2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer
I recently learned that the United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, a global recognition of the vital role women play in agriculture, food security, and rural economies.
When I read that, it felt deeply personal.
I did not set out to become a farmer. I followed curiosity, then responsibility, then a relationship with land that kept asking me to show up more fully. Over time, that relationship taught me patience, resilience, humility, and the quiet strength required to begin again after loss or failure.
Farming has a way of stripping things down to what is essential. The work is physical and intimate. It requires attention, adaptability, and trust in cycles that cannot be rushed or controlled. It has taught me that growth is rarely linear and that care is a form of leadership.
Along this path, I have had the great privilege of knowing and working alongside many women farmers. Women who grow food, tend animals, steward land, raise families, build businesses, and hold entire ecosystems together. What I have learned from them is this. There is real power in women working the land, and even more power when we do it in relationship with one another.
Women in agriculture often lead quietly. We innovate out of necessity. We collaborate because we must. We understand that sustainability is not a concept but a lived commitment to future generations. The strength of women in agriculture has always existed, even when it has not always been named or celebrated.
As we move toward 2026, I feel called to honor this moment not just in words, but in action. To continue learning. To continue stewarding. And to continue creating spaces where women can gather, work, rest, and remember their connection to the land.
If you are a woman who is farming now, dreaming of farming someday, growing food on a small scale, keeping bees, cultivating herbs, or simply feeling drawn toward a more rooted way of living, I want you to know this. You are not alone. If you are curious, uncertain, or standing at the very beginning, I am here and I am always willing to share what I have learned and to help where I can.
There is strength in numbers. There is wisdom in community. And this work matters.
With gratitude for the land, and for the women who tend it,
Rachael Lieck Bryce