" I love that the industry is like a big family; you make a lot of friends with the people you meet along the way and those people stay with you for years." – Beth Martel.

Manitoba agronomist and farmer reflects on career in agriculture

Summer Series 'Making the Future': Exploring the perspectives and experiences of young up-and-comers in various sectors of Canada’s agriculture industry

Reading Time: 3 minutes In the final instalment of our Making the Future series Country Guide spoke with Beth Martel from St. Leon, Man. (Click here to read part one, part two, part three and part four.) Beth Martel grew up in Wales, U.K., and moved with her family to Manitoba in 2001, where they purchased a mixed cattle […] Read more

a young woman poses with dairy cattle in a barn

Youth focused on keeping Quebec’s dairy industry strong

Summer Series 'Making the Future': Exploring the perspectives and experiences of young up-and-comers in various sectors of Canada’s agriculture industry

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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 […] Read more


young man and woman farmers with a tractor and cultivator in the background

How women lead with confidence in agriculture

Summer Series: While women working in agriculture is certainly not as rare as it used to be, gender biases haven’t kept pace with the change. But with the help of peers and industry learning opportunities women are confidently stepping into leadership roles

Reading Time: 6 minutes Gender bias is complicated. It can be intentional, but it can also be subconscious or structural, such as when it’s embedded in organizational policies or societal norms.  And it often goes unseen by those who don’t experience it themselves. Although the number of women working in leadership positions in agriculture is increasing, women are still […] Read more

Alanna Koch and family in a field of canola stubble

Navigating transitions in career, family and the farm

Moving through life’s phases can be difficult, but the journey — and the lessons — make it all worthwhile

Reading Time: 8 minutes “I thought my career was over.” Alanna Koch reminisces about her decision to quit her job as executive director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association to stay home with her kids full-time in 2000. “I thought it was the end of the world,” she says. Her role with the association followed years of public […] Read more