Robert A. Hoppe

Penni Korb

Economic

Research

Service

Economic 

Information

Bulletin 

Number 111

April 2013

United States Department of Agriculture

Characteristics of Women Farm 

Operators and Their Farms
Economic Research Service 

www.ers.usda.gov

Recommended citation format for this publication:

Hoppe, Robert A., and Penni Korb. Characteristics of Women Farm Operators 

and Their Farms, EIB-111, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic 

Research Service, April 2013.

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United States Department of Agriculture
Economic Information Bulletin Number 111 l A Report from the Economic Research Service l April 2013

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the number of women-operated farms increased substantially. In 2007, women operated 14 percent of all U.S. farms, up from 5 percent in 

1978. Women-operated farms increased in all sales classes, including farms with 

annual sales of $1 million or more. Most women farmers operated very small farms in 

2007; about three-fourths of their farms had sales of less than $10,000. A small share 

of their farms (5 percent), however, sold $100,000 or more in farm products. About 

half of women-operated farms specialized in grazing livestock—beef cattle, horses, 

and sheep or goats. In addition to a principal operator, some farms have secondary 

operators. If both principal and secondary operators are counted, the number of 

women operators in 2007 expands from 306,200 to nearly 1 million.

Keywords: farm operators, farm structure, farm women, female farm operators, 

female-operated farms, small farms, women farm operators, women-operated farms, 

women in agriculture

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ani L. Katchova, University of Kentucky; Anne Effland, USDA 

Economic Research Service; Virginia Harris, USDA National Agricultural Statistics 

Service; and an anonymous reviewer for their reviews and helpful comments. We 

also appreciate the editorial services of Courtney Knauth and design and layout of 

the report by Cynthia A. Ray, both in the USDA Economic Research Service.

Robert A. Hoppe, rhoppe@ers.usda.gov

Penni Korb

Characteristics of Women Farm Operators 

and Their Farms
ii Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Contents

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Data Sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Previous ERS Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Shifts in the Size Distribution of Farms, 1982-2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

More Women-Operated Farms in All Sales Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A Growing Share of Women-Operated Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Characteristics of Principal Women Farm Operators, 

With Gender Comparisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Women Farm Operators Are Older. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Women Farm Operators Are More Highly Educated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Women Operators Often Rely on Off-Farm Work and Income. . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Returns to Women-Operated Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Women’s Smaller Farms Lead to Lower Returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Farming Despite Negative Returns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Farms and Sales by Specialization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Farm and Operator Characteristics Vary by Specialization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Grains and Oilseeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Hay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Specialty Crops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Miscellaneous Crops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Beef Cattle Farming and Ranching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Cattle Feedlots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Dairy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Horses and Other Equines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sheep and Goats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Poultry and Eggs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Hogs and Pigs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Miscellaneous Livestock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Women’s Commercial Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Five Major Specializations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Characteristics of Women Commercial Farm Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Land in Farms and Ranches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Government Payments: Important to Grain and 

Miscellaneous Crop Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Women as Secondary Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 iii

Joint Operations by Men and Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Joint Operations on Men-Operated Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Joint Operations on Women-Operated Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Summary and Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Appendix: Data and Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Defining Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Defining Farm Operators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Defining Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Changes in Census Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
iv Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Summary

What Is the Issue?

The share of U.S. farms operated by women nearly tripled over the past three 

decades, from 5 percent in 1978 to 14 percent by 2007. Although there have always 

been women farm operators, national-level statistics to track their numbers and 

examine their characteristics were not available until the Census of Agriculture 

began asking for principal farm operators’ gender in 1978. Using census data from 

1978 through 2007, this report provides detailed information about women farmers 

and the types of farms they operate. 

What Did the Study Find?

In this report, “women-operated farms” are defined as those whose principal operator—the individual most responsible for the day-to-day decisions of the farm (or 

ranch)—is a woman. Based on this definition, results of the analysis were as follows: 

• Women-operated farms increased in all sales classes. Between 1982 and 

2007, the number of women-operated farms grew from 121,600 to 306,200, 

with increases in all sales classes (measured in 2007 dollars). In contrast, the 

number of men-operated farms declined by 220,800, with only the largest 

and smallest sales classes ($500,000 or more and less than $1,000) experiencing growth. Some of the increase in the lower sales classes, however—for 

both women- and men-operated farms—was due to extensive methodological 

changes in the Census of Agriculture, introduced over time to include more 

small farms.

• Most women-operated farms are very small. Since 1982, a majority of 

women-operated farms have had annual sales of less than $10,000. Most of the 

growth in the number of women-operated farms occurred in that sales class, 

increasing from three-fifths of all women-operated farms in 1982 to threefourths by 2007. In both years, the share of women-operated farms with sales 

less than $10,000 was about 20 percentage points more than the share of menoperated farms with sales that low. 

• Five percent of women-operated farms (15,400 farms) had sales of 

$100,000 or more in 2007. Most of these farms specialized in grains and 

oilseeds, specialty crops, poultry and eggs, beef cattle, or dairy. The poultry and 

egg specialization alone accounted for roughly half of women-operated farms 

with sales of $1 million or more.

• Nearly half of farms operated by women specialized in grazing livestock. In 

2007, 45 percent of women-operated farms specialized in raising beef cattle other 

than in feedlots (23 percent), horses and other equines (17 percent), or sheep and 

goats (6 percent). Most of these farms, however, were very small, accounting for 

only 16 percent of sales by all women-operated farms. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 v

• Women-operated farms specializing in poultry, specialty crops, grains, or 

dairy had the most sales. Although these farms totaled only 21 percent of womenoperated farms, they generated 72 percent of sales from all women’s farms.

• Counting secondary operators increases the number of women farmers to 

1 million. In addition to the principal operator, many farms have one or more 

secondary operators involved in daily decisions for the farm. When all women 

operators, principal and secondary, were tallied for the 2007 census, about 1 

million were counted as farmers—up from the 306,200 principal operators and 

totaling 30 percent of all U.S. farmers. Most secondary women farm operators 

(96 percent) were on farms whose principal operator was a man, generally the 

woman’s husband. 

How Was the Study Conducted?

Using data from the Census of Agriculture, the authors tracked long-term trends 

for women farm operators and their farms from 1978 (or from 1982 for data items 

not available from the 1978 census) through 2007, the most recent year available. 

To examine current characteristics of women-operated farms, the authors used 

data from the 2007 census. The other major data source for the analysis was the 

Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), an annual USDA survey 

jointly conducted by the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) and the 

Economic Research Service (ERS). The ARMS provides information not included 

in the Census of Agriculture about farm finances and the operator’s household 

income and educational attainment. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 1

Introduction

Farms and ranches operated by women have more than doubled in the last 30 years. 

Since 1978, the first year the Census of Agriculture collected data on the gender 

of farmers, the share of women-operated farms has grown from 5 percent of U.S. 

farms to 14 percent (fig. 1). The number of women-operated farms increased in 

all sales classes (based on annual sales, with adjustments for price changes). In 

contrast, farms operated by men declined substantially, with only the largest and 

smallest sales classes ($500,000 or more and less than $1,000) increasing.

Women-operated farms are those whose principal operator—the individual most 

responsible for day-to-day management of the farm—is a woman (see the appendix 

for a more detailed definition). Unless otherwise qualified, the term “women operators” refers to principal operators only. The term “farm,” when used by itself in the 

report, includes ranches.

This report examines various characteristics of women farm operators and their 

farms, including:

• Changes in the distribution of women-operated farms and ranches by sales class 

(with sales measured in constant 2007 dollars).

• Age, education, and off-farm work and income of women principal 

farm operators.
2 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

• Financial performance of women-operated farms.

• Farm and operator characteristics by commodity specialization.

• Characteristics of women-operated farms selling at least $100,000 in 

farm products.

• Trends in women’s farmland holdings (average acreage per farm, percentage of 

U.S. farmland, and tenure).

• Sources of Government payments to women-operated farms. 

The report also discusses women who are secondary operators of farms. According 

to the 2007 Census of Agriculture—the latest census—women operated more than 

300,000 farms and ranches as the principal operator. (There is one principal operator 

for each farming operation, by definition). Many farms, however, have more than one 

operator involved in daily decisions. When both principal and secondary operators are 

tallied for the 2007 census, about 1 million women are counted as U.S. farmers.

Data Sources

Most data used in the study are from various Censuses of Agriculture. The 2007 

census is used to analyze current conditions, while earlier censuses, back to 1978, 

add historical perspective. In some cases, we can follow trends for women farmers 

only from 1982 forward because the 1978 census provides less data on women 

farmers than later censuses. 

While we use publicly available census data, we also use confidential farm-level 

census records for 1982-2007, accessed under an agreement with the USDA’s 

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which administers the census. The 

agreement is designed to protect data security and confidentiality. Access to individual observations allows more analyses than are possible from published tables or 

public-use data files.

In addition, we use the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), an 

annual survey conducted jointly by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical 

Service (NASS) and Economic Research Service (ERS) agencies. ARMS data are 

used to fill gaps in the 2007 census data for statistics on farm finances and farm 

operators’ household income and educational attainment. (For more information 

about the data sources, see the appendix.)

Both the Census of Agriculture and ARMS use the USDA definition of a farm: 

Any place that produced and sold, or normally would have produced and sold, at 

least $1,000 of agricultural products during a given year. In determining whether an 

establishment is a farm, Government payments count as sales. If a place has sales 

less than $1,000, a “point system” assigns points for acres of various crops and head 

of livestock—1 point equals $1 in potential sales—to estimate normal sales. “Point 

farms” are those that have actual sales and Government payments totaling less than 

$1,000 but points plus actual sales and Government payments worth $1,000 or 

more. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 3

Previous ERS Research

ERS has a history of examining the characteristics of women-operated farms and 

following changes in the number of these farms. For example, the Family Farm 

Report series periodically estimates women’s share of all principal farm operators 

(e.g., Hoppe et al., 2007). Some Family Farm Reports have also devoted a major 

section to women-operated farms. For example, Korb (2005) examined growth in 

the number of women-operated farms and changes in their characteristics over time. 

She also found that women-operated farms were more likely to be new entrants 

to agriculture than men-operated farms. An Amber Waves article documented the 

growing involvement of women in horse farming (Offutt and Korb, 2006). More 

recently, a report on changes in farm structure over the past 30 years discussed the 

growing share of U.S. farms operated by women since 1982 (O’Donoghue et al., 

2011, p. 8).

Other ERS reports have examined issues in agriculture that have a bearing on 

women-operated farms. For example, Nickerson and Hand (2009) examined enrollment in conservation programs by specific groups of farmers, including women. In 

addition, a report on the organization of broiler production found that women made 

up a larger share of operators on broiler farms than on other farms (MacDonald, 

2008, pp. 19-20).

