Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms

Economic Research Service, USDA Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111 23
Sheep and Goats
Poultry and Eggs
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.
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).
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