Farming is hard. It can be hard physically, mentally, and financially. It is important to have a strong support network of neighbors, friends, and family that you can lean on when you need it most. However, the farm wife may be the most critical component of any successful farming operation.

Women have long played an important role in agriculture. For centuries women have been tending to the land and harvesting it’s bounty. During World War II it was the women that stayed at home and tended to the farm while the men were away. Over the past 40 years the number of women led farms has tripled in the United States. Today, women make up approximately 40% of the global farming workforce, as reported by AgAmerica.

It is no surprise that women are thriving in the challenging career of agriculture. I have had the good fortune to work with many of these strong women here in Kentucky. Women like Amy White, Mary Bach, and Jill Settles. Women who are fierce, loyal, and passionate about their farms, their families, and their way of life. These women make up the backbone of our industry and agriculture is stronger because of it.

Isabella Cole serves in this role for Eden Shale Farm. She has put in countless hours helping Greg move cattle, deliver baling twine, and tending to sick calves. I believe it takes the nurturing ability of a mother to keep a newborn calf alive, and Isabella is as good as any to ever do it.

I have always been blessed to have been around strong, loving, Christian women. My grandparents ran a dairy operation for 50 years and my grandmother never missed a milking. She helped with all the farm work yet always had a large spread ready for us at suppertime in the house. Neither of those tasks are easy.

You see, I have respect for these hard working women of agriculture because I was raised by one. My mother, Pam, raised four boys with nothing more than strict discipline, a lot of love, and a big garden. We had everything but money, yet somehow never really missed it. Dad managed the tobacco and the cattle, but it was mom who managed our family. Today, I am thankful for my fierce, loyal, and passionate mother who instilled in me the rural values and lessons that have made me a better man.
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I know that Kentucky agriculture is stronger because of the women who carry our industry forward. This month March 8th is International Women’s Day, but those of us in agriculture have known for a long time that the women are the cornerstone of our country, and for that we say thank you. 

January 7th, 2025

7:30 AM
I spend the first 45 minutes of the day trying to get the door of my truck open. A quarter inch of ice has the cracks of the door filled in tight and the plastic door handle does not stand a chance of prying it open.  It’s a slow process in the winter.

9:17 AM
I’m still 25 miles away from the farm and the road conditions have deteriorated quickly.  Owen county received about 8 inches of snow but hardly any ice at all.  This section of roadway apparently was plowed early in the storm and hasn’t received any attention since. It’s a slow process in the winter.

10:33 AM
Arrive at the farm to find Greg getting the cows in the barn. They have found the weak fence and helped themselves to the hay in the hoop barns.  They will now get sorted into two groups and moved to the two hay self feeders at the back of the farm. But first, we have to do the morning chores.

11:45 AM
Finished busting ice open for all the groups to have water. All cattle are accounted for and doing well in the cold snowy conditions. Inventory shows we will need to feed 7 rolls of hay today. That will come later after we sort cows and move heifers out of the paddocks. We decide to eat an early lunch while we are near the house, before we go to the far side of the farm to move the heifers (this turned out the be a wise choice).

​12:34 PM
We head to the paddocks where 31 of our first and second calf heifers have been grazing stockpiled fescue. We need to gather them and move them to the heifer maternity barn where they will start eating hay and will calve in about 45 days. At first we do not see any animals. Once located, a quick count shows we are 7 head short. We find the last 7 head in the absolute farthest paddock from where they need to go. All 22 paddock gates will need to be closed. The 7 head have decided they like their spot down out of the weather and do not want to leave their paddock. Greg and I trek down the steep paddock and walk them up onto the lane.  This takes at least a half hour of stomping and sliding on the steep snow covered ground in wet, heavy Carhartt gear. We decided we have had our cardio for the day, but the heifers are on the alley and can start their mile trek to the maternity pasture.

2:41 PM
The heifers have made their way to a water pen that was left open and they will need pushed out of it and one more gate opened so they can get to the maternity barn. With the gates switched, we head out of the pasture when suddenly there is a bang from under the front of the truck. We are unsure of what has broken, but there is no longer any 4-wheel drive to pull us along and we are stuck.  We abandon the farm truck and hike back to the house in heavy Carhartt gear. More cardio. We fetch the tractor and pull the truck to the house. It’s not much help in 2-wheel drive in the deep snow. We will finish our day using the tractor. It’s a slow process in the winter.

4:10 PM
The cows in the barn still need sorted and moved to their hay feeding barns. Greg gets them sorted and I move the first group back the farm lane to the smaller self hay feeder.  Greg brings the second group to the large bale feeder. We still have to fix the weak spot in the fence so everything stays where they should.

5:45 PM
It has gotten dark and we still need to feed three bales to the calves. Luckily all the lights on the tractor work! But sharing the tractor cab with a roll of barbed wire, an ice chopping axe and a manure fork slow the process of getting in and out to get gates and cut string.

6:25 PM
I take off all the wet, heavy Carhartt clothes, throw them in the back seat, and begin the slick two hour drive home.  We have accomplished the days chores and all the cows are fed and comfortable. But it’s a slow process in the winter!