KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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Agriculture is a male-dominated industry in the United States.
But women remain essential in the business.
According to the USDA, 36% of the nation's 3.4 million agriculture producers are women. Over half of U.S. farms are operated by female producers.
"It’s trying at times," said Lawanna Salmon, a St. Clair County cattle rancher. "I’ve always said that if you can go out and work cattle together and go home and sit down and eat supper together, you’ve really accomplished something.”
Born and raised on a farm, Salmon married into her husband's third-generation operation.
She lends a hand wherever she's needed.
"It’s what we love, and we do it every day," Salmon shared. "We’re trying to sell beef, and we’re trying to keep our beef reasonably priced."
Across the state line in Gardner, Kansas, Maribeth Finley and her husband Byron are row crop farmers.
"It takes an army," she told KSHB 41, laughing about the daily operations of the farm.
Both the Finley and Salmon farming operations have numerous moving parts.
On the Salmon ranch, her husband and son work cattle. Lawanna and her daughters package beef sticks, frozen beef products and prepare for farmer's market trips.
At Finley Farms, her sons work the farm and Maribeth does whatever else is needed, working the books, paying bills, or making meals.
The women on these two operations are not confined to just those roles. They spend their fair share of time in day-to-day farming operations.
"Women in agriculture are not just farm wives," Finley said. "There are some women out there that are actually the farm managers, they’re the operators, they’re doing the big stuff."
Finley is also a nurse and quickly took on a new role when her family farm needed her. Now, she classifies herself as "support staff" for her husband and sons.
"It’s not a glamorous job, and it can be thankless, but it is really, really important," she said. "Every important person needs support staff.”
Finley is bound by her faith and 33 years of marriage with her husband, Byron.
Lawanna Salmon also won't tell you she's strictly a cattle rancher.
She spends her days working in a local school district as a bookkeeper.
"You can pursue a dream that you have, but you can also have an agricultural background," Salmon told KSHB 41. "We all do our part to keep it moving forward. Knowing that someday, that can be passed on to our kids.”
Farmers are stewards of the land and of their communities.
It's why Finley and Salmon get up each morning, knowing they help feed the communities and world they live in.
"You have to have a passion for it," Salmon said. "You have to really love being out here and enjoying the rural life. That’s what keeps you moving forward, and you want to make a difference."
During Women's History Month, KSHB 41 has featured numerous women who broke barriers in a variety of ways.
There's a piece of advice for America's next generation of farm women and those considering heading back to their family farm, starting a specialty crop operation, or stepping into jobs like Finley or Salmon.
"Wherever you’re supposed to be, be faithful in doing what you’re supposed to do," Finley said. "This is hard, but it's fulfilling in the end... We really do feed the world."