The current report updates the previous reports by publishing the latest available 

information. In addition, it provides more detailed information for a variety of 

topics related to women-operated farms, including increases in their number by 

constant dollar sales class, farm characteristics by specialization, financial performance by sales class, and receipt of Government payments, along with information 

on secondary women operators. Our access to both individual census observations 

and the ARMS made these detailed analyses possible.
4 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Shifts in the Size Distribution of Farms, 1982-2007

Sales are arguably a better general measure of a farm’s size than its acreage. 

Farmland can be of varying quality, it can be farmed at different levels of intensity, 

and it can produce a variety of commodities. As a result, production per acre can 

vary widely from farm to farm. Sales measure production in dollars rather than the 

level of a single input (land). 

When sales class is used to measure trends in farm size over time, it is important 

to adjust the sales for changes in agricultural prices. Price variations can change 

revenue without any change in the physical volume of production. Accordingly, 

in this report, we adjust sales of agricultural products for price changes using the 

Producer Price Index (PPI) for farm products, which is the same as the NASS index 

of prices received by farmers for all farm products. The distribution of farms by 

sales class is expressed in 2007 constant dollars for both 1982 and 2007 in table 1.

1 

Therefore, changes in the number of farms by constant dollar sales classes reflect 

changes in the quantity of products sold, not the 43-percent increase in agricultural 

prices between 1982 and 2007.

More Women-Operated Farms in All Sales Classes

The total number of women-operated farms grew by 152 percent between 1982 and 

2007, and each sales class experienced a gain. The rate of increase was particularly 

large for farms with no sales, which grew twelvefold. Rapid growth also occurred at 

the other end of the size distribution. Women-operated farms with sales of $500,000 

to $999,999 grew by 277 percent, while those with sales of $1 million or more grew 

by 714 percent, from less than 300 in 1982 to nearly 2,000 in 2007. Most of the 

million-dollar farms operated by women in 2007 specialized in poultry and eggs (46 

percent) or specialty crops (21 percent).

In contrast to the substantial growth in the number of women-operated farms, 

the number of men-operated farms declined by 10 percent. Men-operated farms 

increased in only three sales classes—sales less than $1,000 (point farms, defined on 

page 2), $500,000 to $999,999, and $1,000,000 or more. The trends for the number 

of men-operated farms by sales class were similar to those for all U.S. farms, as one 

would expect, given their 86-percent share of all farms (see box, “Shifts in the Sales 

Class of U.S. Farms: An Explanation,” p. 6).

A Growing Share of Women-Operated Farms

Since the number of women-operated farms grew more rapidly than that of men-operated farms in each sales class, women principal operators increased their share of farms 

in every sales class during the past 25 years (fig. 2). Women operators accounted for 14 

percent of all farms, but their share of farms with no sales and sales of $1 to $999 were 

even larger, 22 and 20 percent, respectively. For sales exceeding $100,000, however, 

women’s share of farms remained small, in the 4- to 5-percent range.

1Adjusting sales for price changes automatically adjusts sales classes for price changes. If 

the sales for 1982 are expressed in 2007 dollars for individual farms, so are the sales classes 

when individual farms are sorted by the level of their sales.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 5

Table 1

Number of farms or ranches by gender of principal operator and constant-dollar sales 

class,1 1982 and 2007

Sales class1

(2007 constant dollars)

1982 2007

Change,

1982-2007

Farms or 

ranches Distribution

Farms or 

ranches Distribution

Number Percent Number ——— Percent ——— 

All farms:

Point farms2 254,097 11.3 688,833 31.2 171.1

No sales 99,576 4.4 521,208 23.6 423.4

$1-999 154,521 6.9 167,625 7.6 8.5

$1,000-$9,999 700,252 31.2 630,327 28.6 -10.0

$10,000-$99,999 855,083 38.2 528,473 24.0 -38.2

$100,000-$249,000 282,809 12.6 147,500 6.7 -47.8

$250,000-$499,999 97,894 4.4 93,373 4.2 -4.6

$500,000-$999,999 34,650 1.5 60,777 2.8 75.4

$1,000,000 or more 16,191 0.7 55,509 2.5 242.8

Total 2,240,976 100.0 2,204,792 100.0 -1.6

Men-operated farms:

Point farms2 231,974 10.9 541,417 28.5 133.4

No sales 90,190 4.3 406,431 21.4 350.6

$1-999 141,784 6.7 134,986 7.1 -4.8

$1,000-$9,999 646,812 30.5 538,575 28.4 -16.7

$10,000-$99,999 817,785 38.6 476,809 25.1 -41.7

$100,000-$249,000 276,906 13.1 140,002 7.4 -49.4

$250,000-$499,999 95,921 4.5 89,807 4.7 -6.4

$500,000-$999,999 34,031 1.6 58,442 3.1 71.7

$1,000,000 or more 15,948 0.8 53,531 2.8 235.7

Total 2,119,377 100.0 1,898,583 100.0 -10.4

Women-operated farms:

Point farms2 22,123 18.2 147,416 48.1 566.3

No sales 9,386 7.7 114,777 37.5 1,122.9

$1-999 12,737 10.5 32,639 10.7 156.3

$1,000-$9,999 53,440 43.9 91,752 30.0 71.7

$10,000-$99,999 37,298 30.7 51,664 16.9 38.5

$100,000-$249,000 5,903 4.9 7,498 2.4 27.0

$250,000-$499,999 1,973 1.6 3,566 1.2 80.7

$500,000-$999,999 619 0.5 2,335 0.8 277.2

$1,000,000 or more 243 0.2 1,978 0.6 714.0

Total 121,599 100.0 306,209 100.0 151.8

Note: Constant-dollar sales classes cannot be prepared before 1982 due to missing weights in the census computer files.

See the appendix for more information.

1Sales classes are defined in 2007 dollars, using the Producer Price Index for farm products to adjust for price changes. 

Point farms are identified using current dollars—with no adjustment for price changes—because the minimal level of sales in 

the farm definition is not adjusted for price changes.

2Point farms have sales of less than $1,000 (current dollars) but are still considered farms because they would be expected 

to normally sell at least $1,000 of agricultural products. 

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 1982 and 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
6 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Shifts in the Sales Class of U.S. Farms: An Explanation

Between 1982 and 2007, the number of farms in the United States was fairly stable, declining 

by only 1.6 percent (table 1). This apparent stability, however, conceals a major redistribution 

of farms by sales class. Farms with sales of at least $1 million (“million-dollar farms”) tripled in 

number, and the number of farms with sales between $500,000 and $999,999 grew by 75 percent. 

At the other end of the size distribution, the number of point farms (sales less than $1,000, defined 

on page 2) more than doubled, largely because of a fivefold increase in the number of farms with 

no sales. The number of farms declined in all the other sales classes. The total farm count was 

stable because increases in point farms and farms with sales of $500,000 or more nearly offset the 

536,000 decline in the number of farms with sales between $1,000 and $499,999. 

Profitability generally increases with sales, which gives larger farms—such as those with 

sales above $500,000—a competitive advantage from economies of size in farming (Hoppe 

et al., 2008, p. 33). As a result, these larger farms have increased in number as the number of 

farms in most of the other sales classes declined.

Farms at the lower end of the sales class distribution, particularly point farms, can increase in 

number independently of the farm economy because their operators depend almost entirely on 

off-farm income. Their off-farm income allows them to farm—despite losses typically generated 

by the farm business—as long as off-farm income is large enough is to cover the losses. Many 

point farms actually are rural residences where the household’s main reason for entering farming 

(on a very small scale) is the lifestyle it provides. Why farmers continue to farm despite negative 

returns is discussed later in the report. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 7

Thus, most of the growth in women-operated farms was concentrated in the lower 

end of the size distribution (table 2). The total number of women-operated farms 

increased by 184,600 between 1982 and 2007, and 89 percent of the increase 

occurred among farms with sales less than $10,000, largely among point farms. At 

least some of the increase in women-operated farms with sales less than $10,000 

was due to methodological changes in the Censuses of Agriculture since 1982 that 

increased the count of small farms (see “Changes in Census Methodology” in the 

appendix, p. 43). The undercoverage adjustment (to compensate for farms missed 

by the census), for example, had a larger impact on women-operated farms with 

sales under $10,000 than on larger farms. The adjustment increased the count 

of women-operated farms with sales less than $10,000 by 37 percent in 1997, 

compared with 9 percent for larger farms.2

Farms with sales less than $10,000 now account for 78 percent of the farms operated by women, up 16 percentage points from 1982 (table 1). The share of men’s 

farms with sales less than $10,000 also increased—from 41 percent to 57 percent—

largely as a result of a 351-percent growth rate for farms with no sales. The high 

share of women-operated farms with sales less than $10,000 affects women 

farmers’ demographic characteristics, commodity specialization decisions, tradeoffs between farm and off-farm work, participation in government programs, and 

landholdings.

Table 2

Change in the number of women-operated farms and ranches by sales 

class, 1982 to 2007

Sales class1

(2007 constant dollars)

Women-operated farms and ranches Distribution 

1982 2007 Change of change

———— Number ———— Percent

No sales 9,386 114,777 105,391 57.1

$1 to $999 12,737 32,639 19,902 10.8

$1,000 to $9,999 53,440 91,752 38,312 20.8

$10,000 to $99,999 37,298 51,664 14,366 7.8

$100,000 or more 8,738 15,377 6,639 3.6

Total 121,599 306,209 184,610 100.0

Note: This table is derived from table 1, with the sales classes condensed for ease of exposition.

1Sales classes are defined in 2007 dollars, using the Producer Price Index for farm products to adjust 

for price changes.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 1982 and 2007 Census of Agriculture 

data.

2The undercoverage adjustment had a smaller effect on the count of men-operated farms. 

The adjustment increased the number of men-operated farms by 28 percent for farms with 

sales less than $10,000 and by 5 percent for those with sales of $10,000 or more.
8 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Characteristics of Principal Women Farm Operators, 

With Gender Comparisons

Women and men principal operators differ in age, educational attainment, and participation in the nonfarm economy. The average age of women operators is higher than 

that of male operators, but this difference between the genders has declined since 

1982. Women farm operators also have more education than both their male counterparts and U.S. householders in general. Although fewer women than men operators 

report off-farm work, the gender difference has diminished since 1982.

Women Farm Operators Are Older

Women farmers are older on average than male farmers, but the gap between their 

ages is narrowing. The average age of women operators was 59 years in 2007, 

compared with 57 years for male operators (fig. 3). The average age for women, 

however, increased by only 3 years between 1982 and 2007, while the average for 

men increased by 7 years. As a result, the gap between men’s and women’s average 

ages fell from 6 years in 1982 to 2 years in 2007.

The number of men operating farms is decreasing, which means that more men are 

leaving farming than are entering. Few younger farmers enter farming relative to the 

larger population of older existing farmers, resulting in an aging population of male 

farmers over the study period. The aging of male farmers is apparent in figure 3 from 

the 7-year increase in their average age, the near-doubling of the share of those at least 

65 years old, and the halving of the share of those less than 45 years old.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 9

In contrast, the number of women entering farming exceeds the number exiting. 

