🌾 The women shaping farm visits, rural economies, and meaningful experiences
When you visit a farm through Delve, there's a strong chance the experience you're enjoying was created or led by a woman.
That’s not an accident—it’s part of a growing pattern in rural life and food systems.
Women have always been integral to farm life, but their roles have often been invisible in the public eye. That’s changing. In the last few decades, more and more women have stepped into leadership in farming—and in the growing field of agritourism.
👩🌾 A Quiet Revolution in the Fields
According to the USDA, women now make up 36% of all U.S. farmers, and that number has been rising. Even more significantly, women are increasingly at the helm of decision-making and diversification on farms—especially through education, hospitality, and direct-to-consumer programs.
Agritourism—things like farm tours, on-farm classes, garden tastings, and animal encounters—is one of the most powerful examples of this shift.
While we don’t yet have national data broken down by gender within agritourism, researchers agree: women are the driving force behind many of the most innovative and community-centered farm experiences today.
🌟 Why Her Leadership Matters
Research shows that when women drive agritourism ventures, the results often look different than when men do.
A 2020 study of female agritourism operators in North Carolina found that women in this field tend to prioritize:
- Sustainability
- Education
- Family- and community-oriented goals
Even when those goals bring in less immediate profit. (Source: MDPI Sustainability Journal, 2020)
Similar studies across the globe reinforce these patterns:
- In Albania and Peru, women were more likely to reinvest earnings into education, hospitality, and long-term land care.
- In China, female-led agritourism operations were found to better support local ecology, cultural preservation, and women’s entrepreneurship.
- (Sources: Sciendo, Springer Nature, Elsevier)
These findings suggest that female-driven agritourism isn’t just a business model—it’s a catalyst for deeper community impact.
Women who run agritourism ventures tend to:
- Create experiential education opportunities
- Strengthen connection between land and people
- Invest in community well-being
- Mentor and include other women and young people
🧑🌾 At Delve, We See This Every Day
Many of Delve’s farm hosts and workshop leaders are women who are:
- Running farms or gardens
- Launching urban agriculture projects
- Offering field trips for homeschoolers and schools
- Teaching cheese-making, herbalism, composting, animal care, and more
They often do this in addition to caregiving, community service, and off-farm jobs—building something powerful through passion, grit, and a desire to share.
🌱 Why It Matters
When you book a farm experience through Delve, you're not just planning a fun day out. You're:
- Supporting women-owned and women-led farms
- Helping expand access to education and food systems
- Contributing to rural resilience and economic equity
In short, you're helping grow something bigger.
📣 What You Can Do
✅ Follow and share stories of women farmers and educators
✅ Book agritourism experiences and leave thoughtful reviews
✅ Support policies that help women access land, funding, and training
✅ Share your own story—especially if a farm experience made an impact on you
💬 Know a woman who's leading in agritourism or agriculture? We'd love to meet her—or feature her work in a future Delve story.
