DlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 3,1980
One of the important
changes taking place in
rural America these days
has to do with women and
the part they play in the
farm buisness.
Traditionally, farming has
been a man’s game with the
farm wife reaping only
survivor’s benefits. The
usual farm wife of a decade
or two ago spent most of her
time around the farm home
doing the usual household
chores, perhaps tending the
garden, and helping her
husband by running to town
for parts and supplies or
maybe driving a tractor
during the very busy har
vesting season. But it was
still his farm. He made the
decisions, paid the bills, and
otherwise operated the farm
while his wife handled the
family affairs.
Women are waking up
these days to the realization
that such an arrangement is
not all that satisfying and it
also has some serious legal
implications For instance, a
wife who can’t prove that
she’s made any financial
contribution to the business
or drawn any salary from it,
has trouble convincing Uncle
Sam that she deserves more
than the usual survivor’s
benefits.
Farm women are also
discovering that they' can
now go to work and never
leave the farm There are
important jobs they can do
besides feeding a few
chickens and taking care of
the book work.
Many of them are
realizing they would rather
work on the farm with their
mate than go off to some
paid city job. And so en-
terprises are being added,
farm structures reorganized
to give women financially
rewarding parts of the
overall farm business.
The Department of
Agriculture is launching a
study to find out just what is
happening with farm
women. It’s called “The
Farm Women’s Project”
and it’s headed by Carol
Forbes, a lawyer in the
Department of Agriculture
who formerly served as legal
counsel to the House
Agriculture Subcommittee
on dairy and poultry.
She also owns a farm in
Alaska. A random sampling
of some 4100 farm homes is
taking place this Spring with
the National Opinion
Research Center of Chicago
handling the details
Forbes says farm women
work as hard as farm men to
keep the business func
tioning And she thinks the
government, including the
Department of Agriculture,
have pretty much ignored
the wife’s feelings, attitudes
and needs.
Here are some questions
that will be asked
Do the voting
requirements for commodity
referenda discriminate
against farm women?
Are farm women treated
without prejudice when they
apply for Farmers Home
Administration loans 7
Is there adequate
representation of women on
USDA’s various national and
local advisory committees 7
Are there federal or state
Berks Goatherders to hold picnic
FLEETWOOD The dub. milking technique.
April meeting of Berks The program was a The next meeting will be
Goatherders was held at the presentation of information held Saturday, May 17 at
home of Stauffer and Bar- relating to udder health and 10:30 a.m. at Triple Creek
bara Reifsneider, R 4 a milking demonstration Farm operated by Steve and
Fleetwood. given by Barbara Reif- Claire Dav
Approximately 20 families sneider Those 4-H children The program for the Mav
were in attendance. These and adults who are raising meeting will be Fittmv and
represented the Kids with their first doe kids had an ** Fltbng and
Kids 4-H dub and the adult opportunity to leam proper
laws or any USDA
regulations that prevent
women from becoming in
volved in USDA programs
and services?
Smce this is a random
sampling, only a few
thousand women out of a few
million will be contacted.
But others can still make
their feeling known by
writing to Forbes, who is
director, Farm Women’s
Project, ’ Room 1548, South
Building, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
Forbes feels strongly that
women’s attitudes need to be
worked into the
policymaking apparatus,
and once the surveys are
completed she will make
recommendations to the
secretary about possible
administrative changes and
legislative action
A lot of farm women aren’t
waiting for that report to
make their feelings known
More and more they’re
attending and speaking up at
farm gatherings And some
of them are there as more
than farm wives. They are
there as women farmers
The Census Bureau
identified 133,000 farm
women in 1977 who are
classed as independent farm
owner operators And you
can bet that figure will
continue to grow Mean
while, many other women
who used to be classed as
farm wives are taking on
new status as they become
involved in the actual
operation of the farm
business
There isn’t much work on
the modern farm that can’t
be done equally well by men
and women. It will take time
to change attitudes, but it is
happening
Women are gaming wide
acceptance as hired farm
workers, and wives seem to
be making headway as legal
and participating partners in
farming units. And what’s
wrong with that? Why should
a woman who lives on a farm
have to go to town to find a
job 9 And why should a
farmer pay wages to a hired
man while his wife waits
anxiously for his call for
help?
Liberated and employable
women are finding their
place in all phases of society.
There’s no doubt about that.
The backbreaking work that
excluded women in the past
is pretty much gone from
farming.
Only the tradition remains
and that is rapidly disap
pearing.
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Showing and will be followed
by a picnic lunch and a mock
goat show in the afternoon.
Anyone interested in
joining Berks Goatherders
may do so by sending a
check for $5 payable to
Berks Goatherders. Mail
membership payment to
Barbara Reifsneider, R 4042,
Fleetwood, PA 19522.
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