This dampens the effects of aging, and as a result, trends in the distribution of 

women operators by age class are less pronounced. Women operators’ average age 

increased, but only by a modest amount, and the share of women operators at least 

65 years old has been roughly one-third since 1978.

Nevertheless, farm operators, both women and men, are much older on average than 

their self-employed counterparts in nonagricultural industries. Only 8 percent of the 

nonagricultural self-employed (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

2008, p. 224) are 65 years old or more, compared with 34 percent of women principal farm operators and 29 percent of men principal farm operators. The farm is the 

home for most farm operators, which means that farmers can phase out of the business gradually over a decade or more. Improved healthcare and advances in farm 

equipment have also allowed operators to continue farming later in life (Mishra et al., 

2005, p. 14), as have the introduction by USDA of the Conservation Reserve Program 

(CRP; administered by the Farm Service Agency) and the Wetlands Reserve Program 

(WRP; administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service).3

Women Farm Operators Are More Highly Educated

On average, women farmers and ranchers are better educated than their male counterparts (fig. 4). Approximately 61 percent of women principal operators have 

3Participating in land retirement programs is attractive to older operators because it gives 

them a guaranteed income stream with little labor or capital required. Since Government payments count as sales in the farm definition, establishments run by older operators are still counted 

as farms if CRP or WRP payments are at least $1,000, even if the establishment has no sales. 
10 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

education beyond high school (with 32 percent having a college degree and 29 

percent some college), compared with only 47 percent of male principal operators. 

The shares of women farmers who continued their education beyond high school 

also exceeded those of all U.S. householders by 4 percentage points. At the other 

end of the educational spectrum, only 6 percent of women operators reported not 

graduating from high school, compared with 10 percent of men operators and 13 

percent of all U.S. householders. 

The share of women primary farm operators who reported either attending or 

completing college was larger than for men operators, regardless of their age, 

occupation, or whether they were retired (table 3). The shares with college experience also differed by sales class. Women who operate farms with sales less than 

$250,000 were more likely than their male counterparts to have at least some 

college. Once sales exceeded $250,000, however, differences between male and 

female operators narrowed substantially. 

Women Operators Often Rely on Off-Farm Work and Income

The share of women working off-farm has grown substantially, from 42 percent in 

1982 to 59 percent in 2007 (fig. 5), an increase of 17 percentage points. The share 

of men working off-farm also increased, although the increase was less pronounced 

at approximately 12 percentage points. Off-farm work is most common among the 

Table 3

Share of principal operators with at least some college1 by gender of principal operator, 2007

Item Men Women Total

Percent with some college1

All principal operators 47.1 61.3 48.7

Operators by age:

Less than 45 years 53.0 71.1 54.8

45 to 54 years 50.3 78.9 53.5

55 to 64 years 49.3 56.9 50.0

65 years or more 37.9 47.7 39.2

Operators by occupation:2

Farming or ranching 40.3 60.7 41.9

Work other than farming 55.5 71.5 57.2

Not in the paid labor force 39.5 44.2 40.5

Operators by retirement status:

Retired 34.6 50.9 37.1

Not retired 49.9 64.9 51.4

Operators by sales class:

Less than $10,000 46.2 62.2 48.5

$10,000 to $99,999 46.7 55.4 47.4

$100,000 to $249,999 46.6 74.7 47.5

$250,000 or more 53.9 57.3 54.0

1Includes operators who attended or graduated from college.

2The occupational classification used in the Agricultural Resource Management Survey differs from that used in the Census of Agriculture. 

The census uses only two categories—farming and other.

Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service; 2007 Agricultural Resource Management Survey. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 11

operators of farms with sales less than $10,000; about three-fourths of those operators 

worked off-farm in 2007, compared with about half of the operators of larger farms. 

The increase in the number of farms with sales less than $10,000 helps account for the 

increase in off-farm work reported by farm operators, both male and female. 

However, fewer women operators reported off-farm work than men operators in 

2007 (59 versus 65 percent, respectively). Most of the difference occurred in the 

share of operators reporting 200 or more days of off-farm work. The higher share 

of women operators at least 65 years old—who are less likely than younger operators to work off-farm—helps explain the lower share of off-farm work reported by 

women. The share of women operators working off-farm varies substantially by 

specialization, however, as will be discussed later.

Women’s off-farm work is reflected in the sources of their income (table 4). For 

women operators in the aggregate, the median farm earning was -$4,200; that is, 

more than half of women operators lost money farming in 2007 after accounting for 

expenses, including depreciation. Their median household income, however, was 

$42,600, reflecting substantial off-farm income. Because roughly three-fourths of 

women-operated farms have sales less than $10,000, median household income by 

source is similar for all women operators and for women operating farms selling 

less than $10,000 of farm products. Farms with sales that low are too small to 

generate much income for the operator’s household, so the households rely heavily 

on off-farm income. Their median off-farm income was $50,600, practically the 

same as the $50,200 median income for all U.S. households. Women who operate 

farms in the next sales class ($10,000 to $99,999) also relied heavily on off-farm 
12 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

income, on average. Even among women with sales of $100,000 or more, median 

off-farm income was $36,800. (See box, “Defining Operator Household Income,”

for information about how operator household income is calculated.)

Table 4

Median operator household income by gender of principal operator, 2007

Item

Sales class

Less than $10,000 $10,000 to $99,999 $100,000 or more All farms

Dollar per household

Women operators:

Total household income 42,580 41,362 75,974 42,580

Farm earnings -4,399 2,660 27,894 -4,212

Off-farm income 50,632 41,108 36,849 47,503

Men operators:

Total household income 52,332 51,752 90,982 56,400

Farm earnings -3,627 1,130 48,213 -1,744

Off-farm income 56,250 49,500 29,406 50,750

Note: Medians are not additive. Thus, farm income plus off-farm income do not add to total household income.

Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service, 2007 Agricultural Resource 

Management Survey. 

Defining Operator Household Income

Operator household income measures the income available to the household of the principal 

operator. It includes any income received by household members. As measured in the 

Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), it has three components:

1. Farm business income. In the case of unincorporated businesses and S-corporations, the 

household’s farm business income is calculated as its share of net cash income generated 

by the farm. Net cash income is gross cash income—the sum of the sales of commodities, other miscellaneous farm-related income, and Government payments—less cash 

expenses and depreciation.1 The household of the principal operator does not necessarily 

receive all the business income generated by its farm. For example, business income 

may be shared with partners or relatives who hold an interest in the farm. In the case 

of C-corporations, farm business income is the dividends paid to household members. 

Wages paid to the operator by farms organized as S- or C-corporations are also included 

in farm business income.

2. Income from other farming activities. This component consists of net income from a 

farm other than the one being surveyed, wages paid to household members other than the 

operator, and net income from farmland rental.

3. Off-farm income. Off-farm income can come from earned sources—such as wages, 

salaries, and self-employment income—or from unearned sources, such as interest, dividends, and transfer payments such as social security.

Farm earnings—the income received from farming—is the sum of the first two components.

1Depreciation is not a cash expense, but it is deducted to be consistent with accounting conventions used in 

the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is the source of official income statistics for the United States.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 13

Returns to Women-Operated Farms

We examine farm profitability using the rate of return on equity, a commonly used 

profitability measure that compares net farm income with the net worth of the 

farm. In the case of unincorporated farms, net farm income is reduced to reflect the 

opportunity cost of management and of operator and unpaid labor.

Women’s Smaller Farms Lead to Lower Returns 

Returns to farming typically increase with sales, as shown in figure 6, reflecting the 

low farm earnings for households operating farms with sales less than $100,000. The 

positive relationship between returns and sales is most apparent for all farms and for 

men-operated farms. The relationship also occurs for women-operated farms, with 

one exception: the rate of return for women-operated farms does not increase as sales 

increase to the $250,000 to $999,999 level. Most of the women-operated farms in 

that sales class are livestock farms—largely poultry operations—and those womenoperated livestock farms collectively experienced a -3.2-percent rate of return on 

equity in 2007. The number of women-operated farms in the sales class is quite small, 

however, accounting for only 2 percent of all women-operated farms.

Overall, the rate of return on equity is lower for women (-2.7 percent) than for 

men (1.4 percent). This is largely the result of the heavy concentration of women 

on farms with sales less than $10,000, which have the lowest rates of return. 

Approximately 80 percent of women operate farms that small, compared with only 
14 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

60 percent of men. The rate of return is actually similar for women- and men-operated farms in each sales class, except for the $250,000 to $999,999 class. 

Farming Despite Negative Returns

The rate of return on equity can be used to value alternative investments. For 

example, consider the -4.0 percent rate of return on equity for women who operate 

farms with sales less than $10,000. From the perspective of current income generation, it would seem more rational for these operators to sell the farm and place the 

proceeds in certificates of deposit paying low—but positive—interest. The rate of 

return on equity may be particularly important for older operators, those 65 or older, 

since they may be less able to increase their off-farm income.

Nevertheless, the number of women-operated farms has grown over the years. There 

are benefits from farming that are not included in measures like current net farm 

income and return on equity (Hoppe et al., 2005). Farming provides the opportunity 

for capital gains in the long run, as well as the opportunity to leave a bequest to 

heirs. It also allows farm households to use losses from farming as writeoffs against 

off-farm income (Durst, 2009, pp. 4-6). Farmers may also value the lifestyle that 

farming provides. Farmers—male or female—may accept low or negative current 

returns from farming if they value benefits from farming other than the net income 

the farm currently generates. Of course, operators must have enough off-farm 

income to absorb any negative cash flow from the farming business, even if longterm prospects for capital gains are promising.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 15

Farms and Sales by Specialization

A farm is said to specialize in a commodity if that commodity, or commodity 

group, accounts for at least half the farm’s market value of sales. In some cases, we 

combined similar specializations—such as various types of grains and oilseeds—for 

ease in presentation and to provide a larger number of farms in a specialization category for analysis. For more information about the specializations used here, see box 

“Commodity Specializations,” p. 16. 

About 45 percent of women operators specialize in grazing livestock, namely, 

beef cattle not in feedlots, horses, and—to a much lesser extent—sheep and goats 

(fig. 7). These three specializations, however, make up only 16 percent of sales 

by women-operated farms. Farms specializing in poultry, specialty crops, grains 

and oilseeds, or dairy account for the bulk of sales by women-operated farms (72 

percent), although these farms make up only a 21-percent share of all women-operated farms.

Although the largest share of women farmers specialized in beef cattle farming, 

only 11 percent of the U.S. farms with that specialization were operated by women 

in 2007 (fig. 8). In contrast, women operated a particularly high share of horse 

farms, 31 percent in 2007, up from 17 percent in 1982. Between 1982 and 2007, the 

number of horse farms in the United States tripled, but those operated by women 

increased sixfold.
16 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Commodity Specializations

Commodity specializations used in this report are outlined in the table below. The commodity (or commodity 

group) for each specialization accounts for at least 50 percent of the farm’s sales. 

