Women are now farming up new careers
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| Connie Schneider, operating a Caterpillar combine west of Heyworth, lines up to dump into a grain wagon as her husband Matt Hughes prepares to leave a field with another load of corn. Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY |
Sunday, October 28, 2007 11:29 PM CDT
SHIRLEY — Farm life seems like a natural fit for Connie Schneider. “Being the fourth generation, it just gets instilled in you,” said Schneider, who farms 2,200 acres mostly in Funks Grove Township with her husband, Matt Hughes.
But farming might not come naturally for most women, seeing that the typical farmer in Illinois and McLean County is male.
About a fifth of the 101,574 farm operators in Illinois are women, according to the federal 2002 Census of Agriculture. Of the 2,016 farm operators in McLean County, 349 are women. McLean County women are the principal operators on 79, or about 5.5 percent, of the county’s 1,442 farms.
It’s uncertain as to how many women farm full time versus having an in-town job, as well. Schneider realizes not many area women farm, especially as a primary job. But farming is her only job, and she plans to get even more involved once both of her children are in school next fall.
“I’ve never felt shunned or anything,” Schneider said. “It’s just like any other business. You gain the respect of your peers.”
While it’s still rare for a woman to take on the farm life full time, it seems like women are taking on a more active role in the fields and with farm management, said Don Meyer, McLean County Extension director.
“We’re seeing women more comfortable in taking on that role,” Meyer said.
Coming to the farm
It’s hard for Schneider to explain how she was called to be a farmer.
She grew up on the farm in Shirley where she lives and farms now, but she wasn’t involved in production like many “farm boys.”
She obtained an agriculture business degree at the University of Illinois and worked for a commodity analyst at first. She moved to St. Louis after her wedding but came back to Shirley in 1992 when her husband got a job with Growmark in Bloomington.
“That allowed me to come back and start learning the ropes here,” Schneider said.
She kept track of the books and was the “support person” who’d run errands, take grain to the elevators, help at harvest or bring chemicals or water to the fields during planting. She naturally picked up the how-to’s of production.
Her father retired about five years ago, and now she and her husband are tenant farmers together. They also own and farm 50 acres of land in Heyworth.
Partnership
Schneider still considers herself to be mostly a support person, calling Hughes the CEO of the farm.
Still, she harvested corn and beans this fall while Hughes took charge of moving the grain to storage. They share marketing responsibilities and talk about decisions together.
For example, last year was the big combine debate, Schneider said. They shared a machine with a neighbor but knew they needed their own. But first, they had to talk about their preferences and finances.
It’s especially tough to make marketing decisions since farmers become emotionally attached to their grain, Schneider said.
“You’re always wanting a better price. Will I get the better price today or tomorrow? You don’t want to miss a good price, too,” she said. “I hate making the wrong decision. … It’s your financial future at stake. It’s a risk you have to take.”
Schneider enjoys being her own boss and the flexible schedule that allowed her to be at home with her kids, now 5 and 10, and participate in their activities.
But she also struggles with some aspects of farming. Her greatest weaknesses are the mechanical and physical tasks.
“Being a woman, you just don’t have some of the physical strength,” Schneider said.
Like all farmers, she also finds the positives in the different things she likes each season.
“The growing season is enjoyable,” Schneider said. “At each turn, there’s different expectations of what it could be in the end.”
Women farmers
The role of women on the farm always has been critical in farming, even if it was as simple as keeping the family glued together, said Don Meyer, McLean County Extension director. Today, male and female farm partners share roles while some women may come to be the primary operator because of a family death or because of a career goal, Meyer said. The following is a breakdown of farms and farm operators in 2002, the most recent data available.
73,027: Number of farms in Illinois
1,442: Number of farms in McLean County
101,574: Number of farm operators in Illinois
19,840: Number of women farm operators in Illinois
2,016: Number of farm operators in McLean County
349: Number of women farm operators in McLean County
79: Number of women who are the principal operators, or the person primarily responsible for the on-site, day-to-day operation of a farm business, in McLean County
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2002 Census of Agriculture
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