Newtown has a rich, illustrious history of being a “farm town.” While some may see the developments popping up around town, there are dozens of small farms that continue to pepper Newtown’s landscape with lush greens and the sounds of chickens, or pigs, or goat bleats. While some readers may have an archetype of what a “farmer” looks like, United Nations set out to disrupt that narrative and paint a different picture.

United Nations has declared 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF 2026). The recognition is meant to spotlight the essential roles women play across agrifood systems, from production to trade, which often go unrecognized. Women farmers are central to food security, nutrition, and economic resilience, and the women farmers in Newtown are no different.

Farms Supported By Women

The Newtown Bee spent time visiting Shortt’s Farm, Sunny Brook Farm, Great Ring Farm, Abbotts Hill Farm & Rescue, Appleberry Farm, and The Healing Herb Garden. This, however, is just a small sample of the farms that pepper the Newtown landscape.

Shortt’s Farm, a certified organic farm in Sandy Hook, is owned and operated by Sue and Jim Shortt, a married couple. Sue studied fashion marketing before she started working in a flower shop, then eventually found her way to Shortt’s Farm. Jim started the farm with his mother, Dolly, in 1955. Today, the Riverside Road farm sells organic fruits and vegetables, some plants for patrons to buy, Big Dipper ice cream, and other local goods.

Owned and operated by Mary Ann Rudolph, Sunny Brook Farm is a full-service equine facility that offers boarding, retirement care, leading, and lessons for all levels. Rudolph first operated her business for 19 years in Bethel, then started in Newtown in 2000. She has now been taking care of the 13 fields at 165 Brushy Hill Road for 26 years, something she calls a “365 days a year” operation.

Roberta Ahuja, the farmer behind Great Ring Farm, had a bit of a different beginning. What began with five chickens in 2019 has since grown into a full cut flower farm with flower CSAs, or community supported agriculture. Ahuja also keeps goats on the property and manages the gardens, while husband Chand manages the business aspect.

Abbotts Hill Farm & Rescue is also unique in how it began. Naomi Ribiero and her husband moved into their home in 2011 and had dreams of becoming a dog rescue. The canine aspect took a turn and now she takes care of rescued potbelly pigs, goats, some sheep, rabbits, and fish. Ribiero also provides classes for the community to teach empathy and respect between humans and animals — of all kinds.

Appleberry Farm is another family legacy that is thriving along Zoar Road in Sandy Hook. Owned and operated by sisters Becky Osborne and Kate Munno, the farm is now a cut flower farm providing florals for full-scale events like weddings and flower CSAs. The sisters consider themselves as “stewards of the land” now that they have bought and are maintaining their grandparents’ farm.

The Healing Herb Garden, started by Kitti Deak, focuses on elderberries mostly, but is a medicinal herb farm. Deak, who was in the engineering field, pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced The Healing Herb Garden to the world officially in August 2024. Like Ribiero, Deak offers classes, on baking and canning, using her commercial kitchen on the property.

Small-Scale International Year Of The Woman Farmer

When asked what each farmer felt about this year being recognized as International Year of the Woman Farmer, the reactions were mixed. Some had no idea that it was happening, others heard mumblings, but nothing was really concrete.

“I didn’t even know about it,” Rudolph said with a laugh. “Who has time to know about those things?”

Deak echoed this, saying she too “didn’t know anything about it … and I am part of the Connecticut Farm Bureau. I have never read anything about it to be honest.”

Ahuja also said she had not heard about it. Shortt, however, said it is “nice to be recognized.” She explained that there are a lot of women farmers out there, all over the world.

Touching on the recognition of women, Osborne said she is glad to see women being recognized for farming and is happy to see so many women and queer people getting into the agriculture industry.

Ribiero thinks it's “great that they are celebrating women.

“I think not enough women are recognized for all the work that we do," she added. "I think, a lot of times, women are always like behind men in jobs and in recognition when they’re doing so much of the job. That’s just, historically, always been the case.”

Despite the quiet celebrations passing by, each farmer had a lot to say.

Struggles And Risks

Ahuja said she would like “to meet a woman farmer that can do [it] by herself.”

One of the threads wound into the story of each farmer featured here is that very rarely are they doing it by themselves. They all have either the support of their partners, business or romantic, or farmhands who bring the whole picture together.

As mentioned earlier, Ahuja works with her husband to elevate Great Ring Farm to the level that it is at today. While he works on the business side, like managing the e-mails and creating a website, Ahuja is the one with her hands in the dirt, planning, planting, weeding, and harvesting.

Rudolph is similar. Her husband supports her and understands that horses are her life. Rudolph is hands-on and boots-on-the-ground when it comes to operations, with some farmhands who can offer a hand.

“I mean, 60 hours is normal,” Rudolph said of her work week. “One of the things that’s killed us … is these increases in minimum wage. To the average person, yes, that’s great, but for us small places, all you do is not take home any money for yourself, and you keep running, and then you stop having people hired, and you just do more work.”

Ahuja stressed that she would not “romanticize” farm life at all. “No matter which kind of farm you have, you need partnership. If it is community, whatever it is, but by itself it’s just a dream. We cannot romanticize because it’s hard.”

Another issue that women face in a male-dominated industry is, of course, misogyny. The answers from the women farmers were more positive than one might expect. Most of them felt as though they have been treated as equals in the industry because of the hard work they have dedicated to their farms.

