Dairy Management Inc. Profiles Seven Women Farmers
Dairy Management Inc., funded by the country’s dairy farmers and dairy importers, introduced the project during National Farmer’s Day and the United Nations’ International Year of the Woman Farmer. The collection follows seven women at six farms in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Georgia, Minnesota and Ohio. It uses documentary photography, film and personal accounts to record farm decisions, routines and relationships.
The project presents dairy farming as work shaped by experience, information and technology. The organisers said farmers may make dozens of decisions before most people begin their day, drawing on inherited knowledge as well as real-time data. The material was produced while the women were working on their farms, including decisions involving animals, crops, business operations and family life.
At Way-Har Farms in Pennsylvania, Lolly Lesher took over the family operation in 1990 and developed a market intended to connect consumers directly with agriculture. Her relative Jaylene Lesher works on the herd’s genetics and breeding programme. Alice Crothers of Long Green Farms in Maryland brought experience in healthcare administration to financial planning and longer-term investments, including a methane digester.
Kyndra Brown, a fourth-generation farmer at Moo-View Dairy in Texas, combines digital herd-management systems with knowledge gained from working with cattle. Emily Schaapman returned to Schaapman Holsteins in Georgia after developing Dairy Girl Fitness, an online platform focused on fitness, nutrition and wellness for women in agriculture. She works at the farm with her sister-in-law Monica and mother-in-law Ailene.
Margaret Johnson farms at Trailside Holsteins in Minnesota and holds a master’s degree in agronomy. Her work includes knowledge of soil, crops and water, while three generations of her family work on the farm. Meagan Hempfling is a sixth-generation farmer at Hemsteads Holsteins in Ohio, where her family has farmed since 1862. She has introduced robotic milking systems and automated feeders and uses data in managing the herd.
Lesher said that her farm is also the place where her family works and lives, but that most people do not experience such farms directly. She said she hoped the portraits would allow audiences to know the farmers better and see dairy farming from their perspective. Lesher is co-owner of Way-Har Farms and Farm Market and chairs the National Dairy Board.
The organisers said that nearly 97% of American households buy dairy products, while many consumers have little direct contact with producers. A selection of the project’s photographs is available without charge through Unsplash for journalists, educators, content creators and others. The full collection of stories, photographs and video is hosted on USDairy.com.
