The Fresno Bee reported over the weekend that the number of female farmers in the United States grew by nearly nearly 30 percent and the number of Hispanic farmers grew by 10 percent over the past five years. The number of Native American, Asian and black farm operators also rose according to the article, written by reporter Robert Rodriguez. The figures are from the recently released 2007 Census of Agriculture.
In the central San Joaquin Valley, the number of female farmers grew by 22 percent in Fresno County, 16 percent in Madera County, 15 percent in Tulare County and 6 percent in Kings County, the story said. In Fresno County, the number of Hispanic farmers grew 17 percent and Asian farmers grew 29 percent.
For the article, Rodriguez spoke to UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar. Molinar told him the growth in the ethnic categories is understandable, but in some cases doesn't reflect change.
"They have always been there, they just weren't being counted," Molinar was quoted.
This time, he said, agriculture statisticians made a great effort to get ethnic farmers to fill out the census forms.