Each specialization must have at least 2,000 farms operated by women to be discussed in this report. Excluding 

specializations with fewer farms avoids disclosure issues and limits the number of specializations for ease in 

presentation. Specializations not meeting this criterion include: tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, sugarbeets, peanuts, 

aquaculture, apiaries, and rabbits and other fur-bearing animals. The excluded specializations accounted for 1 

percent of farms operated by women and 2 percent of their sales. Tables and graphs include these specializations 

in the totals but do not show them separately. 

Specializations included Description

Grains and oilseeds Farms primarily engaged in producing grains or oilseeds as a crop, seeds for oilseed or 

grain production, or corn or grain silage.

Hay Farms primarily engaged in producing hay of various types.

Specialty crops Farms primarily engaged in producing vegetables and melons, fruits and tree nuts, or 

greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture products. 

Miscellaneous crops

This specialization consists of:

•	 Farms specializing in miscellaneous crops not mentioned above, such as grass 

seed, herbs, hops, maple sap gathering, or tea.

•	 Farms growing a mixture of crops where no crop or group of crops—such as grains 

and oilseeds—accounts for half of sales. 

•	 Government-payments-only farms, whose only agricultural activity is receiving Government payments. 

Beef cattle farming and ranching Farms primarily engaged in raising cattle, including cows for dairy herd replacement. 

Cattle feedlots Farms primarily engaged in fattening cattle for slaughter.

Dairy Farms primarily engaged in milking dairy cows.

Horses and other equines Farms primarily engaged in raising horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys.

Sheep and goats Farms primarily engaged in raising sheep, lambs, or goats or fattening lambs for 

slaughter. Also includes farms primarily engaged in milking dairy goats.

Poultry and eggs Farms primarily engaged in breeding, hatching, or raising poultry for meat or eggs.

Hogs and pigs Farms primarily engaged in raising hogs and pigs.

Miscellaneous livestock

This specialization consists of:

•	 Farms specializing in livestock not mentioned above, such as alpacas, bison, elk, or 

laboratory animals.

•	 Farms growing a mixture of livestock in which no species or group of species accounts for half of sales.

•	 Farms with only 100 acres or more of pasture or rangeland but no grazing livestock. 

(These are point farms, with 10 points assigned for each acre.) 

For more information, see the documentation for the 2007 Census of Agriculture (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics 

Service, 2009, pp. B-9 to B-11) or the Census Bureau’s Web Page on the North American Industry Classifications System (http://www.census.

gov/eos/www/naics/).
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 17
18 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Farm and Operator Characteristics Vary by Specialization

To assess the diversity of farms and ranches operated by women, we examined 

variation in farm and farm operator characteristics by commodity specialization. 

Grains and Oilseeds

The distribution of women-operated grain farms by sales class is unique (table 5). 

Nearly half of these farms (47 percent) have sales between $10,000 and $99,999, 

substantially more than any other specialization. The share of women’s grain farms 

selling less than $10,000 is only 31 percent, substantially lower than any other 

specialization except dairy. At the other end of the size spectrum, 22 percent of 

women-operated grain farms have sales above $100,000—more than any other 

specialization, with the exceptions of dairy and poultry. 

Fewer economies of scale exist for field crops than for livestock operations 

(O’Donoghue et al., 2011, pp. 48-49), so these economies are less of a factor in 

encouraging grain farmers to become larger or downsize to a residential farm. 

However, technological factors—including larger and faster equipment—have 

increased the acreage that operators can manage. The ability of operators to manage 

more acres may help explain the relatively large 59-percent share of women’s grain 

farms with only one operator. The corresponding estimates of a single operator for 

other high-sales specializations—those reporting sales per farm above the $58,400 

average for all women-operated farms—are lower, ranging from 45 to 51 percent.4

Alternatively, the large share of one-operator farms among women’s grain farms may 

reflect the presence of older widows. Women operators of grain farms tend to be older 

than other women operators. Forty-eight percent are at least 65 years old, a higher 

percentage than any other specialization except miscellaneous crops (56 percent). 

Hay

Hay farms grow hay for their own livestock enterprises or provide feed for livestock 

production on other farms. A high percentage of women-operated farms specializing in hay (82 percent) have sales less than $10,000. Hay farms also average only 

132 acres per farm, or roughly 80 acres less than average for all farms operated by 

women. Transportation is a major consideration in selling hay, which tends to limit 

sales to high-quality hay suitable for dairy cows or horses, whose owners can afford 

to pay more for the hay if transport costs are involved. Hauling costs are a limiting 

factor to buyers of hay for beef cattle (Stordahl, 2007). Difficulty in transporting 

hay may limit the sales of hay farms and help explain their small size, regardless of 

the gender of the operator.

4An even larger share of grain farms has one operator when both men- and women-operated farms are considered. About 65 percent of all grain farms have one operator, compared 

with 44 to 54 percent for other high-sales specializations. (High-sales specializations—as 

defined here—include grains and oilseeds, specialty crops, cattle feedlots, dairy, poultry and 

eggs, and hogs and pigs.)
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 19

Table 5

Selected characteristics of women-operated crop farms, 2007

Item

Crop specialization All

women-operated

farms1

Grains & 

oilseeds Hay Specialtycrops

Miscellaneous 

crops

Number 

Farms and ranches 16,345 30,660 30,966 52,025 306,209

Dollars per farm

Average sales per farm 

 with sales2 96,006 10,657 86,600 52,507 58,381

Percent of farms

Farms by sales class:

No sales 0.7 11.5 6.5 98.3 37.5

$1 to $999 3.4 20.9 6.5 0.3 10.7

$1,000 to $9,999 26.9 49.9 39.5 0.8 30.0

$10,000 to $99,999 47.1 16.4 36.8 0.6 16.9

$100,000 or more 21.9 1.2 10.7 0.1 5.0

Acres per farm

Land in farms 467 132 50 198 210

Years 

Average age of operator 63 60 57 66 59

Percent of principal operators 

Operator is 65 years old

 or more 48.2 35.6 27.6 55.5 33.8

Operator is retired 36.8 36.6 27.5 55.3 33.2

Operator occupation:

Farming 45.0 36.0 47.2 16.2 39.8

Something else 55.0 64.0 52.8 83.8 60.2

Days operator worked off farm:

None 47.7 38.6 36.7 53.7 40.7

1 to 199 days 23.8 25.8 32.4 17.0 23.5

200 days or more 28.5 35.6 30.8 29.3 35.7

Note: See box “Commodity Specializations,” p. 16 of the report, for definitions of the specializations.

1Includes all women-operated farms in the United States, not just crop farms.

2Sales exclude Government payments. The calculation of average sales excludes farms with no sales.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.

Specialty Crops

Women-operated specialty crop farms average only 50 acres—a lower average 

acreage than for any specialization other than horses—since only a few acres are 

necessary to produce substantial amounts of these crops (vegetables and melons; 

fruits and tree nuts; greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture products). For example, 

$100,000 of sales could have been generated in 2007 by 3 acres of strawberries or 9 
20 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

acres of tomatoes. In contrast, it would have required 158 acres of field corn, a traditional row crop, to generate sales that high.5

Only 11 percent of women’s specialty crop farms, however, have sales of $100,000 

or more, and a majority (53 percent) have sales less than $10,000. The substantial 

share of specialty crop farms generating less than $10,000 in sales is reflected in the 

63-percent share of women operators working off-farm, including 31 percent with at 

least 200 days of off-farm work. Despite the 63-percent share of operators working 

off-farm, however, nearly half consider farming to be their major occupation.

Miscellaneous Crops

Virtually all miscellaneous crop farms (98 percent) have no sales (see box, 

“Commodity Specializations,” on p. 16 for a definition of the category). The farms 

with no sales satisfy the farm definition’s sales criterion through a combination 

of Government payments and points that total $1,000 or more. Most farms in the 

miscellaneous crop category (85 percent) receive Government payments, especially land retirement payments from programs like CRP and WRP. (Government 

payments will be discussed in greater detail in a later section.)

The average age of women operators who specialize in miscellaneous crops is 66 

years or 7 years older than the average for all women farmers. More than half (56 

percent) are at least 65 years old. Women in this category typically are not heavily 

engaged in farming; only 16 percent give farming as their main occupation. A much 

larger share (55 percent) state that they are retired. Most of these women farm 

alone: 74 percent of the miscellaneous crop farms have only one operator. The 

predominance of women one-operator farms—combined with the advanced age 

of the operators—suggests that many may be widows who continue to run a farm 

formerly operated with their husbands.

Beef Cattle Farming and Ranching

Most women-operated beef operations are small. Nearly three-fourths of beef cattle 

farms and ranches (72 percent) have sales less than $10,000, and only 3 percent 

have sales greater than $100,000 (table 6). These beef operations use land extensively for grazing, however, and average 414 acres per farm, roughly double the 

average for all farms operated by women. Small beef cattle operations are typically 

cow-calf enterprises, which produce and sell calves. The calves are purchased by 

stocker operations that pasture calves to gain weight and then either finish the cattle 

themselves on grain or sell them to feedlots as yearlings (Cash, 2002, p. 21).

5The average yield for tomatoes for the fresh market was 311 hundredweights per acre 

and the average price was $34.80 per hundredweight. The average yield for strawberries for 

the fresh market and for processing was 469 hundredweights per acre and the average price 

was $71.60 per hundredweight. Finally, the average yield for corn for grain was 150.7 bushels 

per acre and the average price was $4.20 per bushel. Yields and prices are U.S. averages for 

2007 from Agricultural Statistics 2010 (USDA, NASS, 2010).
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 21

Cow-calf enterprises offer three advantages to operators of small farms. First, beef 

cows are less labor-intensive than many other enterprises (except when calving), 

which may be attractive to retired operators or operators who hold a full-time job 

off the farm. Second, cow-calf enterprises tend to be low cost, which limits cash 

requirements. Third, cow-calf operations can use land that is less suited for crops 

(Cash, 2002, p. 21). 

