4th January the International Year of the Woman Farmer

Women play essential roles across agrifood systems, producing, processing and trading food that sustains families, communities and economies. Yet their contributions often go unrecognised, and persistent inequalities limit their access to resources, opportunities and decision making.  

The International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026) highlights these realities, calls for collective action and increased investments to close gender gaps, strengthen women’s livelihoods and promote their leadership across agrifood value chains. By advancing gender equality and creating conditions for women and girls engaged along agrifood value chains to thrive, the Year contributes to building fairer, more inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems for all. 

Women farmers are all women working in agrifood systems in different capacities across all segments of value chains. This includes farmers, producers, peasants, family and smallholder farmers, seasonal laborers, fishers, fish workers, beekeepers, pastoralists, foresters, processors, traders, traditional knowledge holders, women in agricultural sciences, formal and informal workers, and rural entrepreneurs. They encompass women in all their diversity, including young and older women, Indigenous women and women in local communities, women with disabilities, refugee and displaced women, and others.

Females are also underrepresented in picture books about farming! I have found some, but the meaningful ones are for children over 8 years, like the one above, Farming is Female by Rachel Sarah which was published in November 2025. Through interviews with more than twenty women farmers, climate journalist,  Rachel Sarah shares how modern farmers are changing the way we think about food production. Their stories include the struggles of undocumented workers, the shortage of fresh produce in low-income neighbourhoods, and the food justice advocates who are feeding communities. Hopefully the book will get cheaper in line with Sarah's other titles.

In Australia a lot of children grow up on a farm. The Farm  by Alison Lester grew up on a farm by the sea in eastern Victoria. My Farm is her story of a memorable year, the year she got a palomino pony for Christmas. Trick-riding horses, mustering cattle, training the dog, competing at the local show, feeding calves, picking mushrooms, raising a baby wombat, building cubbies, cutting hay, swimming ponies in the dam, hypnotising chooks ... all the activities through the seasons are depicted with child-like mischief and humour.

This book, Cattle Muster  by Dianne Wolfer and Frank Lessac depicts an outback family who are all involved on the farm.

Mum’s in the ute.
Charlie’s in the chopper.
Dad leads the jackaroos.
Sis rides canters on the wing.
Everyone has a job, everyone except me. 

But whose job will it be to save the day?

After these, most of the farm books I could find either have a male main character, are generic or give a lighter-weight view of farming.

• I Want to be a Farmer  by Dan Liebman features both females and males.

• Before We Eat from farm to table  by Pat Brisson and Mary Azarian shows readers that before we eat, many people work very hard-planting grain, catching fish, tending animals, filling crates, and stocking shelves and some of these are female.

• The Farm That Feeds Us  by Nancy Castaldo and Ginny Hsu follows a farm throughout the year to discover how the farmer grows fresh and tasty food for us to eat in a sustainable and natural way. Explores the workings of a small-scale, organic family farm.

•  Food for the Future  by Mia Wenjen and Robert Sae-Heng  

From urban gardens to farms under the sea, discover the many different sustainable ways people have been growing food for centuries, and new innovations that are battling the effects of climate change on farming. Rhyming text and inset boxes with definitions for new vocabulary words make the topic accessible to young learners. End matter includes detailed information about each country's farming practice, sustainable farming and more.

• Miss MacDonald Had a Farm  by Kale Gwarjanski and Elizabet Vukovic

Join Miss MacDonald on her vegetable farm and see all the work that goes into growing healthy and delicious produce.

• Amara's Farm by JaNay Brown-Wood and Samara Hardy

Amara searches for pumpkins on her farm in this vibrant exploration of gardening and healthy eating.

• The Real Cowgirl  by Isabelle Duff and Susannah Crispe

Sal feels safe and strong at home, and out riding with her pony. Sal’s life on the farm will delight young readers with an interest in animals and adventure.