LITITZ, Pa. — According to History, Women's History Month is a celebration of women's contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in March in the United States since 1987.
This month, FOX43 highlights local businesses that are paving the way in male-dominated fields. Our third stop is Stoney Path Farm, located in Warwick Township, Lancaster County.
Jesslyn Balmer and her husband Jeff Balmer manage Stoney Path Farm, which has been passed down for generations. It’s a 150-acre dairy farm that has 120 cows. The farm produces numerous products, including milk that is sold throughout Central Pennsylvania.
“Stepping into dairy farming, or continuing it from generation to generation, it takes a lot of commitment and a lot of passion,” said Jesslyn.
Jesslyn has many roles on the farm, including feeding the calves, cleaning, accounting and bookwork. Although Jesslyn is the co-owner, history shows many women have not been recognized as contributors on farms, although they’ve been there for years. Jesslyn says this is due to many farms being family-run.
“Women have played a vital role in the industry--they may not have been brought to attention for years and years, but I’m an eighth-generation farmer, so for years women have helped right alongside for years,” said Jesslyn.
She is a leader in the dairy industry in Pennsylvania. She is a board member of the American Dairy Association North East, which represents 9,000 dairy farmers from New York through Northern Virginia, as well as a busy mom of four kids.
“I’m also a mother, and I’m cooking meals every day for my family,” said Jesslyn. "I realize the responsibility of producing all these products for our nation and for our state; it’s just very, very important. "
According to the USDA, 36% of farmers today are women. The USDA recently revised the demographic data collected from farms to better capture the contributions of all persons involved in agricultural production.
“Typically, they were called 'farm wives;' now, they're herd managers or they're co-owners of their farm managing the daily operations, I would say that they’ve been doing that for years,” said Jesslyn. "It’s just they haven’t been acknowledged all the behind the scenes per se I’ve been here all along it’s just now attention has been brought to what women on the farm do."