Oregon Farm Bureau Celebrates Women’s Contributions To Agriculture

On Monday, the Oregon Farm Bureau Women’s Advisory Council hosted a reception for lawmakers to kick off the legislative session.  According to the 2017 Census of Ag, Oregon ranks 4^th in the nation for the number of farmers and ranchers who are women.  There are 29,868 female farmers and ranchers in Oregon, representing 44% of the state’s agricultural community.  Nationally, 36% of all American farmers and ranchers are female, according to the census.

“Women play an essential role on Oregon’s farms and ranches in every capacity, as owner-operators, as bookkeepers, as mothers, and as advocates for agriculture in the legislature,” said OFB Women’s Advisory Council Chair Janice Flegel, who runs a cattle and hay ranch with her family in Crook County.

In Oregon, female farmers and ranchers are involved in producing all of Oregon’s over 225 Ag commodities, from cattle, sheep, and dairy cows — to berries, vegetables, and wine grapes — to hazelnuts, grass seed, and nursery products.

“My mom Verna Jean Hale started the nursery in 1967,” said OFB First Vice President Angi Bailey, owner of Verna Jean Nursery. “She was a woman who worked in agriculture her entire life, who was not bound by any preconceived notions of what she should be and certainly was not slowed down by any barriers to success. I knew from watching my mother that my gender would not be a disadvantage when I took over the nursery.”

“I’m happy to see that more women are taking the lead in farms and ranches,” said Mickey Killingsworth, Women’s Advisory Council member and owner of a sheep ranch in Jefferson County.

“Today when I go to town to make a big order of fertilizer or buy farming equipment, I don’t get asked where my husband is. It’s not so unusual to be a female farmer anymore, which is a positive for agriculture,” Killingsworth said.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com