farmwife

plural farmwives

1. The wife in a married couple engaged in farming; a wife who shares in the duties of farming, such as farm management, homemaking on the farm, fieldwork, sales and marketing, or other work.

   Farm life is beautiful, my friends, when well and rightly lived. And the very word Farmwife has grown sweeter with the years. Long ago I resented the imputation implied. Today, I say "yes" to the charge, and add that "of the distinction I'm proud." Are not you?

   1895, Nellie Hawks, “Farm-life, farm-wife, and fancier”, in S.C. Bassett, editor, Annual Report of the Nebraska Dairymen's Association, published 1896, page 155

2. A farmer's wife.