Nonoperator women spouses contribute substantial time to farming

About 222,000 women are principal farm operators, or the person most responsible for making day-to-day decisions about the farm; 1.5 million women are spouses of principal operators. About one-third of these women spouses are secondary operators who work on the farm and participate in day-to-day decisions with their husband. The remaining women spouses do not make management decisions and are not farm operators. There are nearly one million of these nonoperator spouses, 46 percent of whom provide farm labor and collectively work 371 million hours on farms. Their labor amounts to 10 percent of the total hours worked on farms by principal operators and their spouses, and 34 percent of the total hours worked by female principal operators and spouses. The average hours of farm work—for persons reporting work hours—is substantial for women principal operators (1,097 hours per person per year), secondary operator spouses (895 hours/person/year), and nonoperator spouses (818 hours/person/year). Nonoperator women spouses contribute significant time to farm operations. This chart is an extension and update of information presented in the ERS report, Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms, EIB-111, April 2013.

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