Table 6

Selected characteristics of women-operated livestock farms, 2007

Item

Livestock specialization All

womenoperated

farms1

Beef cattle 

farming & 

ranching

Cattle 

feedlots Dairy

Horses 

& other 

equines

Sheep 

& goats

Poultry 

& eggs

Hogs

& pigs

Miscellaneous

livestock

Number 

Farms and ranches 69,327 2,126 3,363 52,453 17,551 12,363 2,723 13,381 306,209

 Dollars per farm 

Average sales per

 farm with sales2 24,905 205,917 311,716 15,972 4,152 236,380 138,326 17,948 58,381

Percent of farms

Farms by sales class:

No sales 22.7 0.0 0.7 58.5 12.8 0.8 2.4 67.6 37.5

$1 to $999 5.3 3.5 0.1 5.7 43.2 53.1 40.6 7.0 10.7

$1,000 to $9,999 43.7 60.9 19.0 26.0 38.4 20.7 36.0 16.6 30.0

$10,000 to $99,999 25.2 27.6 36.5 9.1 5.2 2.3 7.7 7.8 16.9

$100,000 or more 3.1 8.0 43.7 0.8 0.4 23.2 13.3 1.0 5.0

Acres per farm 

Land in farms 414 287 227 42 84 58 73 407 210

Years

Average age of 

 operator 60 58 55 52 55 53 51 58 59

Percent of principal operators 

Operator is 65 years 

 old or more 39.7 33.3 27.1 13.4 22.7 15.9 14.1 30.3 33.8

Operator is retired 37.2 30.9 19.8 18.1 21.9 19.3 16.0 31.1 33.2

Operator occupation:

Farming 44.7 46.9 70.4 46.0 46.3 51.1 43.3 37.0 39.8

Something else 55.3 53.1 29.6 54.0 53.7 48.9 56.7 63.0 60.2

Days operator worked off farm:

None 41.8 38.9 57.7 30.1 35.6 39.4 31.5 38.9 40.7

1 to 199 days 24.5 23.6 17.5 22.5 24.6 21.9 24.9 22.7 23.5

200 days or more 33.8 37.5 24.8 47.4 39.7 38.6 43.6 38.5 35.7

Note: See box “Commodity Specializations,” p. 16 of the report, for definitions of the specializations.

1Includes all women-operated farms in the United States, not just livestock farms.

2Sales exclude Government payments. The calculation of average sales excludes farms with no sales.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
22 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Many women raising beef cattle are older or work extensively off-farm—two 

groups that may be interested in less than full-time farming. About 40 percent 

of women operating cattle farms and ranches are at least 65 years old; a similar 

37-percent share of the operators report they are retired. Thirty-four percent of 

women beef producers work off-farm at least 200 days a year, essentially fulltime.

Cattle Feedlots

Only 8 percent of women-operated feedlots have sales of $100,000 or more. Among 

that 8 percent, however, are operations with enough sales to bring the average sales 

for feedlots to just above $200,000. Feedlots average 287 acres per farm, about onethird higher than the average for all women-operated farms. Feedlots often grow at 

least some of their feed, and some may also have a stocker operation, putting calves 

to pasture to gain weight before finishing. Either of these activities would tend to be 

associated with higher average acreages. 

Dairy

Of all the specializations, dairy farms have the highest average sales of farm products—over $300,000 per year—and 44 percent have sales of at least $100,000. Less 

than 1 percent of dairy farms report that they have no sales, and only 20 percent 

report sales less than $10,000. Despite their high sales, women-operated dairy farms 

average 227 acres per farm, about the same as the average for all women-operated 

farms. A large amount of land is not necessarily required for dairy farming, particularly if feed is purchased rather than grown.

Milk production is labor-intensive, so a majority (58 percent) of the women operating these farms report no off-farm work. In addition, about 70 percent of women 

operating dairy farms report farming as their major occupation, well above the 

40-percent rate for all women operators or the rate for operators with other specializations. The average age of a woman dairy farmer is 55, or 4 years less than the 

average for all women farmers—which may also reflect the labor-intensive nature of 

dairying. Older operators may not be able to provide the level of labor required.

Horses and Other Equines

A majority of horse farms operated by women (59 percent) have no sales, and most 

of the remaining horse farms sell less than $10,000 annually. These low sales levels 

are largely due to the nature of the horse business—it can take years to bring a 

horse to a marketable stage. A race horse might race at as early as 2 years old, but 

most recreational equine activities require a horse with more maturity and training, 

extending the time to produce a marketable animal. There may also be some years 

when no horses are ready to sell, so the farm’s sales may be sporadic. Some operations may own five or more horses for recreational purposes with no plans for a sale 

but still be classified as a farm through the point system.

Women’s horse farms are small in acreage as well as sales, averaging just 42 acres, 

or one-fifth the average for all farms operated by women; it does not necessarily 

take a lot of land to raise horses. Given the small average acreage and low sales of 

their farms, it is not surprising that 70 percent of women with horse farms work off-
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 23

farm, including 47 percent who do so at least 200 days per year. Nevertheless, 46 

percent of women horse farmers still consider farming to be their main occupation. 

Women operating horse farms tend to be younger than other women operators, with 

an average age of 52 years, 7 years less than the average for all women operators. 

Compared with women operators in general, fewer horse farm operators are 65 

years or older.

Sheep and Goats

Women-operated sheep and goat farms typically have low sales: 13 percent had 

no sales and 94 percent had sales less than $10,000. They are also small in acreage, 

averaging 84 acres or less than half the average for all women-operated farms. 

Some aspects of sheep and goat production are attractive to small-scale producers. 

Like cow-calf enterprises, sheep or goats raised for meat—and wool in the case of 

sheep—require relatively small amounts of labor, except when lambing, shearing, 

or kidding. In addition, the animals are smaller than cattle and easier to handle. The 

cost of breeding stock is less than for cattle, and the returns from breeding stock 

purchases are realized sooner. On the other hand, sheep and goats need more expensive fencing than cattle and are subject to predation and parasites (Wright, 2005; 

Machen and Lyons, 2000). Dairy goats are a special case and require much more 

labor, as well as an emphasis on sanitary milking procedures (Coffey et al., 2004, 

pp. 2-3 and 5-7).

Women who operate sheep or goat farms have similar characteristics to those who 

operate horse farms. Like women horse farmers, over half of women with sheep or 

goat farms report an occupation other than farming. About two-thirds of both groups 

work off-farm, although sheep or goat farmers are less likely to work fulltime. Both 

groups tend to be younger than average. Women sheep and goat producers average 

55 years of age, midway between the averages for all women farmers (59 years) and 

women horse farmers (52 years). 

Poultry and Eggs

Women’s poultry farms fall into two clusters: 75 percent had sales less than 

$10,000, while another 23 percent had sales of $100,000 or more. Farms averaged 58 acres for the specialization, roughly one-fourth the average acreage for all 

women-operated farms. A limited amount of land is necessary for the small flocks 

on farms with sales less than $10,000, where poultry or eggs may be produced for 

home consumption, for local sales, or for exhibition at poultry shows. Even for 

larger operations, little land may be necessary. The largest operations—those with 

sales of $100,000 or more—usually have production contracts. Production contractors typically provide feed to producers, so farmers with contracts do not need large 

acreages to grow their own feed.

Overall, only 23 percent of women-operated poultry and egg farms had production 

contracts, compared with 40 percent of their men-operated counterparts. However, 

more than 90 percent of poultry farms with sales of at least $100,000 had production 

contracts—generally for broilers—regardless of gender. In contrast, only 1 percent 
24 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

of poultry farms with sales less than $100,000 had production contracts, again 

regardless of gender. The smaller overall rate of contract use for women-operated 

farms reflects the smaller share of their farms with sales greater than $100,000.6

Women poultry farmers are nearly evenly divided between those who report 

farming as their major occupation (51 percent) and those who report another occupation (49 percent), and about 40 percent report working off-farm at least 200 days 

per year. Even on commercially oriented farms with contracts, poultry or eggs can 

be produced by farmers who combine off-farm employment with a limited number 

of hours spent on the farm. For example, average off-farm income for households 

of commercial broiler producers was fairly high in 2006, ranging from $36,500 to 

$45,200 (considering the households of both women- and men-operated farms), 

depending on the size of the operation (MacDonald, 2008, p. 24).

Hogs and Pigs

In some respects, women farmers specializing in hogs are similar to their counterparts specializing in poultry. For example, both groups are relatively young, with 

an average age of just over 50 years, and both groups have small shares of women 

at least 65 years old—14 percent of women specializing in hogs and 16 percent of 

those specializing in poultry. Both groups of women-operated farms use contracts—

at least among the larger farms—although hog farms use production contracts at a 

much lower rate (8 percent) than poultry farms (23 percent).

The share of women operators working off-farm, however, is higher for hog farmers 

(69 percent) than for poultry farmers (61 percent), and the share of operators who 

report an occupation other than farming is 8 percentage points higher for women 

specializing in hogs. This may reflect lower sales for hog farmers and their lower 

share with sales of $100,000 or more, which could result in their heavier reliance on 

off-farm work.

Miscellaneous Livestock

Only 9 percent of the farms with this specialization (see box, “Commodity 

Specializations,” on p. 16 for a definition) have sales greater than $10,000, about 

half the rate for women-operated farms in general. Nevertheless, farms specializing 

in miscellaneous livestock average 407 acres, or double the average for all womenoperated farms. Some of the miscellaneous livestock farms may be large operations 

producing minor grazing species, such as bison, or a combination of more common 

grazing species in which no single species predominates. In addition, the miscellaneous livestock category includes any point farms whose only indicator of farming 

activity is 100 acres or more of pasture or rangeland—another factor that might 

push average acreage upwards and also contribute to the 68 percent of miscellaneous livestock farms with no sales.

6 This report uses the market value of agricultural products sold—a measure used in 

the Census of Agriculture—to gauge sales. It includes the share of production received by 

production contractors, but excludes production contract fees. For more information, see the 

appendix.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 25

Women’s Commercial Farms

The report so far has emphasized the small size of women-operated farms, because 

three-fourths of these farms have sales of less than $10,000. However, women 

also operate larger, more commercially oriented farms. Selecting a minimum sales 

level to identify commercial farms is somewhat arbitrary: we use $100,000 as the 

minimum for a farm to be classified as commercial. That level of sales includes the 

top 5 percent of women-operated farms, or 15,400 operations. The farms with sales 

of at least $100,000 are subdivided into an additional four sales classes to allow 

alternative analyses based on different definitions of commercial farms.

Five Major Specializations

Five specializations accounted for nearly 90 percent of the commercial farms operated by women: grains and oilseeds, specialty crops, poultry and eggs, beef cattle 

farming and ranching, and dairy (fig. 9). Cattle feedlots and hogs together accounted 

for only 4 percent of women-operated commercial farms, despite average sales of 

$205,900 and $138,300, respectively (table 6). The total number of women-operated 

farms with these two specializations was very small, however. There were only 

4,800 feedlots and hog farms operated by women in all the sales classes, and they 

make up a small share of each sales class.

The share of all women’s beef cattle farms and ranches with sales of $100,000 or 

more (3 percent) was actually small when compared with the shares for feedlots (8 
26 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

percent) and hogs (13 percent), but beef farms are the single largest specialization 

among women farm operators. Three percent of the 69,300 women-operated beef 

operations amount to 14 percent of all commercial farms operated by women (fig. 

9). Interestingly, beef cattle was the only specialization accounting for more than a 

tenth of women-operated farms with sales less than $10,000 and also for farms with 

sales of $100,000 or more.

Specialization among commercial farms varies by farm size (table 7). For example, 

the poultry and egg specialization starts at 4 percent of farms with sales between 

$100,000 and $249,999 and climbs rapidly to 46 percent of million-dollar farms. 

