By Vanessa Renaud, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Historically, agriculture in Canada has been a male-dominated industry, but women have always played very pivotal roles in farm businesses – just mostly behind the scenes or in a supportive rather than leading capacity.

This is now changing. Along with the general demographic shift in agriculture as older farmers are facing retirement and a new generation is taking over the management and ownership of farm businesses, there are also more women stepping into leadership roles in farms of all types and sizes.

I know first-hand that this is happening as I work with my father on our family farm near Green Valley in Eastern Ontario. As a Certified Crop Advisor, I also work as a crop input consultant with farmers in our area. But it’s not just based on my own experiences.

The latest Canadian census numbers show that women represent a greater proportion of our farmers than in the past. About 30 per cent of Canada’s farmers are women, and in 2021 we saw the first increase in the number of female farmers in Canada in 30 years.

According to Statistics Canada, this is due almost entirely to the fact that more women are now farming on their own. The numbers also illustrate that women are running larger farm businesses than in the past.

For young women in particular, it’s not always easy to step into roles in this sector, whether it’s part of a farm business or in a wide range of other jobs and careers, from agronomists and animal nutritionists to equipment operators and more.

Now there’s a new agricultural mentorship program designed specifically for women that can help provide some additional support. AgriMentor offers individual, one-on-one mentorship coaching nationwide in English or French for women working in agriculture.

The program was first launched last year as a pilot project by the Agricultrices du Québec, Quebec’s organization of farm women, through a program called Dimension E, which offers services to female entrepreneurs in the agriculture and forestry sectors. Funding for Dimension E is provided by the federal government through Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

The success of the Quebec pilot, combined with the identified need across the agriculture sector for more training opportunities for women led to the expansion of the program Canada-wide and the launch of the AgriMentor program for 2024.

It is led in Ontario by the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens (UCFO), with the support of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), where I serve as a member of the board of directors.

UCFO will match mentors and mentees who each must commit to at least one monthly meeting whether virtual or in-person for a period of six months. The program is open to Canadian women who are both looking for a mentor and those who wish to serve as one. It is free for mentees; an honorarium of $500 is offered to women who serve as mentors.

Mentorship is about sharing experience and knowledge and having someone you can use as a sounding board when you are in need of advice or different perspectives. Being able to have some outside feedback is so beneficial both mentally and emotionally, especially when it is delivered in a constructive and thoughtful way.

Knowing you’re not alone and being able to draw on the experiences of someone who has been in your shoes offers encouragement and empowerment. Having a mentor is also very motivating as it can help you increase your confidence in yourself, your business and your career.

Mentorship is something I couldn’t access earlier in my career, and although I had colleagues in similar situations that I could lean on, we weren’t able to give each other the type of guidance and insight a more experienced mentor can offer.

That’s why I’m so passionate about this program and I would encourage any woman in agriculture to consider participating in this opportunity, whether as a mentee or someone who can fill that critical mentor role.

For more information, contact:

Tyler Brooks
Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883 ext. 218
tyler.brooks@ofa.on.ca