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
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
What is work worth?
Women’s work in the ag industry has long been under-recognized and undervalued. Has the industry finally advanced its collective thoughts and actions around this idea? Some experts say ‘yes’
Reading Time: 7 minutes For Tara Sawyer, the term “farm wife” has always been a point of pride. Sawyer, who farms with her husband, Matt, in Acme, Alta., always felt the term signifies partnership. “I have always taken great pride in calling myself a farm wife. I am a farm wife, and I’m a stay-at-home mom, and yes, I […] Read more
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
National Farmers Union opens applications to training, support program for underrepresented farmers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Women, racialized, Indigenous and young farmers and farm workers, as well as those from other underrepresented groups, are invited to apply to THE EXCHANGE, a new training and support program led by the National Farmers Union (NFU).
Summer Series: Women in charge
[Leadership] Yes, progress is being made, but women still face challenges in expanding their farm ownership and leadership roles
Reading Time: 6 minutes Factors like the “mommy tax”, gendered roles, and land ownership continue to make it difficult for many women to immerse themselves in agriculture. The good news is that the industry is working at dismantling these barriers.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor There are two stories here. Yes, the proportion of Canadian farm operators who are […] Read more
Summer Series: When she’ll be the leader…
[Leadership] On more farms like these, the dad-daughter relationship is emerging as one of agriculture’s greatest strengths
Reading Time: 10 minutes The dad-daughter relationship is emerging as one of agriculture’s greatest strengths. Country Guide spoke with two young Manitoban women about how they’re harnessing the power of this dynamic to grow their farms.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Maybe it used to be a struggle for Dad to stop being Dad and become a business partner. […] Read more
Report examines farming women’s safety needs
Safety of children, stress over general safety a common experience for women
Reading Time: < 1 minute Farming women may need more support and programing to address their specific safety needs according to a recent study.
Women get the job
The new hire may need smaller boots but she can certainly fill them, as the real-world experience on more and more Canadian farms is proving
Reading Time: 6 minutes If it has been a challenge to convince more women to be open to a job on the farm, it isn’t only because of the attitudes and biases that can seem — especially to non-farmers — to be inherent in agriculture itself; there are also a host of practical issues that any woman who is […] Read more
A woman’s voice at the money table
More women own farms and have key management roles running them. So why are women still ignored when the talk turns to finance?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Heather Little farms with her husband in Amaranth, Ont., and is a realtor with Royal LePage. She recalls the treatment she received from lenders when she bought her first farm with her husband nearly 20 years ago, a time when the lenders she dealt with were predominately older males and insisted they deal with her […] Read more
HR ideas right for 2023
Six progressive strategies to attract — and retain — the employees you need
Reading Time: 5 minutes Faced with a deepening labour shortage, farm businesses that tailor their jobs, their benefit packages and their work environments to what employees are seeking can expect more success and their choice of the best employees. The question is: is that a realistic goal? Clearly, the nature of farming does impose limitations on what can be […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
