You don't see many women at high-level talks on the reform of the EU's Common Agriculture Policy, or even at farm protests demanding that measures be taken to ensure that the current generation of farmers is not the last in many parts of Ireland.
Farm women go largely unnoticed but their role in sustaining farm families and in shaping the attitudes of the next generation is beginning to be recognised. Training courses for farm women have increased dramatically over recent years and the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has announced the setting-up of a special advisory committee on women's role in the industry.
It may be said as a joke by teachers at agricultural colleges, but it appears that one of the most sensible things a young male farmer could do today is to marry a woman with a good salary.
A farm income survey carried out by Teagasc in 1997 found that 61 per cent of farms in the State have a source of income other than farming. In 18 per cent of these the income is from a pension or some form of social welfare. Of the remaining 43 per cent, one or both of the partners have an outside source of income. It is expected that this trend will continue.
Off-farm income is seen as vital in ensuring the survival of family farms. Dr Patricia O'Hara, a rural sociologist at UCC, says that even when it's the man who is involved in off-farm work, the woman also plays a vital role in sustaining the farm as she usually takes over the day-to-day running of it.
Figures from 1995 show that 16 per cent of farm spouses had off-farm jobs, but on larger farms this proportion rises to 20 per cent. "That aspect of women's contribution to farming is not fully acknowledged, and it is increasing all the time as more and more women are now returning to work they did before marriage or retraining for other work," Dr O'Hara says.
She estimates that more than a quarter of farm women are now involved in off-farm work. Their earnings insulate the family in periods of uncertainty and falling farm prices.
Women are increasingly finding ways of generating income in farm-related activities such as agri-tourism or food processing. Some of the new food products, from cheeses to cakes, are now being produced in this way.
In more labour-intensive forms of farming, such as dairying, women often play a large, but generally unnoticed, role in carrying out the day-to-day chores. They are also frequently the ones who tackle the ever-increasing mountain of paperwork.
"The public face of farming is very much a male face but farming is essentially about a family, and it is increasingly recognised that women are essential to the continuation of family farming as a way of life," Dr O'Hara says.
While researching her book, Partners in Production? Women, Farm and Family in Ireland, for which she interviewed hundreds of women in different parts of the State, she found a hunger for training courses of all kinds.
In recent years, Teagasc has started to respond to this demand. A spokesman says there was generally a higher take-up among women than men to courses set up in response to the original CAP reform proposals in 1992. These were aimed at encouraging farmers to diversify into areas such as agri-tourism and food.
Teagasc says women are now being targeted for courses because it is accepted that they can provide a vital second source of income. Last year more than 2,000 women attended specialised training courses run by the agency.
About 70 courses for women have already been scheduled for this year. While most of these deal with farm management and EU schemes, there is a growing emphasis on rural enterprise development. "The aim is to broaden the income-earning capacity of the farm," the spokesman says.
In her research, Dr O'Hara also found that farm women play a crucial role in determining what their sons and daughters do. They usually have a higher level of educational attainment than their husbands, and generally make decisions about their children's schooling.
Studies have shown that farm children are among the highest attainers in both second and third level, and are significantly over-represented in third-level education. Farm women generally encourage their children, even the son who is likely to inherit the land, to pursue their education so as not to be entirely dependent on farming.
This, she says, may be one reason for the decreasing numbers taking up full-time farm-training courses. According to Teagasc, the numbers involved in farming have been steadily decreasing by an average of 4 per cent per annum over the past 20 years.
Dr O'Hara says policy-makers must take note of the important role of women in agriculture and do more to support them.
"Farming is the last bastion of male dominance, but women are one part of the farm family and this needs to be recognised through the whole policy spectrum. Women are very involved in developments on the ground, but there is still an imbalance on State boards, for example.
"There needs to be a concerted effort to involve women in policy-making. This would be in the interest of farm families and agriculture generally, because the trend has been for women to walk away from agriculture. There is a long history of that, but if farm families are to have a future, the role of women must be recognised and valued," Dr O'Hara adds.
This view is supported by Ms Fionnuala Ruane, who was recently appointed equality officer with Macra na Feirme, another indication of the equality agenda taking root in agriculture. She says many women on farms do not even value their own work.
Ms Ruane also emphasises the importance of training for farm women and says that personal development courses are also needed as a stepping stone to start-your-own-business courses.
"There are very real obstacles, such as the lack of childcare and the lack of public transport in rural areas, preventing women from taking up training opportunities. These issues also need to be addressed," she adds.
The vast majority of women working on Irish farms are either wives or daughters of a male farmer who is the legal owner of the land. According to the 1996 census, 7,549 women were classified as farmers in their own right compared to 95,326 men. Most of these were widows.
Full sexual equality in agriculture in Ireland would appear to be a long way off. Sons are practically assured of inheriting the family land, a practice that goes unquestioned. In Norway, such discriminatory social practice has been outlawed. The Allodial law, introduced in 1974, decreed the eldest child as the legal heir to the farm, regardless of sex.
However, not all women are walking away from the land. Gillian Porter (22) works full-time on the family farm at Castlefinn, Co Donegal. The eldest of three children on a large dairy farm, she has chosen a life which involves getting up before 7 a.m. and generally working up to 12 hours a day. Tasks include feeding calves, milking cows, cleaning out sheds and updating computerised records on all the stock.
On a Saturday afternoon, she is out in showers of hail and sleet tending to cattle, after rushing home from a hockey match.
"I don't know what else I'd be doing if I wasn't doing this. I was brought up to it, I don't know anything else and I'm happy doing it. When I was away in college I just wanted to be back working outdoors," is how she explains the choice.
As a case study, she is not a typical example, but yet it reflects changing times. She has studied agriculture at colleges in Tipperary and Antrim and is currently doing a degree course in food production. She also wants to improve her knowledge of marketing.
The Porters are one of the few families left in the region who, under the Millburn Dairies brand name, compete with the bigger dairies in processing their own milk. Gillian's grandfather started up this part of the business more than 30 years ago, and after he died her grandmother took over. Now Gillian sees it as one way of shielding the farm from the uncertainties of CAP reform.
"We emphasise that the milk we sell is farm-fresh and of the best quality. Our cows are fed home-grown barley and people tell us they can taste the difference. Catering for a niche market like this is the only way I can see a small business like this surviving," she says.
(Farm series concluded)