Rudolph said she felt more misogyny when she was a young girl growing up in the 80s.

“Then, you were just a little girl. The little girl," she said. "But, because I got into it so young, by the time I was in my 30s and 40s, you know, more women were in … [horse farming] became more women now than men … So, I didn’t really feel it. I just learned to do anything … if I needed to learn to do an excavator, I learned to do it.”

Shortt shared a similar answer. She felt like she experienced more ageism, not misogyny, at the beginning of her career. Through her farming and subsequent marriage to Jim, she earned respect and recognition and is now managing Newtown Farmers Market. She said sometimes she “still get[s] it,” but it comes from older folks who would react the same whether she was a woman or a man.

Deak, who grew up in Hungary and comes from an engineering background, said women are underappreciated.

“I used to go out with the guys a lot to do fieldwork. And there were always some that tried to pick on me, but if you know me, you don’t pick on me," she said. "Once you start talking to me, you’ll realize where your place is, so I don’t have that problem.”

Munno shared a story about a delivery driver who could not believe the farm manager for Appleberry Farm was a woman. She could not wait to tell the story, jumping and raising her hand like a student in class. She explained that when the delivery driver arrived, he asked for the farm manager. She told him it was herself, and the driver proceeded to ask her husband who he should talk to. Her husband said Munno was the person to talk to. Together, Munno, her husband, and Osborne took the flower cooler they had ordered off the truck and assembled it piece by piece, using chains and teamwork while the delivery driver just stood watch.

Misogyny is not the only problem women farmers face on the field. Munno said that farming is, unfortunately, a lot of failure. Almost every single farmer mentioned having to branch out, taking risks, expanding their market, finding a way to maintain customers, and creating income as major hurdles.

Shortt talked about her experience expanding the farm store to include Big Dipper ice cream.

Now in the third season with the adjacent ice cream stand fully operating, Shortt admitted she initially "was not really thrilled on the idea. I thought, you know, we’re biting off more than we can chew, but actually, it’s really worked out quite well for us.”

Deak took her love for elderberries, both the flowers and the actual berries, and turned it into a business. Her bakery is something she wants to focus more time on, and she wants to phase out some other aspects of what she currently offers at her farm store. While others have pushed her to expand her bakery, she explained that she wanted to keep it small-scale for herself so she does not capitalize off every hobby she has.

Ribiero’s whole rescue was a risk that started with the question “Can we do this?” She was looking for goats to adopt and came across two potbellies that needed a home. Abbotts Hill Farm & Rescue is a nonprofit, so raising money is difficult for them.

“It’s sad, even when you take in animals. Not everybody makes it, not everything is a pretty picture,” Ribiero said. She told a story of a goat that she had taken in last year that was in poor health. Rocky, the goat in question, was able to pull through and is now part of the herd, hence being named after the famous fictitious boxer.

Animal care can also be hard when there are external forces at play. Deak shared that a neighbor complained about her registered livestock guardian dog and she was forced to surrender her. Fighting back tears, she shared that it was a big hit to her and her son. Deak’s dog was part of her family and was serving an important role in protecting her chickens from predators in the area. She felt like she was not supported by any town departments, and support is hard to come by for all farms.

All seven women farmers also mentioned they have not been contacted by local conservation groups, either, noting that each of these farms could be sold and developed tomorrow. Instead, they are holding onto their land and working it for the betterment of the community.

Deak said most people who stop by her Pine Tree Hill Road farm store are not from town. Osborne and Munno alluded to wanting more customers to stop by and pick up flowers, like Ahuja at Great Ring Farm, too. Each farmer stressed how important it is to buy locally grown and sourced food and how much each sale impacts them.

Believing In Oneself

Despite the struggles and risks, the women have believed so much in themselves and in their farms that they have been able to create businesses and generate income.

Appleberry Farm began with one row of zinnias Osborne planted in memory of her grandmother, and creating small bouquets. Now she and her sister are growing and creating centerpieces, arches, and more for weddings.

Great Ring Farm started with five chickens and is now a thriving cut flower farm. Abbotts Hill Farm & Rescue began with two pigs instead of dogs and now cares for over 50 animals. Sunny Brook Farm was, and still is, Rudolph's life.

For young women out there who are thinking about starting their own farm, the women farmers of Newtown offer their support.

“Go for it,” Munno said. “Fear not.”

“It’s not as glamorous as Instagram makes it look,” Osborne cautioned.

Her sister jumped in: “You will never have clean fingernails again.”

“It’s super rewarding,” Osborne added.

“You will not get rich being a farmer,” Munno warned. “But you will love every minute of it.”

“I encourage any young woman that wants to do it to absolutely do it,” said Shortt, who was able to raise her kids on the farm and spend time with them. Now younger son Jesse is looking to take over the farm and carry on the family legacy.

Ahuja said she was not expecting to start a farm. She cautioned young ladies to not “start the foundation before you have all the means to finish.”

“It’s sad when you invest emotionally, financially, and then you just can’t keep your head above water,” Ahuja said. She encouraged aspiring farmers to talk to others first.

Ribiero echoed this, saying, “Follow your heart, but you also have to think with your head.”

“Plan on going in and learning,” Rudolph said. “They have to find a mentor. And then, once they find that mentor, they really need to hear and learn and do the best job they can.”

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.