Indiana NRCS Celebrates Women Contributions to Agriculture

Today marks the official beginning of National Women’s History Month throughout the United States. The annual observance started as a weeklong event in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter and was lengthened to the entire month of March starting in 1987. 

Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, which is observed March 8, offer the chance to honor the contributions of women and their ongoing impact on American society and the world.  In Indiana, this includes the continued contributions of female landowners and producers to agriculture throughout the state.

According to the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service’s 2022 Farm Census, there are approximately 31,000 female producers throughout Indiana. In all, they combine to own and/or operate 5.7 million acres of farmland in the state. 

“Indiana is blessed to have a large number of female producers and landowners,” said the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services’ (NRCS) Indiana State Conservationist Damarys Mortenson. “Whether they operate a large row crop farm or a small community garden, March offers us the chance to highlight the impact they continue to have throughout the state and the role they play in putting conservation practices on the land.”

One of the major ways Indiana NRCS is working to help female farmers is through a cooperative agreement with the Hoosier Heartland Resource Conservation and Development Council called Women4theLand.  Women4theLand empowers women to make good science-based land use and management decisions that lead to more viable communities and stronger farm enterprises.

The program is inspired by the Women, Food and Agriculture Networks' Women Caring for the Land program and includes learning circles designed to break down gender gaps and expand women landowners’ knowledge and confidence. The learning circles provide information in a comfortable, informal setting where a small group of women learn from professional conservationists as well as from each other.  Through these learning circles, participants learn how to care for natural resources, where to find financial and technical assistance, how to work with tenant farmers, and more topics to help women manage their land.  Between 2013 and 2023, Woman4theLand facilitated over 150 learning circles in 56 counties located throughout Indiana.