Proudly Canadian
Proudly Canadian
Published: 2 days ago
Farm Living
Women’s imprint on agriculture continues to grow by leaps and bounds, both in numbers and influence.
Thirty per cent of the farm operators in Canada are female, seeing a two per cent increase for the first time in 30 years, according to market studies from REACH Agriculture.
A trio of trailblazers were featured at MNP’s Ag Connections Conference in Medicine Hat, as they told their stories about the trials and triumphs on the path to success.
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You call it “helping out,” but the Canada Revenue Agency calls it “employment.” Let’s make sure you’re both speaking the same language.
Katelyn Duban, Ciara Griffith and Jesse Williams have all helped with the front-line operations of their family farms while simultaneously affecting the industry with their side ventures.
Why it Matters: With a growing female workforce in agriculture at 30 per cent in Canada, the stories of their contributions continue to be highlighted through social media.
Duban, who was master of ceremonies at the event, has seen her The Rural Woman Podcast reach 140 countries since its inception in 2019, celebrating and amplifying the voices of women in agriculture.
It just reached its millionth download this past summer.
A first-generation farmer, she tends to the land after marrying her multi-generational husband, farming just outside of Lethbridge with grains and oilseeds. The farm became a certified organic operation in 2018.
She found an avenue for women to celebrate their stories and their inroads into agriculture, allowing the trailblazers to tell their stories. This inspired Duban to share her own story.
“I was searching for a podcast that shared women’s stories, and when there wasn’t any, I told my husband I was going to start this podcast and his response was, ‘that sounds like a lot of work,’ ” said Duban with a chuckle.
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“He was right. But it started very off the side of my desk. I interviewed about a dozen women I met through Instagram who were sharing their stories. They humbly shared matter of fact of, ‘this is what we do on our farm, ranch or homestead,’ and they didn’t think it was that special. I did the interviews not knowing if anyone would listen, not knowing where it was going. But I got a response that yes, this is what the agricultural industry needed and wanted and I kept going.”
While working at the University of Lethbridge and being new to agriculture, she Googled, “what do women on farms do,” because she had no idea, and found stark differences over the generations. This included her Ukrainian husband’s family, where Grandma would milk the cows before the kids got up, butchered the pig for supper and hauled sugar beets.
“Coming into agriculture, I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing, but I saw this community of women who were willing to share and be vulnerable and show what lit their fire.”
Williams runs a cow-calf operation with her husband just south of Hanna, helps run the agricultural department for her municipality and has launched a women’s networking virtual group called the Branding Pot.
Griffith is a fifth-generation farmer/rancher, and her rural photography has been featured in numerous agricultural publications.
All three have faced challenges in agriculture trying to break down stereotypes in the male-dominated industry. Williams had been to many job interviews over the years where the business assumed it was a man applying with the first name of Jesse.
“They were shocked when I showed up, which is always fun to see their face,” said Williams.
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She recalled a boss who told her later of their job interview over a steak supper and how uncomfortable he felt at first, fearing people would think they were on a date. He admitted he would have not done it that way if he had known ahead of time she was a woman.
“My response was, ‘well, I like steak. So you’re telling me if you knew I was a woman, I would be lucky to get a coffee?’ It’s important that it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, be yourself and represent who you are and there’s always going to be good people and bad people, be it agriculture or anything.”
This past fall, Griffith and her mother were taking a load of culls to the auction market, and when Griffith hopped out of the truck at the auction, a male worker automatically assumed she would need help backing in her truck to unload. That was not the case,she said, and she backed it up with pin-point precision.
“Everywhere you go, you are going to have some people look at you and you feel like sometimes as women we have to prove ourselves capable more often than men have to,”said Griffith.
The women said it is important, when running any kind of business, to know your strengths and your weaknesses. When you identify your weaknesses, you can build your team to mitigate those weaknesses.
“If I was a CEO of an energy company, I would have a lawyer, an accountant, an operations manager,” Williams said.
“Build that team around you with their strengths. No one is expecting you to do it all except for yourself.” When we are trying to juggle the kids and the farm books and get into the field or our off-farm jobs, remember we don’t have to do it all. Nobody asks a man how they juggle it all.”
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All three encouraged their fellow women to try their hand in agriculture, even if there is some self-doubt at first.
“The emotional intelligence of women allows us to navigate tough situations with empathy, which is really powerful,” Griffith said.
”You have your long-term goals while dealing with the current situation.”
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