Farmer Voices Matter Spotlights Women Driving Modern Agriculture

Women across America help lead farm operations and drive critical decisions to provide an abundant, nutritious food supply for families at home and around the world. During National Ag Month and the International Year of the Woman Farmer, CropLife America (CLA) is highlighting woman farmers and their impact through its Farmer Voices Matter campaign.

The campaign features a new video spotlighting farmer Ashlee Mortimer, alongside her family near Dewey, Arizona, who manages a highly diversified farm growing 54 different crops. Her story, like many others, highlights how women are shaping modern agriculture and sustaining farms for future generations.

“Women are helping drive innovation on today’s farms — making critical decisions about how to grow their crops by adopting precision agriculture and utilizing sophisticated crop protection tools like pesticides,” said Alexandra Dunn, president and CEO of CLA. “This is an important moment to recognize how women are shaping the future of American agriculture, and Farmer Voices Matter helps bring those stories to life.”

On her family’s farm, Mortimer focuses not only on day-to-day operations but also on supporting long-term sustainability and success. The farm’s future depends on continued innovation and access to modern tools that help protect crops and maintain a healthy, productive farmland.

“We are doing something we feel is much greater than ourselves every day out in these fields. My hope for our family is that every generation continues to grow food with the passion, resilience, hard work, and dedication that we have in our hearts for this land,” Mortimer says. “Herbicides and pesticides are essential to continuing our agriculture industry and continuing to feed our people. That is such a blessing and an amazing thing to be able to say we’re food-secure and know we can grow the food our people need. And we can do that because of the technology that we have in our back pocket.”

See and hear more from Mortimer’s farm here.

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About CropLife America

Established in 1933, CropLife America (www.croplifeamerica.org) is the national trade association representing the pesticide industry. Our members drive innovation by discovering, producing, selling, and distributing the essential pesticide products that empower America’s farmers to produce food, fuel, and fiber for our nation and the world. CLA can be found on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) at @CropLifeAmerica. 

About Farmer Voices Matter:

Farmer Voices Matter is an initiative of CropLife America to increase public education about the importance of pesticides to American farmers.