Skip to main content
Skip to main content

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Charts of Note logo

Women-operated farms and ranches increased in all sales classes between 1982 and 2007

  • by Economic Research Service
  • 5/2/2013
  • Farm Economy
  • Farm Structure and Organization
  • Beginning, Limited Resource, and Female Farmers and Ranchers
A chart showing the share of farms and ranches operated principally by women, by sales class of farm or ranch between 1982 and 2007.

Download chart image

The total number of women-operated farms—where the person most responsible for day-to-day business decisions is a woman—more than doubled between 1982 and 2007. In addition, each sales class (adjusted for price changes) experienced a gain. In contrast, the number of men-operated farms declined by 10 percent, and men-operated farms increased in only the largest and smallest sales classes. 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. Women operators accounted for 14 percent of all farms, but their share of farms with no or very low sales was even larger, at roughly 21 percent. For sales exceeding $100,000, however, women’s share of farms remained small, in the 4- to 5-percent range. This chart is found in the ERS report, Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111, April 2013.

Get Charts of Note delivered!

Subscribe

See our Privacy Policy.