Engaging Missed Demographics in Conservation Changes: Women Farmland Owners & Wetlands in Iowa

Angie Carter, PhDSociology and Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University

Soil and Water Conservation Society ConferenceJuly 28, 2015

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Overview• Women landowners & wetlands project background• Findings– Continuance of gender barriers– Opportunities for intervention– Importance of alternative social networks

• Implications for our work

2Unless otherwise specified, all photos by Angie Carter

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Importance

Photo: Grist.org

Landowners’ one-time decisions have multi-year consequences on the landscape2

Social relationships are especially important in the implementation of conservation efforts on

farmland1

1Barbercheck et al. 2012; 2Druschke and Secchi 2014

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Importance

Iowa has one of highest proportions of rented farmland in the U.S.

50% or more of IA’s farmland is currently owned by someone other than the

operator and leased to a tenant(USDA NASS 2012)

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ImportanceWomen own or co-own1…

• 47% of IA’s farmland• 52% of IA’s leased farmland

Yet are…. • underrepresented in decision-

making and outreach about their farmland’s current and future use2

• understudied3

1Duffy and Johanns 2012, 2Carolan 2005, Wells & Eells 2011, 3Eells and Soulis 2014

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Water Quality as a Social Problem

• Iowa’s nitrate pollution has been a known contributor to the Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone for some time (Alexander et al. 2008)

• Recently politicized by the Des Moines Water Works Board of Trustees lawsuit against the supervisors of 3 agricultural tile drainage districts in counties NW of DSM on March 16, 2015

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Water Quality Claims-Making

• What is defined as a social problem—by whom, how, and when—reflects relationships and structures of power1

• Women have been absent or left out of conservation conversation2,3,4,5,6

1Gordon 2007, 2Druschke and Secchi 2014, 3Eells 2008, 4Everett 1983, 5Wells and Eells 2011, 6Barbercheck et al. 2012

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Project Overview• Focus on women farmland owners & wetlands• 5 Learning Circles• 5 Field Days• 26 Interviews

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Data Collection: Learning Circles

• 5 different regions of IA Fall 2012

• 72 Participants• Coordinated by Women,

Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN)

• Participants recruited through local NRCS offices, advertisements, listservs

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Data Collection: Field Days

• Summer 2013• 73 participants• Coordinated by Women, Food and

Agriculture Network (WFAN)• Recruited by NRCS, advertisements,

listservs

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Data Collection: Interviews

Category #=26Land OwnershipSole ownerCo-own w/siblingsCo-own w/spouseCo-own w/parent

81082

Landowner StatusNon-operator landownerActive farmer/farm partner

195

Marriage statusMarried/partneredWidow

164

Distance from landIn-stateOut-of-state

215

AcquisitionPurchasedInherited

1217

Age #=26

80s60s50s40s30s

113642

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Findings

1. Gender barriers continue to constrain conservation action

2. Water quality concerns are an opportunity for conservation implementation

3. Importance of alternative social networks

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Gender Barriers“I knew I could not do this alone. Men at the co-op don’t talk. Some men try to help you. Some men don’t want you to farm at all; they want to buy their land and they basically want you to give it to them…”

Kristin

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Land-as-community framing• Land-as-community vs land-as-commodity

ideological orientations (Eells 2008 drawing on Leopold’s land ethic 1949)

• Women farmland owners made three types of land-as-community claims:– Generational– Public Health– Ecological

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Opportunities for Intervention“I own part of this farm now, and I’m not going to own it if we’re contributing to the Dead Zone—this can’t be right. So I’ve either got to go back and figure out how I can help move us in that direction or dissolve my ownership.” Karen

16Alternative Networks

“Men have a place to go, the farming men; they go to the elevator, the café or the bar. And we really don’t have those kind of opportunities. We have maybe our church societies or our PTAs and things like that, but we don’t stand around talking about how many bushel you got off the land or what the price of corn is and things like that.” Northwestern IA Learning Circle

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Alternative Networks“I didn’t have any mentors that could help me through what this was. I felt very isolated and alone a lot of the time. I just feel like for women in kind of a men’s farming world it can be very intimidating, extremely.”

Laura

Implications• Gender barriers in families, communities, &

agencies/institutions constrain women farmland owners’ actions related to conservation implementation

• Water quality concerns offersopportunity for conservation conversations and action

• Supporting alternative and new spaces for social networks provides sources of information, validation, & community

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Questions and Discussion

Farmscape from WFAN Navigating the Waters Women Caring for the LandSM women farmland owner meeting

Contact information

Angie Carterangiecarter@augustana.edu Department of SociologyAugustana CollegeRock Island, IL

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Data Collection TimelineYear One

Year Two

Year Three Year Four

Phase 1: Learning Circles

9/2012-11/2012

Phase 2: Field Days 6/2013-7/2013

Phase 3: In-depth Interviews

11/2014-3/2015

Participant Observation

Ongoing

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Learning Circle and Field Day Participants

Location LC Participants (n=72)

FD Participants (n=73)

Repeat Participants (n=14)

Northwestern 13 19 5

Northeastern 22 17 3

Southern 16 14 3

Western 4 7 1

Central 17 16 2

*Participants who had previously attended a Learning CircleTotal unique participants=131

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Learning Circle Participants* (*53 out of 72 participants)

80s 70s 60s 50s 40s 20s-30s

Sole owner

100% 45% 23% 20% 0 50%

Co-own w/spouse

0 27% 46% 60% 100% 0

Co-own w/siblings

0 0 0 0 0 50%

Other 0 28% 31% 20% 0 0

n= 8 11 13 15 4 2

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Surprises