For the first time in 30 years, the number of female Canadian farm operators appears to be on the rise.
Farms in Canada tend to be family operations. The fact that women are turning up on the census rolls in higher numbers might be a result of better data, women more accurately identifying their roles, or simple demographics. Canada has about half a million more women than men so it might also be that, as a percentage, more women farm.
Data from the 2021 national farm census shows the number of female operators is up and the trend is toward more women overall.
All farms, not just commercial-scale operations, total about 190,000 in Canada, with about 260,000 farm operators. Defining what is a farm and who operates it is difficult because everyone has their own idea. Farms range from tiny operations with a few animals or a small greenhouse, to intensive livestock businesses and aquaculture, to vast grain and oilseed farms on the Prairies or pastures that stretch through the furthest reaches of the nation’s north, south and into the mountains. All of these fit someone’s definition of farms.
Grains and oilseeds are the largest farm segment, at 34 percent. Beef operations are second at 21 percent and these two types of operations encompass 83 percent of farmed land, or about 127 million acres. Some grazed lands might not be fully represented in that statistic, but numbers are for counting, and these are the ones we have.
The recent census put female farm operators at 30.4 percent of the total, up from 28.7 in 2016. While gender percentages increased a few times in the past three decades, the total number of female farmers didn’t. In that period, total farmer numbers declined by 33 percent.
There are ever-fewer farmers overall but the number of male farmers is declining faster than that of women. And the number of single-operator, female-run farms is rising.
Since 2016, 3,850 more female single-operator farmers identified themselves as producer-leaders or have entered the industry.
One of the methods used to confirm this trend is to look at graduates of post-secondary agricultural and natural resources education programs since 1991. Thirty years ago, 33 percent were female. In 2021, it was 54 percent.
The largest increase in Canadian female operators was among farms with revenues between $1 million and $2 million, they were up 815 since 2016. The second largest increase was among farms with revenues of more than $2 million. There were 1,195 of those. Third were farms with revenues of $500,000 to $1 million.
The growth of female farm operators appears to be mirroring the increases in farm size and income intensity found across agriculture.
Data also shows female farmers are older. Since 2016, those over age 55 jumped by 18 percent. Male farmers are older too, but those over 55 were up only three percent.
Some aspects of farming in Canada don’t change much. Most farms still rely on regular off-farm income to get by, and female farm operators are providing more of it than ever, with 60 percent working off-farm more than 30 hours per week. That’s up 10 percent since 2016, compared to male off-farm contributions, which rose by one percent.
The trends are real and women continue to make their mark in agriculture.
Karen Briere, Bruce Dyck, Barb Glen and Mike Raine collaborate in the writing of Western Producer editorials.
