New mentorship opportunities for Canadian women in agriculture

Mar 05, 2024

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.

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Video: Cheapest States to Buy Farmland in America

The United States has more than 895 million acres of farmland, which includes all rural land tied to farming operations, from highly fertile Midwest cornfields to vast grazing ranges in the West, as well as the undeveloped rural land, which is often sold as ranches, homesteads, or uncultivated lots. Nowadays investing in rural land is very lucrative even billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett have bought up thousands of acres of farmland across America. In contrast to investors, agricultural companies, and business moguls, some buy farmland for their own requisites, like starting a small farmstead, creating a cottage, and becoming self-resilient. In this video we have ranked the top cheapest states to buy farmland according to the per-acre land value, which is accumulated from the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA’s per-acre land values come from an annual survey, which is cross-checked with actual sales data, appraisals, and market trends to ensure accuracy. So here are The top Cheapest States to Buy Farmland.