CRESCO - Women are taking over agriculture.

Statistics don't lie. Nearly half of Iowa's farmland is owned by women. More and more women are sole operators of farms. And females hold top agricultural leadership positions in the state - Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge and Iowa State University's Dean of Agriculture Catherine Woteki.

The role of women in agriculture is changing and Practical Farmers of Iowa and ISU's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture are taking an active role explaining why. The center's Women, Food and Agriculture Network is sponsoring panel discussions throughout the state, highlighted by a documentary showing female farmers at work.

Programs were held last week in Ames and Cedar Falls, and WFAN director Denise O'Brien hopes to bring "Voices of Iowa Farm Women" to many other communities. She feels more women will be encouraged to get involved in agriculture once they see success stories.

"Women are not being recognized as farmers. The video focuses on a different type of agriculture and women are successful at it," O'Brien said. "It's an example of what can be done."

The video chronicles everyday experiences of farm women involved in sustainable agriculture. It concentrates on women who support small farms and promote value-added agriculture. Vegetable and organic farming is often the chosen path, along with direct marketing of livestock and produce.

Farm management experts say more and more women are discovering this type of agriculture can be profitable. Agriculture isn't a man's world anymore.

In the early to mid-1900s, the woman's role on the farm was to raise the children, cook the meals and run the household. In the later part of the 1900s, women gradually took a more active role in record keeping, management and farm work.

Women are being thrust into production agriculture, and making the most of it. Since women outlive men on average, and the average age of the state's farmers is in the mid-50s, women are acquiring more land. While some choose to cash rent or sell, more are choosing to farm themselves, O'Brien said.

Young women also are embracing agriculture: ISU's college of agriculture is about 40 percent female while 35 percent of FFA membership is female. Women weren't even allowed to join FFA until 1969.

ISU farm management specialist Steven Johnson said the face of Iowa agriculture is changing, and that face is female. Johnson is studying the evolution of women in agriculture.

"The trend isn't going to change. Iowa will be in the forefront of the role they (women) play," he said.

O'Brien credits farmers like Amy Miller of Cresco, the only Northeast Iowan featured in the video, for blazing the trail.

"(She) shows people there are alternatives and women are a strong part of agriculture," said O'Brien, a farmer for 30 years.

Miller, along with her husband, Michael Natvig, raise 420 acres of organic corn, soybeans, oats, wheat and barley. They also sell organic pork - about 400 head a year - and have a small cow-calf herd.

What makes Miller such a good role model, O'Brien said, is the fact she was raised in West Des Moines. Always interested in eating healthy, Miller said there wasn't a lot of organic food to choose from while growing up in the state's largest city.

As a kid, the 34-year-old realized a business opportunity existed. The family owned farmland nearby, and she convinced her father to let her raise vegetables on a couple of acres. She sold goods directly to customers and at farmers markets.

Miller fell in love with farming and earned a degree from Iowa State University in horticulture. She met her husband at an organic food conference, got married and became a partner in his operation in southern Howard County.

"Organic farming is harder work, … but we don't play the market. We get rewarded for our efforts," Miller said.

Female farmers say stereotypes are slowly being broken, but not all farm professionals see women as equals. Miller said she's heard of implement dealers still asking for the husband's signature when it comes to buying equipment, even though they have little to do with the farm.

She hopes the documentary will further promote change and show women as strong, successful farmers.

"There's still the attitude men are farmers and wives are not," Miller said. "Some still don't want to admit it."

Matthew Wilde can be contacted at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.