Million-dollar farms average 1,440 acres per farm, but this high average reflects 

large beef and grain operations using land extensively. The average acreage of 

million-dollar poultry farms is only 178 acres.

Characteristics of Women Commercial Farm Operators

Characteristics of women operating commercial farms vary by sales class. Average 

age declines as sales increase, which is a common pattern among farmers: older 

operators tend to scale back their operations, even at a high level of sales. In addition, the share of commercial operators reporting farming as their major occupation increases with sales, as does the share reporting no off-farm work, since larger 

farms typically require more labor and management.

Women operators of commercial farms are more involved in farming than women 

operators in general. Only 18 percent of women operators on commercial farms are 

retired, about half the 33-percent rate reported by all women operators. Also, 73 

percent of commercial operators report farming as their main occupation, and 58 

percent report no off-farm work. In contrast, only 40 percent of all women operators report farming as their major occupation, and only 41 percent report no offfarm work.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 27

Table 7

Selected characteristics of women-operated commercial farms and ranches 

(sales of $100,000 or more), 2007

Item

Farms selling $100,000 or more All

womenoperated

farms

$100,000-

$249,999

$250,000-

$499,999

$500,000-

$999,999

$1,000,000 

or more

Total

Number 

Farms and ranches 7,498 3,566 2,335 1,978 15,377 306,209

Percent of farms

Farms by specialization:1

Grains and oilseeds 27.5 26.6 17.3 8.6 23.3 5.3

Hay 3.6 1.6 0.9 0.8 2.4 10.0

Specialty crops 24.2 18.8 18.0 20.5 21.6 10.1

Beef cattle farming 

 and ranching 18.8 12.3 7.8 4.4 13.8 22.6

Cattle feedlots 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.1 0.7

Dairy 10.6 10.2 5.7 9.0 9.5 1.1

Horses 3.6 2.4 2.0 1.5 2.8 17.1

Poultry and eggs 4.4 20.3 39.0 45.9 18.7 4.0

Hogs and pigs 1.2 1.7 4.1 5.8 2.4 0.9

Other 5.0 5.0 4.1 2.1 4.5 28.2

Acres per farm

Land in farms 1,121 1,565 1,465 1,443 1,318 210

Percent of land in farms 

Land in beef cattle 

farming and ranching or 

grains and oilseeds 

specializations 85.7 84.3 81.6 72.4 82.8 56.6

Years

Average age of operator 59 58 57 55 58 59

Percent of principal operators 

Operator is 65 years old 

 or more 36.8 31.0 26.3 21.5 31.9 33.8

Operator is retired 20.8 16.4 13.8 11.1 17.5 33.2

Operator occupation:

Farming 68.1 74.9 77.6 79.4 72.6 39.8

Something else 31.9 25.1 22.4 20.6 27.4 60.2

Days operator worked off farm:

None 54.1 57.8 62.8 64.9 57.6 40.7

1 to 199 days 21.2 18.9 15.2 12.1 18.6 23.5

200 days or more 24.7 23.2 22.1 23.0 23.8 35.7

Note: See box “Commodity Specializations,” p. 16 of the report, for definitions of the specializations.

1Only specializations accounting for least 1 percent of farms with sales of $100,000 or more are shown separately.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
28 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Land in Farms and Ranches

Although women farmed substantially more land in 2007 than they did in 1978—76 

percent more—their share of total land in farms remains small (fig. 10). Only 7 

percent of the land in farms was operated by women by 2007. Average acres per 

farm for women-operated farms also declined from roughly 300 acres between 1978 

and 1992 to 210 acres by 2007. The decline in average acreage is consistent with the 

large increase in women-operated farms with sales less than $10,000. The decline in 

average acreage also coincides with the introduction of methodological changes that 

increase the number of small farms, beginning in the 1997 Census of Agriculture 

(see “Changes in Census Methodology” in the appendix, p. 43).

Women’s average acreage, however, differs substantially by specialization from 

the 210-acre U.S. average in 2007. For example—as shown in tables 5 and 6—five 

specializations average between 40 and 90 acres (horses and other equines, specialty 

crops, poultry and eggs, hogs and pigs, and sheep and goats), while three specializations average more than 400 acres (grains and oilseeds, beef cattle farming and 

ranching, and miscellaneous livestock). Farms with sales of $100,000 or more 

average 1,320 acres (table 7). 

Women own more than three-fourths of the land they operate and are less likely to 

rent land than male operators (table 8). As of 2007, about 85 percent of women were 

full owners, compared with 66 percent of their male counterparts. This 20-percentagepoint difference in the full-ownership rate has persisted since 1978. Full-ownership 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 29

declines as farm size increases, helping to explain why women are more likely to be 

full owners than men. Renting is a way to expand by controlling more land without 

debt and the commitment of capital associated with land ownership. 

More of women operators’ land is in pasture and range than in crops—63 versus 26 

percent, consistent with their specializations. Fifty-one percent of the land used by 

women operators is on farms and ranches specializing in grazing livestock (mostly 

beef cattle, but also horses and sheep and goats), which often use pasture and rangeland extensively. 

Table 8

Land in farms and ranches by gender of principal operator, 2007

Item

Operated by: All

Women Men farms & ranches

Million acres

Land in farms and ranches 64.3 857.8 922.1

Percent of land

Land in farms

Owned and operated1 78.0 60.8 62.0

Rented from others 22.0 39.2 38.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Percent of farms

Tenure:

Full owner 85.1 66.4 69.0

Part owner 10.5 26.9 24.6

Tenant 4.5 6.7 6.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Percent of land 

Land use:

Cropland 26.0 41.3 40.2

Pasture and rangeland2 62.5 50.5 51.3

Woodland 7.3 4.9 5.0

Other 4.3 3.4 3.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

1Land rented to others is netted out of owned land. The net acreage is land owned by the farm 

business that is actually used for production on the farm. Land in farms and ranches is the sum of 

owned and operated land plus land rented from others for agricultural production.

2Includes cropland used only for pasture or grazing and pastured woodland.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
30 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Government Payments: Important to Grain and 

Miscellaneous Crop Farms

Large shares of both grain farms and miscellaneous crop farms receive Government 

payments, 83 and 85 percent, respectively (table 9). However, the types of payments 

each group receives are different (see box, “Government Payments in the Census of 

Agriculture,” p. 31). Land retirement programs account for more than 80 percent of all 

payments received by miscellaneous crop farms. In contrast, grain and oilseed farms 

receive 79 percent of their Government payments from “other programs,” which 

include programs targeted at food grains, feed grains, and soybeans. 

CRP, which accounts for most of the land enrolled in land retirement programs, 

has several characteristics appealing to older operators, like many of the women 

operating miscellaneous crop farms. It requires little labor or capital investment and 

also provides a guaranteed income stream, since CRP contracts have a term of 10 or 

15 years. Finally, older operators may have land available to enroll in CRP as they 

scale back their operations and reduce the size of their crop enterprises. 

Table 9

Government payments received by women-operated farms and ranches, by specialization, 2007

Specialization

Receive Government 

payments

Average payment1

Share of payments from:

Land retirement

programs2 Other programs2

Percent Dollars per farm or 

ranch —— Percent ——

All women-operated farms and ranches 28.4 5,877 55.5 44.5

Crop specializations:

Grains and oilseeds 83.2 8,555 21.3 78.7

Hay 20.9 3,481 45.9 54.1

Specialty crops 5.8 6,160 13.5 86.5

Miscellaneous crops 84.8 6,013 83.8 16.2

Livestock specializations:

Beef cattle farming and ranching 17.7 4,222 33.4 66.6

Cattle feedlots 24.6 4,267 26.8 73.2

Dairy 53.0 5,687 3.0 97.0

Horses and other equine 4.2 2,435 45.8 54.2

Sheep and goats 9.5 1,853 26.6 73.4

Hog and pigs 13.4 6,615 15.6 84.4

Poultry and eggs 8.3 3,719 28.7 71.3

Miscellaneous livestock 3.7 3,096 33.4 66.6

Note: See box “Commodity Specializations,” p. 16 of the report, for definitions of the specializations.

1Average payment for farms and ranches receiving Government payments. Nonrecipient operations are excluded. 

2See box, “Government Payments in the Census of Agriculture,” p. 31 of the report, for programs included in land retirement and other 

programs.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 31

Land retirement programs account for a much larger share of payments for 

farms operated by women than for those operated by men, 56 versus 20 percent. 

Miscellaneous crop farms, however, account for 78 percent of the land retirement 

payments received by all women-operated farms, reflecting the high average age of 

the operators of these farms.

Government Payments in the Census of Agriculture

The Census of Agriculture asks about the receipt of Government payments from 

various programs:

Land retirement programs. This category includes the Conservation Reserve 

Program (CRP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Farmable Wetlands 

Program (FWP), and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). 

These programs remove environmentally sensitive land from production for at 

least 10 years, or in some cases permanently.

Other programs:

• Direct payments. These payments are based on the producer’s historic 

production levels, at rates set in farm legislation. 

• Marketing loan benefits (MLBs) and countercyclical payments.

MLBs include loan deficiency payments (LDPs), marketing loan gains, 

and the net value of commodity certificates. 

• Other Federal agricultural program payments. This category 

includes a variety of programs: disaster payments, market loss payments, 

national dairy market loss payments, Noninsured Assistance Program, 

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation 

Security Program (CSP), and any other Federal programs.
32 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Women as Secondary Operators

Up to this point, we have focused on the principal operators of farms. Considering secondary operators as well as principal operators, however, gives a much more complete picture of the involvement of women in farming. Including the second and third operators more than triples the count of 

women farmers, from 306,200 to 985,200, and increases their share of farm operators from 14 to 

30 percent (table 10).7 Including secondary operators has less of an effect on the number of men 

farmers, increasing their count by only 21 percent, from 1.9 to 2.3 million. 

Women secondary operators tend to be less involved in farming than women primary operators. 

About 32 percent of women second and third operators report farming as their major occupation, 

compared with 40 percent of women primary operators. Roughly 40 percent of secondary women 

operators work off-farm at least 200 days per year, slightly higher than the corresponding 36-percent 

estimate for women principal operators.

Table 10

Principal, second, and third operators by gender, 2007

Gender

Principal

operator

Secondary operators

All

operators

Second

operator Third operator

Number

Total 2,204,792 931,670 145,072 3,281,534

Male 1,898,583 310,592 87,167 2,296,342

Female 306,209 621,078 57,905 985,192

Percent

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Male 86.1 33.3 60.1 70.0

Female 13.9 66.7 39.9 30.0

Note: Detailed statistics were collected for a maximum of three operators per farm.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.

