In part two of our Making the Future series, Country Guide spoke with Béatrice Neveu from Rawdon, Que. (Read part one, here.)
Twenty-two-year-old Neveu is a dairy farmer who milks 60 (mostly) Jersey cows alongside her dad, Steven. After completing the three-year Farm Management and Technology program at Macdonald College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., she returned home to farm full time in April 2024.
Country Guide: Why did you decide on a career in the agriculture industry?
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Béatrice Neveu: In my early years of high school, I was milking the cows before going to school and I started driving tractors when I was 13. As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to take over the farm alone. It was my dream from the start because I didn’t have many models of women in agriculture, so I always made it my goal to be part of the change. I wouldn’t mind if one of my sisters took over the farm with me, but it is much easier now thanks to the new free stall barn and robot milker that we installed in 2019.
CG: What is your perception of the Canadian ag industry today? What excites you about it?
BN: The technology. It blows me away how detailed we can be in managing our herd, how much can be done from a distance and how much data we can pull from our computers. We can collect data about how much each calf is drinking, how many times a cow is giving milk and how much milk she is giving. You have access to data by the minute, if you need it.
That part has made our lives easier and more interesting. It changes the job a lot. It’s helping us move ahead and produce more with what we already have just by collecting data.
CG: What expectations did you have coming into the industry and how do they compare with your actual experience? As a young person coming into the ag industry, have you found it difficult to earn people’s trust and confidence, to show that you know what you are doing?
BN: I have been around our family farm for a long time, and my dad has always included me in the operation so people know me and know that they can ask me pretty much the same questions they ask my dad.
I have friends in agriculture who have more trouble with people not taking them seriously. The reality in our industry is that women probably face those challenges more than men. I’m very lucky that I haven’t felt that way.
But I also don’t really care, meaning that if I am going to a parts shop, I will ask what it is that I need, and I won’t have a reaction to how the person treats me. I think I act with confidence and so those things have never bothered me.
CG: What are your personal career goals and what new ideas and fresh approaches do you have to help benefit agriculture and in particular the dairy sector?
BN: We are a small farm, and we know that the average farm size is increasing, and we try to keep up to date. We do have quite a big step to take but by maximizing our installations and filling up our robot to maximum capacity we’ll probably grow into an average farm size. A goal for the business is to make the installations that we have as efficient as possible.
But I also hope that the rest of the industry does that because we all have to work together to move ahead. Some farms have a big step to take in the coming years. We have some rules around animal welfare that are coming into play that will have a big impact on some small family dairies. But, whether big or small, if we all realize the importance of our industry and stand together, we can keep it alive.
CG: How do you feel about the future of the dairy industry?
The quota system is a big thing that is going to continue helping us. If it can remain, it’ll be a game changer. There will always be dairy farms, although the number of farms will probably go down, but I hope that most will stay in the industry because the more farms that are around, the more people there are to represent the industry and the more weight we have on decisions made higher up.
CG: If one day your children came to you and said they were considering a career in ag, what area of the industry would you encourage them to look at? Where do you see the best opportunities?
BN: There are so many opportunities depending on what your interests are. There will always be a need for nutritionists and agronomists. A veterinarian is a great opportunity and it’s a fun job because you get to talk with farmers and follow herds and bring animals to life. There are so many careers. If you like to drive a truck, we need milk truck drivers. You could be a banker or a financial advisor. Agriculture is a great industry to be working in. Farmers are fun to get along with and it is a good community no matter the career you choose.
