Family farms are struggling with two hidden challenges: health insurance and child care

This article in The Conversation, discusses how household expenses like access to health care and child care affects farm development, including the impacts on farms with women as primary operators.

The authors are:  Shoshanah Inwood, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, The Ohio State University; Andrea Rissing, President’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University; and Florence Becot, Associate Research Scientist in Rural Sociology, Adjunct Faculty – National Farm Medicine Center, The Ohio State University.

Coaching Women Farmers and Ranchers

Woman to woman networks are powerful strategies for beginning farm and ranch women to learn how to build businesses that fit their needs and lifestyles. One of the reasons that networks are so powerful is that they employ more coaching techniques than education techniques. This recording from the 2019 Women in Ag Programs for 21st Century Farms and Ranches Virtual Conference explore several models that employ coaching strategies in different ways to attain business goals, learn skills, and take some calculated risks. Our panelists will share their experience in developing programs and curricula designed to meet women farmers and ranchers where they are and create dynamic learning networks to carry them forward. 

Presenters:  Maud Powell, Oregon State University Small Farms Program; Jean Eells, PhD, E Resources Group, LLC and Lisa Kivirist, Senior Fellow, Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems, University of Minnesota, author of Soil Sisters:  A Toolkit for Women Farmers, co-owner of Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast in Monroe, WI

What do Northern New England Farmers Need to Adapt to Climate Change?

This 4-page, 2019 brief summarizes a study of how Northern New England farmers are impacted by climate change, specific tools and resources they need to adapt, and the barriers they encounter. It provides insights into ways advisors can better assist farmers with climate change adaptation, and the different perspectives researchers/advisors and farmers bring to the topic. The research, a collaborative effort of the University of Vermont and University of Maine, is ongoing.