Celebrating Women Farmers
Year of the Woman Farmer: Dairy Series
with Sophie Gregory
About the Series
Global Dairy Platform (GDP) is celebrating the International Year of the Woman Farmer with an interview series that features discussions with women dairy farmers around the world.
The FAO estimates that more than 37 million dairy farms are female-headed and around 80 million women are employed full-time in the dairy sector. Women constitute up to 70 percent of the dairy workforce in many developing countries, and the sector provides critical livelihoods for youth and pastoralist communities.
The interviews, which are conducted by UK dairy farmer Sophie Gregory, highlight how the farmers provide nutrient-rich food, focus on environmental sustainability and drive socio-economic growth.
About Sophie
Sophie is a first-generation dairy farmer from the Southwest of England, farming across both organic and conventional systems with around 600 cows plus beef and youngstock. Farming across rented farms, Sophie has helped grow the business from 0 to 600 cows in just over a decade through share farming, teamwork and taking opportunities when they came along.
Alongside farming, Sophie is passionate about communication, education and reconnecting people with where their food comes from. She regularly shares life on farm through social media, public speaking and school visits, helping open conversations around modern dairy farming in an honest and relatable way.
Sophie chairs the Organic Dairy Roundtable, sits on the Arla Foods Board of Representatives and is a member of the NFU Dairy Board. She recently completed a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, researching the future of organic dairy farming around the world. She is passionate about helping shape positive conversations around dairy, sustainability and the future of agriculture while championing the role farmers play in feeding people and caring for the countryside.
Meet the Women Farmers
Mary Kraft
Badger Creek Farm Inc
Quail Ridge Dairy
Mary Kraft, owns and manages her 6,500 Holstein cow dairy and 6,500 head heifer growing farm in Colorado, USA. With her husband and son, she manages 85 employees, delivers 25-30 baby calves every day, and ships enough milk to market each year to provide over 4 million – 8 oz servings of milk per year. Her high desert farm grows 1,500 acres of corn and hay that both feed her herd and utilize nutrient rich water from the dairy process. Cows are bedded on composted manure in free stall barns where cows are free to choose their own stall. She serves as Vice Chair of the United States dairy industry’s Dairy Marketing Inc.; 1st Vice Chair of the Montana to Texas marketing region of DairyMax; and serves as a Global Dairy Ambassador through Global Dairy Platform
Nikki Pilania Chaudhary
Mango Dairies
Nikki Pilania Chaudhary is an innovative Indian dairy farmer and entrepreneur, passionate about modernizing dairy farming through sustainable, forage-based nutrition and high-quality milk production. Based in Pilibhit, Nikki transformed a small backyard dairy into a structured and profitable farming business, combining traditional values with progressive thinking.
Educated in the UK and Delhi, Nikki runs Mango Dairies, where she champions climate resilient breeds such as Gir and Jaffrabadi cattle, focusing on herd health, resilience and productivity.
A former participant in the Youth Agripreneurs Project (YAP), Nikki was also selected by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation and Young Professionals for Agricultural Development as a Youth Agripreneur, showcasing her commitment to innovation and sustainable agriculture.
Alongside farming, Nikki is focused on creating greater opportunities for dairy producers through premium dairy products under Mango Dairies, helping connect farmers to markets while promoting quality and sustainability in India’s dairy sector.
Elsa Pivard
What if the future of dairy is already here—and it looks a lot like robots, locally grown feed, women leading the way, and even farm-made ice cream? In this episode, Sophie sits down with Elsa, who runs her family dairy farm in France with her brother. Between robotic milking, an on-farm ice cream business, compost production, and leadership in her co-op, Elsa is helping reshape what modern dairy farming can look like. She’s also a Nuffield scholar exploring why some people choose to take over farms while others walk away. Her research across France, Ireland, New Zealand, and beyond is changing how she thinks about farm ownership, labor, and resilience. In this conversation, you’ll hear about:
1. The growing use of robotic milking on French dairy farms
2. How a mixed herd can support resilience
3. The realities of farm succession and shared ownership
4. Why locally sourced feed matters to Elsa’s approach
5. How farm-made ice cream connects consumers with dairy
Elsa also shares the emotional realities of farming, including the loss of a beloved cow, and explains why caring deeply for animals can go hand in hand with running an efficient business. Sophie and Elsa discuss common misconceptions about dairy, the growing role of women in agriculture, and why the future of farming depends on people and organisation as much as cows and machinery.If you’re interested in dairy farming, farm succession, agricultural robotics, or the women shaping the future of agriculture, this episode offers a thoughtful, personal look at what’s changing—and what matters.