More women are choosing a career in agriculture — and changing the industry from the inside

When Penny Miller was growing up on her family's cow-calf ranch in Athabasca, Alta., her father, who also worked in forestry, and her two older brothers were regularly called away to off-ranch jobs. 

As a result, keeping the operation running was a responsibility often left to 10-year-old Penny and her mother, a task that proved to be a steep learning curve for both of them. 

"I will give my mom a little credit because [she] did not grow up on a farm. She wasn't used to rural life as far as working with cows and operating a tractor and stuff like that," said Miller.

"There's lots of women that were like that, right? They didn't know [how] and they just ended up doing it." 

Data from Statistics Canada shows that the number of female farm operators in 2021 had risen for the first time since 1991, pointing to the fact that women's participation in agriculture is increasing. 

And while that remains true — those in the industry say they are still seeing more and more sole female operators in Alberta each year — for those like Miller, there's another story: that women have always been there working alongside traditionally male operators, albeit in often informal ways.

As women have gradually begun to take on more official roles in farming over the last decades, experts say their presence is not only being finally reflected in the numbers, but that they're changing the nature of the industry itself. 

"I think women have always played a huge part in farming, but for a long time, their contributions weren't officially recognized," said Carmen Pezderic, with the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), an organization that provides farmers and agribusinesses with loans, crop insurance and farm income stabilization measures.

"They've always been there, but I think more farms are putting operations and loans in women's names and [there's] starting to be more of a culture of celebration."

A long history with some new faces

In 2021, according to the Statistics Canada report, there were 79,795 female farm operators, up from 77,970 in 2016. That same year, 30 per cent of total farm operators were female, up from 28 per cent in 2016.

Anecdotally, Pezderic said she's seen that trend continuing, particularly in the form of women taking over family farming operations. 

She said AFSC has seen more women become involved in farm transition plans in recent years as an older generation of farmers ages out. 

"When I was growing up, it was usually a question of like, which son would take over the farm, not whether a daughter or any member of that next generation, regardless of gender, was interested or if they were best suited to run things. What we're seeing is that's changing," she said. 

In 2022, AFSC launched a women in agriculture award to honour that shift, said Pezderic, and recognize both the history and new frontier of women in the field. 

Alex Pulwicki with the group Young Agrarians, which helps support early career farmers, said more than 50 per cent of people coming into their programs are women, with many of them coming from non-farming backgrounds. 

Women are also often at the forefront of carving out new roles within the field, said Pulwicki, noting it has a domino effect among their peers. 

"There's a lot more opportunities to share about your farm and your farm journey and what farming entails … through things like social media and Instagram and things like that. And so the more women show themselves as farmers, the more women are like, wait, I can do that too." 

Charlotte Wasylik runs Chatsworth Farm, a mixed operation just north of Vermilion, Alta., alongside members of her extended family, raising cows, sheep, hogs, poultry and grains. 

With over 13,000 followers, the farm's Instagram account, which she manages, has been vital in spreading the word about the farm-to-table side of her family's business. 

Each month, Wasylik makes trips to Edmonton and Calgary to sell boxes of meat and fresh eggs. 

"I think [social media] is a fantastic space for women and we do it really well … we can just get people to appreciate [what we do] and they're excited to learn from us or watch us and connect with us." 

According to StatsCan, direct sales to consumers make up a bigger part of smaller farms' total operating value, particularly those that generate less than $10,000 in sales per year. 

The report also notes that direct sales coupled with direct delivery — what Wasylik does — was a response to pandemic-related health measures that limited contact. 

Still room for progress

Pulwicki thinks that women taking on leadership roles in not only daily farm operations but also within marketing spaces and new forms of agriculture, such as regenerative farming, means they're changing the societal view of what a "traditional farmer" looks like, and challenging entrenched gender roles. 

Wasylik, who has two younger brothers, said she never had doubts that she could farm because she was a woman, but chalks that up to powerful female mentors in her life and supportive parents. 

Miller, who now runs a 250-head cow-calf operation near where she grew up, said it's a better time to be a woman in agriculture than during her parents' time, but challenges still exist. 

She said that when she was applying for a farming loan last summer and had to present a list of her assets, she was questioned as to how many of them were her husband's. 

"So that kind of made me mad," she said. 

"Yes, there are still improvements to be made … [but] if you're good at what you do and you're trying to improve and get better, then that shows through. So somebody might have a bias about you, but eventually the proof is in the pudding."