In 1984, during the heart of the historic farm crisis that swept across much of the nation, it was impossible to turn on the television without witnessing the fallout of an industry brought to its knees seemingly overnight. Through a perfect storm of government policy, distressing weather conditions, and high interest rates, farmland value had dropped a monstrous 60 percent in some parts of the Midwest, while farm debt soared to over $215 billion. 

Images of men with hats in their hands gazing over foreclosure signs flooded the networks. Journalists spoke grimly about the mental-health impact on male farmers, reporting on the spiraling number of suicides, homicides, and cases of domestic violence. The year had ushered in a grim portrait of America’s heartland, and U.S. farming as we once knew it seemed poised for a seismic shift. 

Mushrooming out of the shadows of fiercely private communities, that change came in the form of the under-acknowledged female farmer. Once thought to play little more than a supportive role in the agro-industry, these women led the charge toward operational changes, implementing viable solutions that would effectively help to curtail a burgeoning crisis.