7Detailed data, including gender, were collected for up to three operators in the Census of Agriculture. We 

used these records for our analysis of secondary operators because they provide more detailed information 

about the operators. This means, however, that the counts of secondary operators in the tables exclude 23,751 

female operators and 32,165 male operators on farms with 4 or more operators. The number of farms with four 

or more operators is fairly small—32,800 farms, or less than 2 percent of all U.S. farms.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 33

The relatively low percentage of secondary women operators reporting farming as 

their major occupation reflects the small size of their farms. About two-thirds are 

on farms selling less than $10,000, too small to provide a living (table 11). Most of 

the secondary women operators with sales that low are on farms specializing in beef 

cattle farming, horses, hay, and miscellaneous crops—common small-farm specializations. As the level of sales increases and farms become more commercially 

oriented, specializations gradually change. By the time sales exceed $1 million, the 

most common specializations are poultry and eggs, grains and oilseeds, specialty 

crops, and dairy. Nevertheless, the overall rankings (the last row of table 11) are 

affected the most by the specializations of secondary operators on farms with sales 

less than $10,000, due to the large number of those operators.

Table 11

The four largest specializations of women secondary operators by sales class, 2007

Sales class:

Women

secondary

operators1

Commodity specialization and its share of women secondary operators2

1 2 3 4

Number Percent (in parentheses)

Less than $10,000 428,831 Beef cattle farming Horses Hay Misc. crops

(30.7) (15.4) (14.0) (12.4)

$10,000-$24,999 74,825 Beef cattle farming Specialty crops Hay Grains & oilseeds

(47.6) (15.2) (12.8) (9.6)

$25,000-$49,999 42,781 Beef cattle farming Grains & oilseeds Specialty crops Hay

(41.1) (18.3) (16.8) (9.6)

$50,000-$99,999 33,020 Beef cattle farming Grains & oilseeds Specialty crops Hay

(32.2) (28.8) (15.8) (6.7)

$100,000-$249,999 40,286 Grains & oilseeds Beef cattle farming Dairy Specialty crops

(34.7) (20.5) (18.1) (12.7)

$250,000-$499,999 26,107 Grains & oilseeds Dairy Beef cattle farming Specialty crops

(40.7) (18.5) (12.7) (9.9)

$500,000-$999,999 17,148 Grains & oilseeds Poultry & eggs Dairy Specialty crops

(39.6) (15.9) (10.9) (10.5)

$1,000,000 or more 15,985 Poultry & eggs Grains & oilseeds Specialty crops Dairy

(26.2) (24.3) (13.5) (11.2)

All 678,983 Beef cattle Hay Horses Grains & oilseeds

(30.8) (11.5) (10.8) (10.4)

Note: Twelve specialization groups were used in this analysis—grains and oilseeds, hay, specialty crops, miscellaneous crops, beef cattle 

farming and ranching, cattle feedlots, dairy, horses and other equines, sheep and goats, hogs and pigs, poultry and eggs, and miscellaneous 

livestock. See box “Commodity Specializations, p. 16 of the report, for definitions of the specializations.

1Includes second and third women farm operators.

2Ranked in order of largest to smallest, by the commodity’s share of women secondary operators in the sales class.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
34 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Joint Operations by Men and Women

Most women farm operators—considering both principal and secondary operators—are on farms operated by men. Sixty-one percent of women operators are 

second operators on farms operated by men, and another 5 percent work as third 

operators on men-operated farms (table 12). Only 3 percent are the second or third 

operator on women-operated farms. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of male 

operators, 83 percent, are principal operators. Male operators on women-operated 

farms account for only 6 percent of all male operators.

Many farms are actually run as joint operations by a married couple, with both 

spouses serving as an operator. The census does not collect information on the 

marital status of operators, but ARMS does.8 According to the 2007 ARMS, the 

spouse of the principal operator is an operator on about one-third of farms, and 

spouses account for two-thirds of all secondary operators (Hoppe and Banker, 2010, 

8The ARMS questionnaire collects detailed information on up to three operators. It asks 

if the principal operator is married. If so, the questionnaire then asks if the spouse is also an 

operator. If the spouse is also an operator, the questionnaire classifies the spouse-operator 

as the second operator. The census questionnaire, in contrast, does not ask if the principal 

operator is married or if the spouse is also an operator. 

Table 12

Farm operators by gender and type, 2007

Type of operator

Gender

Total

Female Male

Number

Total operators1 985,192 2,296,342 3,281,534

Principal operators 306,209 1,898,583 2,204,792

Second operators on:

Women-operated farms 19,751 111,051 130,802

Men-operated farms 601,327 199,541 800,868

Third operators on:

Women-operated farms 7,802 15,035 22,837

Men-operated farms 50,103 72,132 122,235

Percent of total

Total operators1 100.0 100.0 100.0

Principal operators 31.1 82.7 67.2

Second operators on:

Women-operated farms 2.0 4.8 4.0

Men-operated farms 61.0 8.7 24.4

Third operators on:

Women-operated farms 0.8 0.7 0.7

Men-operated farms 5.1 3.1 3.7

Note: Detailed statistics were collected for a maximum of three operators per farm.

1Includes principal, second, and third operators.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 35

pp. 21-22). Joint operations by a couple are likely to report the husband as the principal operator. In many cases, the husband may actually be the principal operator, 

with the most responsibility for day-to-day decisions. Even in truly joint operations, 

however, where both spouses are equally involved in decisions, the husband may be 

listed as the principal operator more often than the wife. 

Joint Operations on Men-Operated Farms

Census data for men-operated farms are generally consistent with the ARMS data 

(table 13) and suggest that most two-operator farms with a man as the principal 

operator and a woman as second operator are married couple farms. Roughly a third 

of all men-operated farms in the census have two operators, usually with a woman 

secondary operator. The man principal operator is, on average, 3 years older than 

the woman second operator, 55 versus 52 years, with little variation by sales class 

(table 14). This age difference is consistent with ARMS data for women second 

operators working on farms operated by couples, since husbands tend to be slightly 

older than wives. In the 2007 ARMS, for example, men principal operators average 

56 years of age on married couple farms compared with 53 years for their wives. 9

Although joint operations are common, roughly three-fifths of all men-operated 

farms have only one operator (table 13). After sales exceed $250,000, however, the 

one-operator share falls from the 60-percent level and an increasing share of farms 

have two or more operators, but with a diminishing role for women second operators. In fact, two-operator farms with a male principal operator and a female second 

operator decline steadily from 33 percent of all men-operated farms to 18 percent as 

sales increase from less than $10,000 to $1 million or more. 

As farms increase in size, they often require more management and labor. Additional 

operators can provide this, and possibly other resources such as farmland or capital. 

ARMS data show that the share of secondary operators who are spouses falls as sales 

class increases and additional operators are added (Hoppe et al., 2008, p. 20). 

Joint Operations on Women-Operated Farms

The situation is somewhat different for women-operated farms. About one-third 

of women-operated farms have two operators (as was the case with men-operated 

farms), mostly with male second operators. On average, the woman principal 

operator is 54 years old, compared with 52 years for the male second operator (table 

14). This age gap—with the woman older than the man—reaches to 6 or 7 years for 

farms selling between $50,000 and $499,999. 

In contrast, the 2007 ARMS reports husbands as slightly older than their wives—

averaging 55 and 53 years of age, respectively—on married couple farms with a 

woman principal operator. The higher average age for the woman principal opera9Nearly all married couple farms in the 2007 ARMS were based on a traditional husband 

and wife marriage. Same-gender couples accounted for only 1.4 percent of married couple 

farms in the 2007 ARMS. Same-gender couples were excluded from the ARMS data when 

calculating the average ages of husbands and wives. Detailed analysis of same-gender 

couples is not possible due to their small sample size in ARMS.
36 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

tors in the census data suggests that many of the male second operators in the 

census data are younger relatives or hired managers, rather than spouses.

One-operator farms account for about three-fifths of women-operated farms, the 

same share as for men-operated farms (table 13). In contrast to men-operated farms, 

the one-operator share of women-operated farms begins to decline immediately after 

the smallest sales class (sales less than $10,000). The increasing share of farms with 

multiple operators is driven by increases in the share of farms with male second operators and farms with three or more operators. The additional male operators could be 

husbands, partners, or hired managers providing more labor and management.

Table 13

Farms and ranches by number of operators, sales class, and gender of the principal operator, 2007

Item

Sales class

All farms

Less than

$10,000

$10,000-

$24,999 

$25,000-

$49,999 

$50,000-

$99,999 

$100,000-

$249,999

$250,000-

$499,999

$500,000-

$999,999

$1,000,000 

or more

Number 

Men-operated farms:

Number of farms 

 and ranches 1,079,992 220,226 140,238 116,345 140,002 89,807 58,442 53,531 1,898,583

Percent of farms

Farms by number of operators:

One 58.1 59.9 61.2 61.2 59.1 54.6 48.6 39.5 57.8

Two 37.2 34.3 32.5 32.1 32.6 34.7 37.1 37.0 35.7

Woman for second 

 operator 33.1 27.7 24.3 22.5 22.0 21.3 20.6 18.4 29.0

Three or more 4.7 5.8 6.3 6.7 8.3 10.7 14.3 23.6 6.4

Number 

Women-operated farms:

Number of farms 

 and ranches 239,168 28,059 14,494 9,111 7,498 3,566 2,335 1,978 306,209

Percent of farms

Farms by number of operators:

One 59.4 52.6 51.2 49.2 45.4 42.5 41.0 36.6 57.3

Two 34.2 38.6 38.5 39.6 39.7 41.0 41.6 40.3 35.3

Man for second 

operator 29.8 34.7 34.1 35.0 34.9 36.3 37.9 35.8 30.9

Three or more 6.4 8.8 10.3 11.2 14.9 16.6 17.4 23.1 7.5

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data.
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 37

Table 14

Average age of operators on two-operator farms with operators of the opposite gender, 

by sales class, 2007

Item

Men-operated farms Women-operated farms

Average age

Difference

(man - 

woman)

Average age

Difference1

(man - 

woman)

Principal 

operator 

(man)

Secondary

operator

(woman)

Principal 

operator 

(woman)

Secondary

operator

(man)

Years

From the Census of Agriculture:2

Operators, by sales class 55 52 3 54 52 -2

Less than $10,000 55 52 3 54 52 -2

$10,000 to $24,999 57 54 3 57 53 -4

$25,000 to $49,999 57 54 3 58 53 -5

$50,000-$99,999 56 54 2 58 52 -6

$100,000-$249,999 55 52 3 58 51 -7

$250,000-$499,999 54 51 3 56 50 -6

$500,000-$999,999 53 50 3 54 50 -4

$1,000,000 or more 53 49 4 53 49 -4

From ARMS:3

Operators 55 52 3 53 55 2

1A negative sign indicates that the woman principal operator is older than the male second operator.

2Includes all two-operator farms where the operators are of the opposite gender.

