Farms.com spoke with six female farmers ahead of International Women’s Day
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, Farms.com set out to connect with as many female producers as possible about what they’d tell their younger selves about being a farmer, what they’d tell women entering the ag industry and to identify women they consider heroes or inspirations.
In total, six women from the U.S. and Canada participated.
One of the U.S. producers is Jennifer Meyer.
The cash crop and livestock producer from Wilton, N.D. became the first woman elected to the North Dakota Soybean Council’s board in April 2020.
Her message to women considering working in ag is to go for it, but to remember agriculture doesn’t have to take over your life.
“The industry is so rewarding and there’s a lot of things I don’t think I’d be able to do if it wasn’t for me being in ag,” she said. “I’ve been to parts of the country I would never have thought of going. At the same time, I’m here to say agriculture doesn’t have to be your be all and end all. If all you want to do is dabble because that’s what works for you, that’s totally fine too.”
The other U.S. farmer to participate is Jamie Tiralla.
She raises beef cattle and sheep in Calvert County, Md., plus works off the farm as the director of strategic communications with the American Forest & Paper Association.
Tiralla didn’t grow up on a farm, and after college went to California to study at the Gemological Institute of America and become a gemologist.
She left the world of citrine and sapphire to focus on cows and sheep, but still uses many of the skills she learned working in the jewelry industry.
“I’m certainly familiar with sales and talking to people,” she said. “And I enjoy the entrepreneurial side of the business. So, I’m able to apply a lot of what I was doing in gemology to what we’re doing on the farm and with our customers.”
Farms.com also spoke with four Canadian farmers.
Sally Parsonage, a Westman, Man. farmer and agribusiness owner, is among them.
She considers her older sister, Jennie, who spend 14 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, one of her inspirations.
“Jennie started farming after me and already had a full career before coming back to the farm to work with us,” Sally told Farms.com. “She’s such a hard worker and to know she spent almost 15 years serving in the Canadian military, it’s easy to look at her as someone I want to emulate.”
Another Manitoba producer, Paige Dueck, spoke with Farms.com.
She’s a dairy and grain farmer from Kleefeld, Man., and would tell her 12-year-old self to keep exploring.
“Try different jobs, work at different places and see what speaks to you,” Dueck told Farms.com. “That way, when you do choose a path, you know what you like. Mess around with this stuff when you’re young so you can succeed in your career sooner.”
Farms.com also connected with two female producers from Ontario.
One is Jessica Pfisterer, who raises hay, cash crops and beef cattle in Arthur, Ont.
She would tell young women entering the industry to go for it because the image of agriculture is changing compared to previous stereotypes.
“When people used to think of farmers and agriculture, it was a middle-aged man in a straw hat,” she said. “Our accountant is a woman, our representative at FCC is a woman, our ferrier and our vet, all women.”
The other Ontario producer Farms.com spoke to is Charlotte Huitema, an egg farmer from Haldimand County.
She only needs to look across the dinner table to see someone she considers a hero in ag – her mom, Cindy.
“When we built our new barn in 2018, she did a blog for Canadian Poultry Magazine called Egg Farmerette, talking about how to go from a conventional layer housing farm to an enriched housing colony farm. She was telling our story and I thought that was really cool,” Huitema said. “And every year we volunteer at local events in our community, and she’s always answering questions and telling our farm’s story. She leads by example for all of us.”
Farms.com wishes all the ag women in our lives and happy International Women’s Day!