Should More Women Work in Agriculture? Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland 1983

Opinions on the place of women in farming from male farmers at the Mullingar mart.
In County Westmeath the buying and selling of livestock takes place at the Mullingar Mart. However there are no women to be seen participating in this part of the essential business of farming.
Farmers at the mart are asked whether they would encourage their daughters to become farmers? Regarding land inheritance, one farmer thinks he would only leave the farm to a daughter if he had no sons. Otherwise he would uphold the tradition of leaving the farm to the son.
This practice automatically puts an obstacle in the way of women becoming farmers. It is not a custom that the farmers at Mullingar Mart see changing.
Traditionally women in farming have played a secondary, home centered role. This role is taken for granted by an older farmer at the mart. If his wife was absent the one thing she does that he would find it difficult to manage without is,
To get me dinner.
Further gender stereotyping of female farmers is they do not have the skills for buying or selling at the mart,
I wouldn’t think they’d have that experience of a man.
In the absence of experience, some women would be unable to learn the necessary skills.
Similarly undermining is the belief held by another farmer that women could not cope with the multiple problems that occur when farming 50, 60 or 100 acres of land. For him, the activities of female farmers are just something he reads about in the ‘Irish Farmers Journal’. In his view, the practicalities of moving a herd of 20 cattle from one pen to another and then dosing them, would be simply beyond the abilities of women.
I’m afraid now do you know it takes a little bit of doing.
This episode of the ‘Women’s Programme’ was broadcast on 7 November 1983. The presenter is Marian Finucane. The reporter is Doireann Ní Bhriain.

[@andrewmellon5072]

There have always, in my time, women farmers. The majority of women farmers were very good. I dont know any that bought their farms, took land or bought more land. I often saw in case of bereavement the widows made a better fist of getting on then the widowers who remained single.

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

Those farmer men know best, they are the experts and they are stronger, Nowadays with the machinery that is available to help do the work some women would make far better farmers than men,

[@charleswoollard2942]

Good Shot Of Martin Dibbs

[@fiddlejohn9305]

I’d like to see RTE do a news piece today asking the same question to see how attitudes have, or haven’t, changed. In the small town I lived outside of as a child there were two different farms run by single women. One was a member of the horsey set and active with the arts scene. The other lived very simply. She was in a reading group and went birdwatching with my foster grandmother and great grandmother. They were very different from each other but were both widely respected for having a good business sense and knowing how to take care of their animals.

[@tomharte432]

Sensible men

[@patjoyce8062]

Big change since that was taken

[@stephenmccabe1489]

Class