Farming has always been a male-dominated field and as generations change there has been a slow shift with women stepping up and taking up space in that domain. As more and more women study agriculture it allows them to break the stigma and gain the confidence to . . .

take on leadership roles in farming, said McKenna Richardson, winner of the Warren Grapes Bursary.

“I’m the type of person who wants to prove everybody wrong. Being able to show people that it can be done by females, I think it’s really important,” said Richardson.

She was awarded the bursary by the Quebec Farmers Association (QFA), which gets handed out every year. The bursary comes from members and non-members of the QFA. The objective of the bursary is to promote agricultural education and learning among English-speaking farmers.

Created in 1998, the fund was made in honour of Warren Grapes, to continue in his legacy. Grapes also came from a farming background and later in life was an educator. He served for many years as QFA president and was an avid advocate for the farming community.

Richardson, who is studying Farm Management and Technology at McGill University in Montreal (MacDonald Campus), said she tried pursuing other career paths but no matter what she always gravitated towards farming. “I didn’t feel like I was doing the right thing in other programs. I decided to make a switch to study [agriculture] and so far, I love it.” One of the aspects she loves is how farming is family-oriented. She said being on the farm she enjoys being connected to the land, her family and knowing where her food comes from.

The 19-year-old local farmer who has worked on her family farm, Spruce Haven Farms, highlights that there is a lack of women in agriculture and that although she said it is getting better but “it’s still definitely a male-dominated industry,” she said.

She hopes to break the stigma around the expectations around a woman’s place on a farm and instead, show people that a woman can succeed in this industry. “I definitely strive for not just being a farmer’s daughter or the future farmer’s wife, I want to be called a farmer. I want to be the farmer,” said Richardson.

Brenda O’Farrell Executive Director of Quebec Farmers’ Association has also noticed the shift in females getting into agriculture, “the face of agriculture is becoming more and more female, she said.

She attributes that shift to the ways in which society has changed and women have been able to run their own companies, get their own education and have their own financing, said O’Farrell but adds that “two generations ago, that wasn’t the case.” It speaks to the fact that women have been climbing the professional ladder and are taking a seat at the decision-making level, and she said agriculture is no different.

“I think women were always part of the farming equation, but now they are taking their place [in the forefront],” said O’Farrell, she added that female farmers are becoming owners and operators of farms.

“I think that is inspiring,” she said.

For Richardson, she highlighted that her education has been an important part of building that sense of confidence, and it is only her first semester.

After she finishes her three-year program, her goal is to go back home to the farm and start making more investments with her own money and start her own herd and grow what her family has already done, while keeping it a family business. “I hope to eventually, when they retire, take over the farm with my brother.”

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