OWENSBORO, Ky. – USDA statistics show that there are 1.2 million women farmers in the United States, with 14 percent of those women serving as principal owners.

Women being the backbone of a farming operation is nothing new. What has surfaced more in recent years is women as sole head of the farm.

Women in Agribusiness (WIA) recently collaborated with International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF) to spotlight the essential roles women play across global agrifood systems, from production to processing and trade. WIA found a rise in the number of women who are sole farm operators.

Suzanne Cecil White (Kentucky), Lorilee Schultz (Illinois) and Zoe Kent (Ohio) are three examples of women who have taken the reins of their farm operations.

White, of Daviess County, is the sole operator of her farm and she owes it to community supported agriculture (CSA).

Cecil Farms has been producing fruits and vegetables commercially since 1981, sending their goods across the country. But it wasn’t until 2011 that Suzanne came back to the farm after teaching for 10 years at Bowling Green.

“I returned to Owensville with the idea of applying for a teaching job,” she said. “Instead, my dad showed me an article in a magazine about CSA. I knew about the production side, having grown up on the farm, and Owensboro had never had a CSA in the community. So that summer I started a CSA. I just learned as I went. The community really took to it and got excited, which in turn, excited me.”

White’s dad and brother worked to establish the commercial side of the produce business, but bringing it to retail and making Cecil Farms Produce a household name in the region was never done.

From that point on, White now oversees the entire Cecil Farms Produce business along with a farm stand. The operation also includes greenhouses with flowers and plants, and she services schools and restaurants with fruits and vegetables.

“Initially, I did all home deliveries with the CSA, delivering watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes, squash and zucchini to all the local schools in Daviess County, then I’d go to Hancock County, then into Henderson County,” she said.

“I still have a lot of people say to me when I tell them what I do, ‘Oh, so your husband is a farmer.’ And I’m glad to reply, ‘No, I’m the farmer.,’ she said. “Yes, my father and brother laid the groundwork for what we have today. I just want to be an example of overcoming, of dreaming and believing big and deeper. And knowing this down in my heart I want to help plant that seed in other women’s hearts.

“Women have always been present on the farm, it’s just now a lot of women have become the actual face of the operations that you see.”

Schultz, of Orangeville, Ill., is manager and owner of Mil-R-Mor Farm, a 60-cow registered Holstein dairy. She became the sole principal owner of her farm after taking over her grandparents’ dairy farm 15 years ago.

Schultz’s dairy story began in seventh grade when she spent her summer days at her grandparents’ dairy farm. Beyond summers, she spent the rest of the year on her parents’ livestock farm, helping tend to beef cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. But no Holstein dairy cows.

Years later, Schultz would find herself stepping into the role of primary operator of the family farm, not by design, but by default. She had to fight for the opportunity to keep the cows when a herd dispersal was being discussed and she had to prove her commitment. What carried her through these moments was the foundation laid years earlier by her grandmother, who never doubted her capability.

“You must have those true believers who can cheer you on and that you know you can go to for unconditional support,” Schultz said.

Schultz already had a full plate milking and feeding cows, but added to that was caring for her grandmother in between milking and calf chores while also raising her 2-year-old daughter.

“I don’t even know how I did it,” she said. “You just keep going, one foot in front of the other.”

Down the road, Schultz stepped into the influential spotlight where decisions are made, including as chairwoman of the Young Cooperators Board within the National Milk Producers Federation and taking the stage to speak during the IDF World Dairy Summit.

Schultz said a reporter once referred to her simply as a farmer, rather than a female farmer.

“It felt like before I was a farmer with an asterisk,” she explained, “to have that reporter just say, ‘dairy farmer Lorilee Schultz from Orangeville, Ill.’ and not female farmer. I feel like my brain just had this shift, like, yeah, I am a farmer. Full stop.”

At 30, Kent is the owner and operator of Kent Farms in Crawford County, Ohio. As the eighth generation, she feels a responsibility to continue the family’s legacy.

“I can’t remember a time I didn’t want to farm,” Kent said. “I think there was one time in fifth grade I wanted to be a hairdresser. My parents steered me away from that.”

Her first job on the farm was driving a 420 lawnmower.

“Then I convinced my dad I could drive kind of straight, so I got bumped up to driving the 4440 and clipping wheat stubble, a job you can’t mess up too bad,” she said.

This led to running the combine and other farm machinery.

She attended Ohio State University, where she studied ag business. She enjoyed college life, but knew farming was where she wanted to be. She worked on the farm during the summer months, but after graduation she returned home to farm full time.

“In 2021, dad decided he was ready to retire so I bought him out. This is my fourth year of solely owning and running the farm,” she said.

When she started farming she withstood lots of criticism and doubt from many who don’t know her.

“When I came back to the farm at the beginning, I would hear comments like ‘You must be your dad’s secretary’, or ‘It’s nice that your dad’s letting you hang out.’ But everyone who knows me understands that I’m capable of doing all of the things I need to do on the farm.”

Kent refuses to get caught up in stereotypes or labels of being a female farmer. Instead, she empowers others to be their best and enjoy all facets of the farm. She farms alone. Well, almost alone.

“I have one mostly full-time employee, JD. He’s a mechanic,” Kent said. “I am not good with a wrench. So, he keeps everything in working motion, and I’m really thankful for him.”