International Women’s Day

Mar 08, 2017

Women around the world are celebrating their roles in agriculture

March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD), and the women of the agriculture industry are sharing in the celebrations. IWD is a day to recognize women’s achievements – socially, economically, culturally, and politically – according to IWD’s website.

For some in the agriculture industry, the day represents an opportunity to encourage women around the world in their roles.

“We are very lucky in North America – we have a lot of rights as women and I think celebrating those (rights) is awesome,” says Jennifer Christie, chair of the Ag Women’s Network.

“In the industry however, if you look around the world, in a lot of countries still, women make up the majority of the workforce in agriculture, and they don’t have the same rights and freedoms as we have (in Canada). For myself personally … I believe if we advance the cause of women and support women, we are (also) doing that for all women around the world.”

Many women across the globe are sharing their photos and thoughts on social media. The increased online recognition of women also serves as an effective way to spread good stories about the agriculture industry, according to Christie.

“There has been a lot of interest regarding women working in the industry and the stories they share,” she says. “Days like today give us a better opportunity to share these stories. If it’s IWD that causes the mainstream media to look at the agriculture industry, and what we are doing here in Canadian agriculture, then so be it. It’s a win for the whole industry (as) we don’t necessarily always get to share the good stories.”

Women have always played a strong and important role on the farm, and now in the industry more generally, according to Christie.

“Women are entering the industry at a high rate, now we just have to keep promoting them and (helping them develop) so that they can move into those leadership positions where (sometimes a gender) gap still exists,” she says. “As much as we do have rights and freedoms, there is still inequality that exists.

“Today is definitely an opportunity to create awareness (of women in agriculture) and acknowledge where unfortunate inequality does exist.”

Amanda Brodhagen, who farms outside of Stratford, Ont., shares similar thoughts. Like Christie, Brodhagen is also involved with the Ag Women’s Network.

“I think it is important to have role models in agriculture and to encourage young women to lead our industry,” she says. “I am an active member of the Ag Women’s Network, which has proved to be a great source of inspiration and encouragement for me. It has allowed me to network and share ideas with other women involved in the agricultural industry.”

Brodhagen is passionate about sharing her agriculture story.

“I always look for opportunities to share the agricultural message in a positive way,” she says. “I see (IWD) as a platform to highlight some of the amazing women that are part of our industry. My hope is that the message will reach urban audiences in a meaningful way.”

Brodhagen was recently featured on a McDonalds Canada video campaign in honour of IWD.

“For every share of the video up to 10,000, McDonald’s will donate $1 to the next generation of Canadian farmers. Specifically, the money is earmarked to the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program – a mentorship program that provides industry-specific training to assist the Canadian beef industry into the future.”

McDonald’s video will be posted below.

For those that would like to share their women in agriculture stories, there are various hashtags to use on social media. Farms.com has compiled a few hashtags to follow, along with some highlights from the Ontario agriculture community:

#InternationalWomensDay

Nicole Stewardson is a chicken farmer from Lambton Shores, Ont. She highlights that women in agriculture are “awesome.”