'This is the hardest I've ever lived': meet the US cowgirls making it as ranchers

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/cowgirl-ranching-women

‘This is the hardest I’ve ever lived’: meet the US cowgirls making it as ranchers

More women are entering the US ranching and agriculture field. Their struggles – and aspirations – defy the traditional Marlboro cowboy stereotype

Katie Hill
Wed 17 Sep 2025 11.00 EDT

Savanah McCarty was not riding across the wide-open prairie when a horse accident nearly killed her.

She was in the driveway of her leased farm outside Bozeman, Montana, waiting for a student’s mother to arrive, when her horse seized and flipped over backwards, landing on top of her.

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With her non-profit background and outspoken feminism, McCarty has built an online following around a grittier version of cowgirl life – one that makes no money, but defies the male-centered cliches of Yellowstone.

If those stereotypes still hold sway, it may not be for long. The gender ratio of ranching and agriculture in the US is changing. With more women entering the field and more men leaving it, as data from the US Department of Agriculture’s 2022 census shows, women now account for more than 36% of all producers in the US. Male producers have steadily decreased since 2007, while the number of women has increased with every survey since 2002.

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“This is the hardest I’ve ever lived,” McCarty says. “I stack a ton of hay a week by myself. I’m constantly fixing fences. I do all the housework. Yes, I really wish I had a partner. I still long to be soft and nurturing … but this is all worth it for me.”

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“I am a rancher, and that is that,” Jackson chimes in. “This isn’t just a lifestyle. This is the work we do every single day. I am a rancher, not a sidepiece. This is my career.”

… more …


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