More women operating farms around the country
Census data also show number of farmers under 35 rising for first time since 1991
The number of women working in agriculture is on the rise across Canada, according to the last census.
The Statistics Canada Census of Agriculture for 2016, released Wednesday, reports that women make up an increasing percentage of farm operators, 28.7 per cent in 2016 compared to 27.4 per cent in 2011. The census found 77, 970 women in Canada are farm operators.
Joan Merrill, who co-owns Robertson Valley Farm near Saskatoon with her husband Don Robertson, said the numbers don’t surprise her much. A lot of farms are run by couples and women often have an equal share of work to do, she said.
“We see women taking a very strong and equal role on those farms with their partners.”
In a job market dominated by men, the Statistics Canada website singled out the increase in women in the agriculture business as significant.
Having grown up on a small dairy farm with brothers and sisters, Merrill said she would often do “men’s work” when she helped on the family farm. She’s used to everyone helping where they can, regardless of gender.
Merrill and her husband started working the farm when they took it over from his parents years ago. Heading into their 21st summer, she rarely faces any kind of sexism from her customers or business partners — except for occasional interactions with strangers, she said.
“I don’t feel that — with the rare exception of maybe a salesperson — there was any sense that I couldn’t or wouldn’t be the farmer they wanted to talk to,” Merril said. “I didn’t portray their sense of what a farmer should be — you know, a man on a tractor.”
The census also found an increase in younger farm operators in Canada; those under the age of 35 account for an “absolute increase” to 24,850 in 2016 from 24,120 in 2011. It’s the first time that category has shown such an increase since 1991.
The influx of women and young people into the industry is a welcome change, Merrill said, noting Robertson Valley Farm hosts student groups from the University of Saskatchewan Horticultural Science program that come to see their operation. She is heartened to see the number of female students, she said.
“To me, that’s an indication that not only is there a female demographic, but a very large young female demographic, which I feel is very impressive and very important.”
The increased number of women listed as farm operators in the census could be a sign women feel more empowered by their partners and co-workers, and are now taking credit for their work instead of being “auxiliary” to the process, she said.