Andrew McClelland
The Advocate
A new study shows that the vast majority of female farmers in Quebec – 90 per cent – suffer from high levels of stress as they struggle to balance farm tasks, family life and farm management.
“Women in agriculture hold an average of 5.1 positions in the business,” explained Valérie Fortier, president of Agricultrices Québec.
“The five main tasks are management and administration — such as strategic planning, business management, finance and accounting — tasks related to agricultural production, purchasing and supply, and human resources.”
In other words, female agricultural producers feel forced to spread themselves too thin over the many areas of farm production. The study, conducted by Léger, was carried out on behalf of the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec, a specialized federation of the Union des producteurs agricoles. The association was founded in 1987 to highlight concerns of female producers in the province.
“The results of the survey confirm what our members have been telling us for several years,” said Fortier, herself a dairy producer from Saint-Valère in Centre-du-Québec.
“The situation is worrying and concerns all of us, considering the fundamental and structuring role that women play in the agricultural sector in Quebec.”
Province-wide, 27 per cent of farm businesses are owned or co-owned by women. While female producers have made great gains in recent decades, figures show they also bear more than their fair share of the workload, particularly when it comes to paper work and financial management.
“Managing multiple tasks is the top source of stress that respondents report experiencing on a daily basis,” Fortier said.
In fact, 63 per cent of respondents said that multi-tasking and balancing roles was a key source of mental stress.
Other sources of stress include pressure for productivity (46%), financial problems (43%), family responsibilities (41%) and weather conditions (40%).
The situation can be even more challenging for young female producers (between the ages of 18 and 34), who are often juggling the work of supervising children while also managing farm labour.
“For younger women farmers, balancing domestic and professional tasks and reconciling work and personal life are the most important challenges,” Fortier said.
“Women farmers who have children in their household reported that the main challenges are balancing domestic and professional tasks, reconciling work and personal life, and salary conditions.”
Chief among the stressors and tasks often foisted upon female farmers are what sociologists call “invisible work”— work done within the family that may include household chores and personal care, labour performed for a family business, or caregiving for the older generation.
In November, the Les Agricultrices will launch a tool to quantify invisible work in agriculture. The data collected will be used to obtain gendered information on invisible work, to document the phenomenon and raise awareness among agricultural producers.
“Our programming at Les Agricultrices is a response to the mental stress-load issues experienced by women farmers that were identified in Léger’s study,” Fortier explained.
This year, the federation is offering members up to seven hours of free consultations with experts, including notaries, tax specialists, lawyers, agricultural management consultants, marketing-communications advisers and financial planners. Fifteen workshops on various themes along with entrepreneurial mentoring, personalized support and networking are also planned.
To find out more about what help is available from the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec, visit tellementplus.ca
Caption:
Valérie Fortier, a dairy producer from Saint-Valère and president of the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec, knows the type of stress women farmers are feeling. A new study reveals that female producers are carrying a very high stress load from managing multiple roles on the farm.
Credit:
Agricultrices Québec