The Other Side of Agriculture

Women in agriculture aren't a new thing.

There are many wonderful, strong, farm women sharing their stories on social media and out in public through organizations such as CommonGround. These women are mothers, sisters, partners, owner/operators and they do a magnificent job sharing their lives with the general public-the good, the bad, and the ugly.

No life is perfect, and as much as we all want to envision farm life through rose-colored glasses, with a big red barn and babies running all over the yard, the rural life isn't always that pretty.

But what we don't hear an awful lot about are the women who don't farm on their own land but work for large agricultural companies. And there's a reason we don't hear a lot about them...and that's because there aren't very many of us out in the field of these large companies. There are oodles of women in administrative positions...for good reason, women absolutely rule in those spots. 99% of the workers in the main office for our company are women.

In fact, in all of Nebraska, there were only 2 women working for our company as Field Reps. And now it's down to one...Me.

Why is that?

Because when it comes down to brass tacks, main-stream agriculture will always be a good ol' boys club.

I can't help but be jealous of all the amazing women who run (or co-run) their own family farms. I want to be them. I wanted the experience that this job would give me first though. I just never dreamed the experience would be such a roller coaster ride.

I've learned a lot in the last 9 months. And I mean a lot. But what has impacted me the most are the problems that have arisen because of my gender.

My generation is full of empowered women. We are told the sky is the limit and that if we just stay strong, we can have and do anything we want to. But we aren't told how strong we might actually have to be just to get up each and every day and go to work.

I watched my mom fight the good ol' boys club my whole life. And I thank God for having her as a role model of how to survive in a man's world and for passing on her backbone because otherwise I wouldn't even be writing this right now.

What possible problems could have arisen from being a woman? I think the better question is what problems haven't arisen from being a woman? Especially a young woman.

And the problems haven't come from the contract growers (who are largely men...although it's always nice when we deal with the wives), but from co-workers and bosses. Apparently women care too much.

We care too much about our jobs, we worry too much, we try to do a great job. 

We get upset when the men we work with don't have to work as hard yet get rewarded when they don't have to work as hard...by being promoted, while we wait around and are given the impression we will never be worthy of promotion.

We tell it like we see it, but women exaggerate and lie. When men come in and see the exact same things though, it's as if the world will end if things don't change.

My co-worker left because she got tired of working her life away and being told that it was her own fault for working her life away. Except she was just doing her job. And trying to do it well, which as a woman means caring and worrying. She had to constantly ask for help because she was given too much for one person to manage, but help never came from anybody but me. As soon as her male replacement took over though, help came out of the woodwork.

Until this point, I had never truly understood the disadvantage that being a young woman would bring me in this job. Animal Science programs are overrun by females...women are the future of agriculture. I was expected to do the same work as everyone else in my last 2 farm jobs, even if it meant I needed to learn how to do them. There is an insane number of amazing women sharing their stories out there. Women are the backbone of agricultural communities...and every community, Never once was I was given anything but hope in my future.

There have been times in the last few months where I have almost wished I had been born a guy.

How tragic is that?

I'm not sure where my story will go from here. I'm not sure that it really matters where it goes from here (not in a depressed sort of way, just that I know God has a plan).

I do know that women are a force to be reckoned with in agriculture, but we still have a long way to go to smash that glass ceiling. Because even family-based, Christian, agricultural companies still don't truly encourage equal-opportunity.

Day 1: My Purpose

Everyone has a different purpose in life. Some people spend their whole lives searching for the things that fulfill them and make them whole. I've always known that I wanted to work with animals but it took me years to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with animals. Then again, I still don't know where life will take me.

When I was in high school I convinced my mom that we needed to foster dogs for a local rescue. Rescue and adoption is still near and dear to my heart but I wanted to see what else there was in the wide world that would help me fill the void I feel without animals. When I went to college I entered as a Wildlife Management major. Sounded like a good idea at the time but eventually it thumped me upside the head that the chance of getting up close and personal with the wildlife I would be "managing" was going to be slim to none. And that just wouldn't do. The next choice? Animal Science. Turned out to be the best choice in college I would ever make.

The sound of grunting pigs greets me every morning (I tried to upload a recording but it failed). It was that sound that greeted me every morning in the years I was in Wyoming (along with the bellows of cattle and blats of sheep). This sound is like a lullaby to me. I would find myself in the barn whenever life seemed grim or out of control. It's still the sound that gets me through the happy and the sad.

I've said it before: I like cattle, goats, horses, etc...but I cannot imagine my life without pigs.

Whenever I give presentations to kids that have little experience with livestock I always tell them that pigs are a lot like humans. They are vocal (barking, grunting, squealing, screaming, etc), stubborn, independent, aggressive, friendly, and so many more things rolled into one. Too bad I can't drag sows into schools with me :)

Yes, they have a certain smell about them. And yes, they can be tough to work with (ask me about the Duroc boar that hated me or the times I've been knocked over by groups of 600-800 pound sows). But when I am with them, I know my purpose.

My time in Kentucky has been an emotional roller coaster and one of the reasons is I have had no purpose, no reason to get up in the mornings. I dread coming into town and spending the day sitting in the office. The times when I have had pigs to care for (while taking classes, doing research, other projects, etc) have by far been the best and most successful times here.

I can only speak for myself but I didn't get involved with animal agriculture for the money. It's actually probably safer to say that agriculture chose me. Working with animals fulfills me. It quiets all those voices in my head that question why I am doing this or that, what I will be doing tomorrow or later or in the next 10 years.

I am currently getting made fun of for always smelling like pigs (I have 7 sows and 100 piglets in the basement of our Animal Science building right now). People ask why I want to be tired and smelly each and every day. My answer is that there would be a giant hole in my heart and life if I didn't get up each morning to greet the animals.

Some of the images that have stayed with me through the years are the images of farmers and ranchers after their animals and land have been taken away from them, whether it's due to weather, foreclosure, or old age. The utter devastation haunts me. There's a reason that farmers rarely retire-to do so would be to watch their entire life drift away with the evening tide, gone forever.

I don't do it for the money. I do it because the pigs give me a purpose. And nothing can be more important than that.

I may not know exactly what I want to do with my life. But as long as there are animals involved-pigs especially-whatever I do will be just fine with me.


*Here is the starting page for 30 Days Of Randomness With A Pig Nutrition Grad Student, check back there for links to all 30 days.*

**If you want to read some more stories from the amazing Ag bloggers out there, check out the very talented (and fearless leader of this 30 Day Blogging Challenge) Holly Spangler's My Generation page! I know I will be keeping up with the stories :) **