The rich history and bright future of women in agriculture

Globally, women make up 43 percent of the world’s agricultural labor force.?

October 15th is International Day of Rural Women, a day that recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.” Advocating for and advancing women in agriculture is a personal mission of mine because I grew up watching my mom run our farm. My mom is 76 and she still farms in New South Wales, Australia to this day. I couldn’t be more proud of her. ?

My mom taught me that having a strong work ethic and wanting to be successful in agriculture is not gender-specific. Mom was born into farming, just like her two brothers. She had the same passion to grow crops and raise livestock that her brothers possessed and, in my view, an even stronger determination to succeed given she was a woman in a male-dominated industry of the 1960’s-1990's.?

Advancing women in agriculture is more than just my personal mission, it also makes good economic sense. According to the United Nations, “Giving women the same opportunities as men could raise agricultural production by 2.5 to 4 percent in the poorest regions and the number of malnourished people could be reduced by 12 to 17 percent.” Those aren’t numbers to scoff at - that would make a huge difference to our industry and to the world. ?

The legacy of women in agriculture?

Farming has traditionally been considered a male-dominated industry, yet some of the biggest advances we’ve made at Nutrien Ag Solutions have been built upon the work of influential women in agriculture. Gladys West contributed to the development of GPS technology through her work mapping the earth. Building on her work, Nutrien Ag Solutions is harnessing Real Time Kinetic (RTK) boundary collection in fields throughout the Corn Belt. The RTK boundaries are precise within sub-inch accuracy and GPS is precise within two to four meters. ?

Mary-Dell Chilton is one of the founders of modern plant biotechnology, and her research showed that disease-causing genes in plants could be removed. Today, Nutrien Ag Solutions has an in-house seed breeding team that uses Mary-Dell’s discovery to offer customers the most resilient and promising seeds for their season. ?

Providing a seat at the table, a look into ag's diverse future?

The future of women in agriculture looks to be strong, with females making up over half of ag degree graduates. Now, it’s time for the industry to catch up. At Nutrien, we’ve made big ESG commitments that by the year 2025, 30 percent of our Board of Directors and 30 percent of our leadership roles will be held by women. Today, 33 percent of our Board of Directors are female and have women in the seat of 21 percent of our leadership roles. We’ve still got work to do to help women further their careers in the industry, and we’re committed to meet or exceed our goals by 2025. ?

We’re extremely fortunate to have fantastic female leaders at Nutrien. Just to name a few, we have Dani Rigg, who manages our Greeley, Colorado Loveland Products, Inc. Plant. We also have Kristi Farmer , Nutrien Ag Solutions’ first female division manager who is leading our Georgia division. Finally, we have Anne Folk , who is the Vice President of Human Resources for Nutrien Ag Solutions.?

Shining a light on women in ag?

Today, for International Day of Rural Women, I want to recognize the women who helped make our industry what it is, and those who continue to advance the agriculture industry. I want to humbly thank all the women, my mom included, who continue to work within our industry. And finally, I want to encourage more women to get involved in agriculture and to grow their careers within this industry. There’s a place for you here and we’re ready to help you find it.?