Recipient Organization
UNIV OF IDAHO
875 PERIMETER DRIVE
MOSCOW,ID 83844-9803
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This project aims to increase the prosperity of women farmers, their families, and rural communities through research and extension activities. The project aligns with the primary goal of AFRI's Small and Medium-Sized Farms Program (Code A1601) and addresses four of the priorities (b, e, f, i). The USDA considers women farmers socially disadvantaged; statistics on farm size and sales affirm this classification.Research uses an integrated, qualitative-quantitative approach to (1) document changes between 2017 and 2022 in women farm operators' access to key agricultural resources, (2) examine the gender gap in farm profitability by farmer race and ethnicity between the years 2017 and 2022, (3) investigate the role of farming partners on women farm operators' access to key agricultural resources, level of enterprise diversification, and profitability, (4) assess, for women who are meeting their financial goals, the main factors supporting their financial success and their approach to succession planning on their farms.Extension activities increase the reach and effectiveness of University of Idaho Extension farm management programs that support beginning, small, and medium-sized women farmers. We will (1) provide Idaho women farm operators services to increase farm profitability and develop succession plans, (2) deliver business planning and risk management programs to women farm operators with beginning and small to medium-scale operations, (3) increase agriculture service and technical assistance providers' understanding of the unique needs of women operators and optimal approaches for working with this audiences, (4) share best practices, resources, educational curricula, and training tools available to support women operators.
Animal Health Component
30%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
70%
Applied
30%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
1.1. Long-term goals and supporting objectivesThe long-term goals of the proposed integrated research and extension project are1. Increased opportunities for women farm and ranch operators1 to achieve success in meeting their financial goals in their farm enterprises.2. Increased prosperity of women farm operators so their operations generate the wealth necessary to pass their farms to the next generation.The study focuses on women farmers across racial and ethnic groups in the US and Idaho who are either one of the principal operator(s) or the primary operator on a farm. In pursuit of the project's long-term goals, we will conduct research and extension activities with the following objectives:Research objectives:1. Document changes between 2017 and 2022 in women farm operators' access to key agricultural resources (e.g., land, buildings, machinery, labor), level of enterprise diversification, and profitability.2. Examine levels, changes, and explanations for the gender gap in farm profitability by farmer race and ethnicity between the years 2017 and 2022.3. Investigate the role of farming partners, both marital and otherwise, on women farm operators' access to key agricultural resources, level of enterprise diversification, and profitability.4. Assess, for a sub-sample of women farmers whose farms are meeting the financial goals they have set, what they see as the main factors supporting their financial success and how such success affects estate and succession planning for their farms.Extension objectives:1. Provide Idaho women farm operators the knowledge, skills, tools, and support services needed to make informed decisions and access available resources to increase farm/ranch profitability and develop farm succession plans.2. Increased prosperity of women farm operators so their operations generate the wealth necessary to pass their farms to the next generation.
Project Methods
A mixed-methods (MM) research approach will be used to address the study's four research objectives. Research Objectives 1, 2, and 3 use data from the CoA for 2017 and 2022 and quantitative approaches to provide a national perspective on women farmers' financial performance. For Research Objective 4, we will focus on Idaho and conduct interviews with 45 women farmers who are meeting their financial goals to identify best practices. Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses will inform each other across research phases. For instance, because the quantitative analysis will be done first, some new questions that arise when interpreting those results will be part of the qualitative interviews. The qualitative research will, in turn, shed light on the quantitative results and provide guidance for additional analysis. The interviews with Idaho women farmers will allow us to gain deeper insights into the patterns observed in the quantitative data analyses. Likewise, the qualitative findings may generate new questions that we can look into with the national-level quantitative analysis.