Farm female uses pitcher, avoiding river (3)
I believe the answer is:
ewe
'farm female' is the definition.
(female sheep)
'pitcher avoiding river' is the wordplay.
'pitcher' becomes 'ewer' (synonyms).
'avoiding' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'river' becomes 'r'.
'ewer' with 'r' taken out is 'EWE'.
'uses' is the link.
(Other definitions for ewe that I've seen before include "Lamb's dam" , "Partner to ram" , "She'll provide material to knit" , "Language" , "creature" .)