The California Farm Bureau has elected its first woman president, Glen County family farmer Shannon Douglass, in the organization’s 105-year history.
Douglass was elected at the California Farm Bureau’s 105th annual meeting in December 2023. She’s an owner of Douglass Ranch in Orland CA, which raises cattle and grows corn, walnuts and forage crops.
The new California Farm Bureau president has a master’s degree in agricultural policy and a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from California State University, Chico and also is the co-founder of CalAgJobs, a website that lists available jobs in California agriculture.
Douglass has been a leader in the organization for many years, serving three terms as first vice president before being named president last month.
She’s also a former director of the Glenn County Farm Bureau and served as chair of the California Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers State Committee, is a graduate of the Leadership Farm Bureau program, the California Agricultural Leadership Program and participated in the American Farm Bureau Federation Partners in Advocacy Leadership program.
“This is an exciting moment,” Douglass said after being named the California Farm Bureau’s first woman president at the annual meeting. “Farm Bureau has provided me with tremendous opportunities as a first-generation farmer. I’m excited to be part of the leadership of this organization, which represents the diversity of farmers and ranchers in our state,” she said.
“The California Farm Bureau has long played an important role in working to protect the future of America’s most productive agricultural economy,” Douglass added. “We face abundant challenges in farming and ranching today. But California remains a great place to grow food, and the Farm Bureau is committed to helping our state farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses thrive for generations to come.”
Douglass succeeds Jamie Johansson, who served three terms as California Farm Bureau president, beginning in 2017.
Woman in Agriculture
Douglass’ being named the California Farm Bureau’s first female president is timely, not only from the perspective that electing a woman for the top spot is long overdue, but also because women are on the rise in California agriculture.
Women now represent more than 37% (and growing) of all farmers in California, according to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture.
That healthy percentage, which surprises many people because they assume agriculture is still primarily the domain of men, is only going to grow over the next few years because women are outpacing men in agricultural education.
For example, 79% of the students who earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture-related majors in the 2020-21 academic year at UC Davis, were women, with only 21% of graduates being men, according to researcher College Factual. When it comes to Masters Degrees at UC Davis, which is the leading agriculture university in California and the U.S., women took home 57% of the degrees in the 2021-2021 academic year, and men 43%.
Female farmers also focus near-exclusively on growing specialty crops rather than commodity crops, according to the American Farmland Trust and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (Caff) in California. Specialty crops are both the present and the future in California agriculture. They’re where the profits are.
Women also have become the majority in the FFA (Future Farmers of America), which is the leading organization educating young people for careers in farming and other aspects of agriculture. Today, around 73% of FFA members in California are female, according to the organization’s most recent fact sheet.
Female farmers and those in allied ag fields are helping change agriculture in California in ways not always directly seen but that are significant and are being felt daily. This includes everything from innovation in specialty crop production and sustainability, to farm-to-product vertical integration, marketing, communications, farm/community building and inclusiveness.
California agriculture will be all the better with the growing numbers of women entering the field, in both production farming and other areas, because diversity and inclusion not only are powerful but also lead to better problem solving, communications and innovation, all of which are essential for the future of food and farming in the Golden State.
Having a woman at the top of the state’s farm bureau is long overdue and reflects the changing face – diversity – of California Agriculture. It’s another important “first” in a state that has pioneered agricultural firsts.
My Job Depends on Ag Magazine columnist and contributing editor Victor Martino is an agrifood industry consultant, entrepreneur and writer. One of his passions and current projects is working with farmers who want to develop their own branded food products. You can contact him at: victormartino415@gmail.com.
