Women ranchers finding their power

 

Montana rancher Amber Smith didn’t grow up in agriculture, but ranching became her life’s work.
As a young adult Kristen Kipp left the family ranch in the Blackfeet but felt a deep longing to go back to her home and the work of raising livestock.
Amber is the executive director of Women in Ranching, which was first a part of the Western Landowners Alliance and then later became an independent non-profit, and Kristen is a board member. They talk about raising families on the ranch, about discrimination against women and Native people in agriculture, and about leadership that challenges the dominant model––and is often more effective because it brings people together and gives them all their own voice.

TIMELINE
2’33 how Amber became a cattle rancher
3’38 the advantage of being a beginner
4’16 how Kristen became a rancher
5’48 instilling values about the land in her children
6’46 regenerative grazing is is more economical
8’03 going back home and starting to ranch
9’01 taking her children out on the land to do the work
9’54 Amber’s kids are the best help on the ranch they have
13’57 the harm of narrow gender roles
16’47 creating change through supporting each other
18’36 Women in Ranching activities
19’58 finding your voice
21’29 having the support of women
22’50 learning to speak up about grizzly bears
26’02 alternatives to the standard model of leadership
27’17 standard leadership model more likely to fail than a cooperative model
31’01 being transformed at a Women in Ranching meeting
33’17 saving the business through cooperation and creativity
39’07 being humiliated as an indigenous women in agriculture
40’02 Kristen being lectured by white men who think they knew better
42’20 creating a safe and open space for listening and co-creating