Face of the farm: How women are changing the field

This story was originally published by Project Optimist.

NEW YORK MILLS, MINN. – Kris Huebsch did not expect to be named Woman Farmer of the Year at last year’s Minnesota Farmfest from a finalist pool of “movers and shakers.”

She’s still asking: “Did that really happen?”

Huebsch launched and runs a popular strawberry farm in west central Minnesota called Otter Berry Farm. She’s the sixth generation in her family to farm. 

“There are so many females in agriculture in Minnesota, in all parts of the country, in the world, quite frankly, that do so much. And a lot of it is behind the scenes,” Huebsch said in an interview with Project Optimist in late June. 

Some women are hands-on, working 80 hours a week, driving t...