Abstract:
This research is based on in-depth interviews with 20 women farmers and
ranchers from the state of Oregon. These women employ a variety of methods and
subscribe to a number of divergent philosophies regarding agricultural practices.
The intention of this study is to examine how women who are the primary or equal
operators of their farms or ranches experience gender in the acquisition, use, and
sharing of agricultural knowledge.
While most respondents feel they have not experienced gender bias in these
circumstances, they do discuss other gendered challenges and benefits to being
women in their male-dominated profession. They also discuss other unexpected
aspects of agricultural knowledge, among them the value of long-term experience
with one's land in building one's knowledge of agriculture; the value of agriculture
not only to agriculturalists but also to non-farmers, to the broader culture, and to
society; and the need to bridge the knowledge disconnect between agriculturalists,
consumers, and environmentalists in order to create a truly economically, socially,
and environmentally sustainable agriculture.
Future research should include an exploration of the realities that
differences of race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, and ownership status across gender
make to farmer and rancher perceptions of the value of agriculture to themselves, to
non-farmers, and to the rest of society.
