As a colleague once reminded Peggy Baillie, “women have been in agriculture forever.”

And that’s true, the Sudbury-area farmer and local food campaigner says. “Women have been in agriculture forever, taking care of the books, and the house and the animals.” In the long story of agriculture, women have often played supporting roles, “but we haven’t always been on the cover page,” she added. “We haven’t been in the pictures.”

Now that’s clearly changed. “I go to a lot of meetings, and I definitely have seen an increase in women,” said Earlton dairy farmer and Temiskaming Milk Producers secretary, Anna Regele.

“I see a lot of women stepping up, and that’s encouraging,” added Baillie.

Baillie, Regele, and St. Joseph Island farmer and research technician Mikala Parr were speakers on the “Women in Northern Ontario Agriculture” panel at the recent Northern Ontario Ag Conference in Sudbury. They talked about the expanding role for women in agriculture, the challenges of farming while female, and offered advice for both new and veteran farmers.

Organized by the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA), the conference drew about 120 people from across the province. To eyeball the crowd, it was pretty close to a 50-50 female/male split. As one southern visitor said, “This is probably the best gender balance I’ve seen at any meeting I’ve been at. Is this normal for the north?”

It’s maybe not completely normal — yet. But women already seem to be dominating roles in extension, economic development, and research, and play a growing role in production. As NOFIA executive director Emily Potter said during the panel, “there’s a place for everyone in agriculture.”

And agriculture is a place the panelists want to be. Regele said she and her husband, Chris, “both have dairy farming in our blood.”

Parr took a high school co-op placement on a dairy farm, and never looked back. “I worked on multiple dairy farms and cash crop farms in southern Ontario, but I wanted to do that in northern Ontario.”

“I’ve always been passionate about food and I have had a particular interest in northern Ontario ag because I feel there’s a big demand, and an opportunity to fill that demand,” added Baillie.

That doesn’t mean it’s always easy. “I’ve been involved in the local food sector for over 15 years now. When I first started, I was terrified of speaking,” said Baillie, who runs Three Forks Farms with her husband, Eric Blondin.

Along with raising organic chicken, and producing vegetables and seeds, Baillie is also Northeast Regional Co-ordinator for Local Food and Farm Co-ops, an organization that supports food and farming co-operatives.

“It took me a long time to really find my voice as a woman in the industry,” she said. “Sometimes male voices can be dominant. I think it’s important to make sure women’s voices — and everyone at the table — is being heard.”

Being heard by lenders is another key task. “The big thing for me is walking in with confidence, and knowing what I want, or what I want to get out of the meeting,” said Regele, who milks 90 cows (with a goal of reaching 120). “You have to walk in knowing your numbers.”

“I try to overprepare,” agreed Baillie.

Mikala Parr says the community supports her efforts to rebuild her grandfather’s farm, with the goal of returning it to beef production. “In northern Ontario a lot of farmers I talked to are glad that the land isn’t going to waste, and that someone is doing something with it,” said the Ridgetown College graduate and research technician for Algoma’s Rural Agri-Innovation Network (RAIN).

Leveraging support is crucial not only to the farm’s success, but to maintaining your own mental resilience. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a network to build a farm, including family, friends, neighbours, professionals, and other farmers who can act as mentors.

“My husband takes the kids when I need a break. We have both families close by to help. It’s a good idea to network with other farmers,” Regele said. “When you have a bad year in crops, they’re having a bad year in crops. At least you can talk about it together.”

“Make sure you have a team: banker, nutritionist, crop specialist, veterinarian…” she added. “Our team is fairly woman-dominated. That’s not by choice, that’s just the way it is.”

“Learn, learn, learn,” is Baillie’s advice. “Take every opportunity to go to conferences. Join boards, meet people and ask questions.”

“It’s a lot of work,” Regele added. “You’ll need a break. Remember to take some refresh time.”