In 2015, in partnership with Rachel’s Network and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS)—and with funding from Rachel’s Network, ERS, and The Mosaic Company Foundation—American Farmland Trust (AFT) and Utah State University (USU) set out to learn as much as possible about women who own farmland and lease it out (women non-operating landowners or WNOLs). Women tend to be deeply committed to healthy farmland, farm families, and farm communities. However, limited research indicates that WNOLs face more gendered barriers than male NOLs do in managing their land for longterm sustainability. Between 2015 and 2019, AFT and USU reviewed the relevant research on NOLs in general and WNOLs more specifically, and conducted research on the effectiveness of conservation learning circles among women landowners.