SPECIAL REPORT: Rise of women in agriculture: highlighting outstanding local women in AG
Danyelle Burke North
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – Over the past two decades, the share of women in agriculture in the United States has steadily increased, with recent studies showing women now make up more than a third of all agricultural producers.
Some of these local leaders outstanding in their field are making a difference right here in Yuma agriculture.
According to a study by Trace One, over 54% of farms in Yuma County are operated by women. Three of these women work as agricultural leaders at our local JV Farms, including Farms Spray & Planting Department Manager Martha Ryan, Food Safety Director Fatima Corona Zepeda, and Southern Colorado Farms General Manager Amy Kunugi.
But sowing seeds into success hasn’t always been easy.
“I just feel like I had to prove myself working for a male dominated industry, but it’s really nice to finally see that women are representing a big part of the industry out in the field. It’s really needed. It’s inspiring, and I’m glad to be part of that,” said Ryan.
Sometimes they’ve had to prove themselves just for a seat at the table, with people still holding onto outdated ideas.
“I get different reactions. It’s really funny. I feel like some people think that the typical representation of a person out in the field is like an older man like the pioneer, so I get mixed reaction. Sometimes they’re like ‘Oh yeah, that’s great,’ or something like ‘You’re in a management role for a farm?'” said Martha Ryan.
“I’ve gone to events where you know you had to sign in. And I was signing in as the grower, and the people at the desk I was signing in didn’t believe I was the grower. And they thought I was the spouse, and so you know that’s gotten a lot better. Things have changed. The industries become more progressive,” said Kunugi.
People sometimes misunderstand and think it’s just about tractors and trailers. But there’s so much more to this multifacted industry.
“It isn’t just about the tractors. It’s a huge amount of different roles that really represent what it’s all about to run a farm,” said Ryan.
“I mean, we need accountants. We need I.T. directors, especially with technology,” said Fatima Corona Zepeda.
But the crops aren’t the only thing growing, so is the number of women taking over the industry. Trace One reports Arizona leads the nation with 47.9% of its agricultural producers being women.
And it’s a bigger deal when they take center stage in Yuma, as our local AG has a large impact on the entire industry.
“It’s very exciting just to know that we supply the majority of the vegetables to our country during the month of November through March,” said Zepeda. “So without our operations here in Yuma County, I don’t think the country would be able to enjoy the leafy greens they do enjoy during these times of the year.”
As this industry continues to grow, these women say they’re looking forward to the future of agriculture.
“We have a lot of women in human resources or accounting or maybe food safety things like that, but there’s not as many of us in the actual production side of it, so I would highly encourage young women to consider agricultural production as a career,” said Kunugi.
“Hopefully, we can inspire young students to pursue a career,” said Zepeda.