Meet fourth-generation cattle ranchers Nancy, Merry, and Susie Calhoun of Livermore, California. Inspired by their parents, these sisters have a deep love for natural resources and agriculture. They’re focused on being a model for other ranchers, particularly female ranchers, on all things related to conservation and sustainability. Read this short profile from the USDA’s ”Fridays on the Farm” series.
This article from The 19th showcases farmer experiences and research related to the challenges farmers — particularly women — encounter securing appropriate and affordable childcare. It also provides information about the proposed bipartisan Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act, which if passed as part of the Farm Bill would tap into the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rural development funds for projects that improve access, quality and cost of child care in rural areas.
Many sets of helping hands, groups of supportive friends and well-timed opportunities, sit at the heart of Hannah Breckbill’s journey from Carleton College math degree graduate to queer organic farmer and beginning farmer advocate.
As Hannah worked to create and continues to grow Humble Hands, she said she experienced unique issues as an LGBTQI+ farmer. “The main challenge that I associate with being a queer farmer is the societal and even legal expectations associated with ‘family+’.”
“Our farm is different from what people expect from a family farm because we’re two women who are not in a romantic partnership who own and operate the business together,” she said, referring to her farming partnership with her cousin.
