She's the farmer, not the farmer's wife: Federation hopes to boost support for women in agriculture

Brenda Aylward has been around her family's farm in Port Kirwan her entire life.

For the past 20 years she has been on the front lines of Aylwards Farm as the manager — but often, she says, people don't see what goes on behind the scenes.

"A lot of times the woman is wearing the hats of a banker, a salesperson. She's a marketer, she's an animal caregiver, she's a parent," said Aylward, a fifth-generation farmer..

Her love of the land and the animals she raises helped her get involved and stay involved but after the COVID-19 pandemic hit she decided she wanted to help other women in the industry. 

"There were concerns that we saw with food shortages, sustainability and food self-sufficiency here on the island so more and more people were getting into raising their own food," Aylward said.

"More and more people getting into supporting local — so that was when I started to feel the support of the communities and it made me want to get more involved, reach out and get more women involved."

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Terri Lynn Robbins left Ontario about 12 years ago to start Robbins Family Farm in Deer Lake. She and her husband started out in the flower business but soon discarded that plan.

"Many people today don't know where their food comes from and something switched," Robbins said. "I didn't want to grow flowers anymore, I just wanted to grow food."

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But while farming is a difficult industry on the best of the days, for women it has a different set of challenges that the two farmers fully understand.

"Very seldom do people look at me as the farmer," said Robbins. "My husband and I both own our farm but I am quite often looked at as a farmer's wife."

WATCH | The agricultural industry is challenging, but being a woman comes with extra obstacles, say these farm owners: 

Far from an old boys’ club, women in agriculture are coming together to talk about the future of farming

7 months ago

Duration 1:22

Farmers, researchers and producers in Newfoundland and Labrador are sharing ideas, championing wins and trying to overcome the obstacles that accompany being a woman in the agricultural industry. The CBC’s Jeremy Eaton drops by Day 1 of the three-day event to hear what’s on the mind of some longtime farmers.

Now the two farmers and the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture want to hear from other women in their industry, to explore their barriers, challenges and achievements, and to ways to move forward.

This week the farmers hosted sessions in St. John's, Gander and Corner Brook with a virtual session planned to hear from women in agriculture all over the province. 

The discussions are desperately needed, said Robbins.

"The timing is right and other women in agriculture within the industry are ready to start the discussion on how we can support each other," she said.

"We know we want to support each other but how do we want to support each other, and what does that look like on a provincial scale?"

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