Farming is a job that has long been dominated by men, but that is changing, and getting both genders more involved in the business is a good thing.
Whether Jennifer Vandeveld is working on the farm or hitting the books, the wife, mother and part-time teacher gets some strange looks when she identifies herself.
“I say ‘I'm a farmer,’ and they kind of look at me like, ‘Oh?’ And then I say 'I’m a teacher too,' and they say ‘Ohhhhhhh!’ And I'm like, ‘Well I'm actually a farmer.’”
Vandeveld and her husband are partners in their farm and market business Wholesome Pickins in Delhi, and there are no traditional roles here.
“Our lives have morphed into 50/50 everywhere. He's unloading the dishwasher and doing laundry at home, and I’m over here in the field grading strawberries,” she says.
The role of women is changing on the farm, anywhere from being involved in more domestic duties to actually running the farm, or even the industry.
Brenda Lammens owns Spearit Farms - an asparagus operation in Norfolk County - with her husband Ray.
She's been in farming all her life. But when it came time to take on leadership roles in the agriculture industry, she wasn't exactly welcome with open arms.
“I had heard, you know, ‘Oh it's a female.’ ‘Oh it's a skirt who made that comment, so what would you expect.’ And I thought, I never want another woman to hear that.”
Lammens has sat as the chair on agricultural boards and she says doors have been opening for women in the industry, and women have been walking right through.
“Yes, I have seen change, because I’ve seen more women getting involved. There are more women that are sitting as directors now - not enough, there’s not enough - and you work at it all the time encouraging them.”
Sometimes, all it takes is a little encouragement. While the role of women on the farm has always been extremely important, today many say farms wouldn't be able to function without them.
Albert Knab at the Fanshawe Business School says “In the same way that women are managing business, women are managing farms.”
For Vandeveld, building the business means being able to leave something for her son and her daughter. She says, it's time women started getting some recognition for their work that isn't just behind the scenes anymore.
“It's something women need to become more proud of. We are the ones that are out here on the front lines doing stuff side by side with our husbands now, and in many cases I know women who work circles around the men.”
Currently, about 30 per cent of farmers in Canada are women. But farmers like Vandeveld and Lammens are starting to push those numbers up and change the face of farming in southwestern Ontario.
And whether it's a younger generation, or familiar faces in new roles, the future of farming is becoming a little more inclusive.
