Submitted photo Paula Sterzinger is in her 35th season of farming and has a farm located just south of Taunton.

Paula Sterzinger is in her 35th season of farming, having farmed since 1991 and as a female farmer, she considers her greatest hurdle that she is still thriving in the industry.

“The biggest challenge I think that I have had to face is just to prove that I can succeed in the farming industry as a female farmer,” she said.

On her farm located just south of Taunton, Sterzinger grows corn, soybeans, and alfalfa and she also has a small herd of stock cows. In all her years as a farmer, she said there are still challenges for female farmers to overcome.

“In general for women, although better today than what it was when I first started farming, I believe the inequality (stereotype) of a woman versus a man in the agricultural field is a challenge,”Sterzinger said. “Just a simple thing as someone coming up to the yard and wanting to talk to someone who deals with the farm and when I tell them I am the one they are looking for and they don’t believe me. They ask if they can talk to the man of the operation. I also believe that it is more challenging for a woman to acquire land to farm. This can be either renting land (as there are people out there that don’t believe women can do the work as well as a man so they really don’t want to rent to a woman) or buying land (sometimes it’s harder for a woman to borrow money to buy land). I also believe that women are underrepresented in organizations and lack access to crucial training to make good decisions in today’s farming industry.”

In spite of still existing barriers for women in farming, Sterzinger said there are plenty of opportunities including food science, animal science, marketing commodities and agricultural technologies, and traditional farming.

“There are more women joining the agriculture sector. Fifty-eight percent of all U.S. farms have one or more female producers making decisions about the operations. I believe that all you need is will power to do what you want to do and you will be able to succeed in life,” she said.

With farming, Sterzinger said it is inch-by-inch and day-by-day because the industry and occupation is unpredictable. From the beginning, she had one big supporter in her corner that made choosing to be a farmer a little less challenging. Sterzinger said her father believed in her and gave her the chance to farm at a time when it was “scary” and when she did not know any female farmers.

“Farming back then required more manual working knowledge on doing general repairs. Nowadays, the work is more automated and with technology you need to rely on mechanics to do more repairs on equipment. I run all the different kinds of machinery that is required to farm a beef and crop farm,” she said.

Even though the farming lifestyle can be challenging, Sterzinger loves the life and not only has she been successful at it, she is still enjoying and thriving. And proving 35 seasons in that a female farmer can do it all.

“Farming is a great way of life,” she said. “I love the freedom to make my own decisions and to see the rewards from those decisions. I like the fact that I can run equipment and that everyday there is something different to do. I love the fact that when my children were growing up I was able to include them in my everyday way of life, work beside them and watch them grow. I love the fact that I can be close to nature and work the land.”