Chatroom

All Forums  Milk Cow Kitchen  Entremanureship  Spotlight on Female Dairy Farmers

Note: You must be logged in to post.
To log in, click here.
To join Heritage Jersey Organization, click here. It’s FREE!

Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by maryjane[/i] [br]Just thought you'd like to see an article we just finished for the Newsroom section of the June/July issue of [i]MaryJanesFarm[/i]. [b]Spotlight on Female Dairy Farmers[/b] While more and more young women are returning to their roots as part of a national small-farm renaissance, the majority of rookie farmers focus on crop and meat farming. Dairy farming, as a result, is teetering on the verge of extinction. “Dairy in Montana is really having a hard time. It’s on the verge of potential collapse. There are only 68 farms left across the state,” Connie Surber, co-owner of The Golden Yoke dairy in St. Ignatius, Montana, told [i]Modern Farmer[/i]. But hope is not lost, thanks to women like Surber and her partner, Laura Ginsburg, who are passionate about their occupation. “We think we can show a model of dairy farming that could be sustainable for dairy farmers to make a good living, support their community, and make a product that people want.” The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) shares this vision and has recently made it their mission to spotlight female dairy farmers in an effort to draw more women into this field of farming. In a partnership with Stonyfield Farm, NYFC selected five young female dairy farmers to write monthly blog posts for one year as part of the Coalition’s Bootstrap Blogger series. “These farmers chronicled their experiences [about] starting a new farm business each month on YoungFarmers.org. From seeds and breeds, to tools and equipment, to why they decided to become farmers, the series’ posts are filled with inspiration and encouragement to young people considering farming careers,” explained NYFC. A handful of the series’ farmers also created companion videos to their blog posts, and these videos were officially released this spring. Offering behind-the-scenes perspectives on sustainable, small-scale dairy farming, the videos present a unique and undeniable source of inspiration for others interested in pursuing careers in agriculture. “Watching these courageous young women tend to their herds and manage farm businesses is the opposite of what most people see in their daily lives,” says NYFC. “It’s a warm reminder of where and how our food is made, and it illustrates the difference between industrial agriculture and the farmers who have a true love for the land and the animals they raise.” Watch the whole series at YoungFarmers.org/video. [b]And how about these little factoids?[/b] According to the 2012 USDA Census of Agriculture, of the 2.1 million principal operators of farms in the U.S., 288,264 were women. But, according to former Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, “When all women involved with farming are added up—including primary and secondary operators—they are nearly one million strong and account for 30% of U.S. farmers.” Go, girls! [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature. Check here to subscribe to this topic.