted
today she feels guilty because she -
wants credit for farm work she's do-
ing-work her husband traditionally
has done but can't do because he has
an off-farm job. Another feels guilty
about leaving children with a babysit-
ter while she works as a bookkeeper
in a packing plant. Talking about this
to professionals or to other women in
the same boat is good therapy."
A woman in a pink dress spoke for
many when she asked for help with
time management because "I'm
chronically tired." Gladwin's re-
search explains why: On the average.
a Florida farm woman logs 22 hours
a week of farm work, 18 hours of
off-farm employment, 26 hours of
housework ... 66 hours in all. Dur-
ing gardening season increase those
hours to 78 a week. Why do this? For
survival of the farm. they tell Glad-
win and her associates.
Ingredient of a network are
few: (1) farm women with shared in-
tere ; ask around and you'll find a
cluster to begin with: (2) a meeting
place start with somebody's home or
a central spot where there's no
charge (3) resource people; consider
professionals from Extension, your
community college, a women's study
center, vocational schools, branches
of universities.
If networks spread and grow, it
will be because no one likes to feel
alone. Mutual support can be one
women-tested answer. <
held July 10-12 at the Holiday Inn
Decatur, Il For details write Ellen
Culver, Illinois Farm Buran. P.O."
Box 2901. Bloomington. Ill 61701,
orcal309-557-2537. : -.-- .-.
SA seminar on finance, 'T ..
Cash-Flow Crisis will be offered by
ord iaor aions of Troy, -
.Mich., several times during 1984: at
the Kalamazoo conference men-
tioned earlier for women of the
American Soybean Association
meeting in Tulsa, Okla. Aug. 3-7;
and for American Agri-Women.
meeting in Peoria. IL, Nov. 13-15.
.- ;..;- --.- -,,- -
FARM 4OUMnAUM104o. UARY 1164
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