3Includes all married couple, two-operator farms. Same-gender couples are excluded.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service, compiled from 2007 Census of Agriculture data, and USDA, National 

Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service, 2007 Agricultural Resource Management Survey.
38 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Summary and Discussion

This report uses data from the Census of Agriculture and ARMS to analyze the 

characteristics of women farm operators and their farms. Some of the key findings are summarized below. They should be useful to anyone interested in women 

farmers or changes in farm structure, to firms doing business with farmers, and to 

Federal and State agencies serving farmers.

In the 25 years between 1982 and 2007, the number of women-operated farms 

more than doubled, with increases in all sales classes. The number of men-operated 

farms, in contrast, declined by 10 percent, with declines in most sales classes. 

Some of the increase in women-operated farms, however, was due to changes in the 

Census of Agriculture designed to include more small farms.

On average, women principal operators are older than their male counterparts. The 

gap between the average age of women and men principal operators has narrowed, 

as the difference between their average ages fell from 6 years in 1982 to 2 years by 

2007. The number of younger women entering farming exceeds the number of older 

women leaving, which dampens the effects of aging.

Farms with sales less than $10,000 now account for 78 percent of women-operated 

farms. Most growth in women-operated farms after 1982 came from operations of 

that sales class, despite the negative rate of return on equity for farms of that size. Yet, 

about 5 percent of women-operated farms had sales of $100,000 or more in 2007.

Nearly half of women-operated farms specialize in grazing livestock: beef cattle, horses 

and other equines, or sheep and goats. Most of these livestock farms are very small, 

accounting for only 16 percent of sales generated by women-operated farms. Another 

21 percent of women-operated farms specialize in poultry, specialty crops, grains, or 

dairy, but they generated 72 percent of the sales from women-operated farms.

Fifty-six percent of payments received by women-operated farms in 2007 came 

from land retirement programs such as the CRP and WRP, compared with only 20 

percent for farms operated by men. Miscellaneous crop farms receive nearly 80 

percent of the land retirement payments made to women operators, reflecting their 

advanced age. 

Many farms are actually joint operations run by married couples, where both 

spouses act as operators. The 2007 Census of Agriculture found that about 

three-fifths of all women operators—considering both principal and secondary 

operators—are listed as the second operator on farms operated by men, most likely 

their husband. Joint operations by a couple are likely to report the husband as the 

principal operator. 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 39

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Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 41

Appendix: Data and Definitions

The data used here are largely from the Census of Agriculture for various years. 

The 2007 Census of Agriculture is used to analyze current conditions, while 

earlier censuses—back to 1978—add historical perspective. In some cases, we can 

follow trends for women farmers only from 1982 forward because the 1978 census 

provided less data on them than later censuses. Going back to the 1978 computer 

files to generate estimates is not an option, because the surviving 1978 census files 

for individual farms do not contain the weights necessary to estimate the characteristics of representative U.S. farms (Hoppe and Korb, 2006, pp. 35-36).

Another data resource for the report is the Agricultural Resource Management Survey 

(ARMS), an annual USDA survey conducted by the National Agricultural Statistical 

Service (NASS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS). The 2007 ARMS is used 

to fill gaps in the 2007 census data, particularly information about farm finances and 

farm operators’ household income and educational attainment. Because ARMS is a 

sample survey, the amount of detail that can be presented for small groups—such as 

women farmers—is often restricted because of sample size considerations.

Differences in ARMS estimates are generally discussed in this report only when 

the estimates are significantly different at a 95-percent confidence level or higher. 

No significance tests were performed for differences based on data from the Census 

of Agriculture; significance testing is not relevant when data are from a complete 

census rather than a sample survey. Some census data collected prior to the 2007 

census were based on a sample of farms, but those data are not used in this report. 

Defining Farms

Both the census and ARMS use the USDA definition of a farm: any place that 

produced and sold—or normally would have produced and sold—at least $1,000 

of agricultural products during a given year, with Government payments counting 

towards the $1,000 minimum (O’Donoghue et al., 2009, pp. 3-5). If a place does not 

have sales of at least $1,000 a “point system” assigns points for acres of various crops 

and head of livestock (where 1 point equals $1 in potential sales) to estimate normal 

sales. “Point farms” are places with actual sales and Government payments less than 

$1,000 but points plus actual sales and Government payments worth $1,000 or more. 

The amount of crops and livestock necessary to generate points worth $1,000 is small. 

To qualify as a farm by points alone, an establishment would only need, for example, 

4 acres of corn, three head of beef cattle, or five horses or ponies.

Note that census data on Government payments were not collected until the 1987 

Census of Agriculture and thus are not available for previous censuses. To ensure 

comparability between 1982 and later years in this report, we use the pointfarm definition in effect in 1982, which was based on sales without considering 

Government payments. In other words, a point farm in our report is any place with 

sales less than $1,000 but points plus actual sales worth $1,000.
42 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Defining Farm Operators

Each farm has at least one operator who makes day-to-day decisions about the farm 

business. Some farms—particularly larger ones—have more than one. Beginning 

in 2002, all operators are counted in the census and ARMS, and the questionnaires 

ask for detailed information for up to three operators. Both the census and ARMS 

designate one principal operator—the one most responsible for running the farm—

and designate the others as secondary operators. Sole operators on one-operator 

farms are counted as principal operators. 

In this report, a “woman-operated farm” is defined as a farm with a woman as the 

principal operator. Secondary operators on women-operated farms, if any, may 

be male or female. Similarly, men-operated farms are any farms where the principal operator is a man, but secondary operators may be of either gender. Joint 

operations—when a married couple runs a farm together—are likely to report the 

husband as the principal operator. 

Until 2002, the Census of Agriculture and ARMS collected data for only one, principal operator, although ARMS generally asked whether the principal operator’s 

spouse was also an operator. Thus, long-term trends in the number of secondary 

women operators cannot be traced. Discussion of long-run trends in women farmers 

by necessity focuses on principal women farmers and the farms they operate.

Most analysts use “farmer” and “farm operator” interchangeably. In this report, 

the term “farmer” may refer to principal operators, secondary operators, or both; 

in each instance, the operators under discussion should be clear from the context. 

Principal operators are discussed first in this report, and the discussion of secondary 

operators occurs towards the end.

Women also participate in agriculture in ways other than as a principal or secondary 

operator. They may be landlords or work as farm laborers or as farm managers who 

hold a management position on a large commercial farm. They may work for firms 

performing custom work. They can also work as consultants or advisors, moving 

among farms to provide advice. Some of the specialties covered by consultants and 

advisors include agronomy, animal science, soil science, veterinary science, and 

accounting. Farm-level data do not include information on women in these nonoperator occupations, but it is likely the number of women has increased in these positions and will continue to do so over time.

Defining Sales

This report uses the market value of agricultural products sold—a measure used 

in the Census of Agriculture—to gauge sales (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, NASS, 

2009, p. B-15). The market value of agricultural products sold is gross market value 

(before production expenses and taxes) of farm products sold or removed under 

contract from the farm in a given year. It is equal to total sales by the operators of 

the farm plus the value of any shares received by partners, landlords, contractors, or 

other entities associated with the farm. It includes the value of commodities placed 

in the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan program, but excludes any other 

Government payments. In addition, it excludes receipts of farm-related income the 
Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 43

operation may receive, such as payments for custom work performed or production 

contract fees.

In ARMS data, the level of sales is generally gauged by a similar measure, gross farm 

sales (Hoppe et al., 2010, p. 3). To be consistent with the census data used in this 

report, gross farms sales from ARMS were converted to the market value of sales by 

subtracting Government payments received by the farm business and its landlords.

Changes in Census Methodology

The Bureau of the Census was responsible for conducting the agricultural census 

from its inception in 1840 until 1996 (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, NASS, 2009, pp. 

VII). Responsibility for the census was moved to NASS by the 1997 Appropriations 

Act, and NASS has conducted the last three censuses (for 1997, 2002, and 2007). 

After taking over the Census of Agriculture, NASS instituted some methodological 

changes. Beginning with the 2002 census, NASS began adjusting census estimates 

to compensate for undercoverage. In addition, NASS increased its efforts to contact 

all small farms for the census. For more information about these and other changes, 

see box, “Counting Small Farms—Methodological Changes,” p. 44.

These methodological changes improved the quality of census data, especially 

for small farms, but complicated the analysis of trends. For example, adjusting 

for undercoverage and more actively seeking out small farms missed in previous 

censuses gives a more accurate count of smaller farms. The improved count, 

however, is not fully comparable with counts from previous censuses—analysts 

cannot know how much of the increase in small farms is due to methodological 

changes and how much to the actual entry of new farms.
44 Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 Economic Research Service, USDA

Counting Small Farms: Methodological Changes

Four methodological changes introduced in recent Censuses of Agriculture have increased the 

count of U.S. small farms:

1. Data for the 2002 and 2007 Censuses of Agriculture were adjusted for undercoverage, 

or farms that the census missed, predominantly farms with sales less than $2,500 (U.S. 

Dept. of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2004, pp. X and C-11). For 

most of the other censuses used in this report, gross adjustment factors were published 

but not applied to the published estimates or the data in electronic files.1 Nevertheless, 

we can estimate the effect of the adjustment by comparing adjusted and unadjusted estimates in 1997, since both estimates can be generated for that year. The adjusted count 

of women-operated farms in 1997 was 209,800, or 27 percent higher than the 165,100 

estimate without the adjustment. For men-operated farms, the corresponding adjusted 

estimate was 15 percent larger than the unadjusted estimate. 

2. The 2007 Census of Agriculture counted more farms in the lowest sales categories, due to 

extensive mailing-list-building efforts (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, NASS, 2011, pp. 26-27). 

3. Beginning with the 1997 Census of Agriculture, the farm count was expanded to include 

farms that enroll all of their cropland in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) or 

Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). Counting these CRP/WRP farms led to a 30-percent 

increase in the number of farms with less than $1,000 in sales of agricultural products 

between 1992 and 1997 (Hoppe and Korb, 2002, p. 25).

4. Also beginning in 1997, the census asked the respondent for each Indian reservation to 

report the number of American Indians operating farms or ranches on the reservation 

(U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, NASS, 1999, p. VIII). Prior to 1997, the census counted only 

one operator per reservation.

In addition to the four methodological changes introduced deliberately, a more subtle factor 

contributed to the increase in small farms. The $1,000 cutoff for qualifying as a farm is 

stated in nominal dollars rather than constant dollars and has not changed since the current 

definition was introduced in 1974. When agricultural prices increase substantially, less physical 

production is required to qualify as a farm. Price increases lead to increases in the count of 

farms with sales at and just above the cutoff. The most recent large increase in agricultural 

prices occurred between 2002 and 2007, when the Producer Price Index (PPI) for farm products 

increased by 45 percent.

1The 1978 census was adjusted for undercoverage, but the adjustment was not performed in subsequent censuses—

until 2002—due to cost considerations (Allen, 2004). Because the 1978, 2002, and 2007 censuses were adjusted using 

similar procedures, the coverage adjustment does not affect long-run comparisons between the 1978 and the 2002 or 

2007 censuses.