Percentage of U.S. female farmers grows

Upper Valley Business News: Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that the percentage of farms operated principally by women nearly tripled — to 14 percent from 5 percent — between 1978, when the USDA’s Census of Agriculture began recording the gender of principal farm operators, and 2007. The percentage of farms with women as the principal operators is highest in the West and in New England, with Arizona leading the nation at 38.5 percent and New Hampshire following at 29.7 percent. In Vermont, about 22 percent of farms are run by women.