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Welcome to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s podcast series that explores the freshest ideas in agriculture and food. Each episode explores a single topic in depth—digging deep into new practices, innovative ideas, and their impacts on the industry. Learn about Canada’s agricultural sector from the people making the breakthroughs and knocking down the barriers! Farmers and foodies, scientists and leaders, and anyone with an eye on the future of the sector—this podcast is for you!
Lesley: When I was little I never had these check boxes to be a farmer and a mental health advocate and start a snack food company. It's just it's been a really awesome journey of opportunities that I saw or that came to me and that I gravitated to. I've been following my passions and I would say I'm overall genuinely just curious and wanting to help make our farm and my family and my community and our industry a better place. And I think with those things all aligned, I've had the opportunity to do some really cool things, both on the farm and within the industry.
Kirk: That was Lesley Kelly – farmer and entrepreneur from Watrous, Saskatchewan. And she’s one of our guests on this episode which marks the beginning of 2026, the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Marie-France: The goal is to spotlight the essential roles women play across the multitube of agrifood systems.
Kirk: Whether they’re producers, agronomists, plant breeders, veterinarians, food processors, exporters, or grocers, too often the women in our food systems go unrecognized.
Marie-France: That lack of recognition has its repercussions. Getting access to capital is tough. Being expected to take care of the house or the and raising the kids is another challenge.
Kirk: Or relegation to just being the bookkeeper of the farm, or not having a say in the operations.
Marie-France: Those barriers are real. But we know it is changing.
Kirk: And today, we want to shed light on how it is changing.
Marie-France: And who are the innovators leading that change.
Kirk: Marie-France, you’re a senior policy analyst. You like numbers, right?
Marie-France: Yes I do.
Kirk: So let’s drop some numbers into this conversation. Okay? We know that 97% of Canadian farms are family owned. Traditionally, the farm succession went from father to son. That’s changing. 30% of farms are now owned by women. And the number of women owner-operators is expected to rise.
Marie-France: I think I know where you are going with this. The average age of Canadian farmers is 60. Farm Credit Canada expects that by the year 2033, it’s 40% of the men in the farming sector will be retiring out of it in the next decade. That’s a lot. And that means tat they will be passing on the farm to someone.
Kirk: And, who’s showing up in our agricultural colleges? Who’s positioning themselves to take over the farm?
Marie-France: Women. For example, Guelph University’s agriculture program has roughly 70% female students in it. Other agriculture programs have around 60% female students as well.
Kirk: And according to a 2021 Stats Can portrait of education levels among farm operators, 56.7% of young women farmers in Canada have a post-secondary education compared to 35.7% of young men farmers. So, yeah, that’s huge, things are changing here in Canada.
Marie-France: Yes and our guests today are really the face of that change. They are the vanguard of women in the sector.
Kirk: And you know, they are true Prairie women with their feet on the ground and a practical way of seeing things. Lauren Younker, is a ruminant nutrition specialist from Alberta. And Lesley Kelly is a grain and oilseed farmer and entrepreneur from Saskatchewan.
Marie-France: And they wear so many hats Kirk. They are both mothers with young children. They are both university educated. They are both involved in various boards and councils.
Kirk: And both have a great vision for this sector and lots of insights to share.
Marie-France: Let’s start with Lesley. She is the co-founder of the Do More Agriculture Foundation, serves on the boards of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan, she launched a snack food line and shares her stories and perspectives through High Heels & Canola Fields…and, phew that’s a lot Kirk.
Kirk: And that’s not only it she returned to her family farm in a leadership role on the business side. To start I asked her about her return to the family farm.
Lesley: We originally on the farm had some high level transition or plans over, you know, a 10 or 15 year period, but that's sped up significantly. My dad's diagnosis of cancer, and his prognosis wasn't good. That turned a 10 year plan into a 2 year plan. And I remember previously the conversations were about what role everyone would have on the farm. And I wanted to be part be part of it. I also had a career in the city in, in marketing that I loved. I remember having the conversation about what my role would look like on the farm and my dad, he shot me down. And at the time I was very heartbroken, but I, continued on with my career and, um, fast forward to the conversation I had with him it was the last one, because he was really sick and he was unfortunately, he was passing away and he said, uh, do you remember that time that I said there wasn't a role for you on the farm? And I said, yes, I remember it quite vividly because that changed my whole direction, my, career. And he said it wasn't that there wasn't a role. He's like, there was always a role. But he said, I didn't want you to feel there were expectations of you to take on just my role, that it was already created and you were having to fill my shoes. And he said, I wanted you to go out and follow your passions and create, you know, your own life, your own career and, and follow that. And if it led you back to the farm, that was going to be great, I knew it would, I wanted to fill your own shoes and I wanted you to run.
Maire-France: That is a touching story, thank you for that. So if we dig into the role of women in ag, you must meet a lot of women farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector, what are you hearing from them? What are the pressing issues for women in the Canadian agriculture today?
Lesley: Yeah, I because I travel a lot throughout Canada and the US, I get to meet some really amazing and incredible women, uh, who work hard on the farm and in the industry. And I would say that, um, you know, there is a lot of excitement and, you know, going into a university class there are so many fellow women and so that is exciting. But then some of the issues that I hear about from farm women, there's a overlying stress and there are some concerns or challenges around I would say access. So access to resources and access to opportunities. You know, success is tied to access. So when I hear of concerns related to access to land, access to capital, access to mentorship you know, transition planning that is a warning flag.
Marie-France: I like that success is tied to access….can you tell me more about this?
Lesley: So with success being tied to access what I've learned in order to be able to have that access to capital to decision making to all of those things. Resources, mentorship is the need to ask. People don't know what you need or what you want and having the courage to be able to ask those questions and share what you need and how to get there. So I learned that, There was one instance on the farm where it was already a predefined role. And, you know, coming back to the farm, it was that I was going to be the head farm chef and make meals. And I had a hard time with that because I thought, well, I'm, um, university educated, I have this successful career, and coming back to the farm and there wasn't really any discussions about it, I felt that I wasn’t valued. I shared that with my with my parents, and they had a different perspective. And it was that. So I we have our machine operators or equipment operators already defined, and there was a need for there was a gap, and my mom didn't want to do it anymore after doing it for 20 some years. And my dad said, well, take it in the realm of looking at it through a wellness and a culture standpoint Lesley. And he said, by providing a meal, you're allowing or supporting the team to be able to take a rest, take a break and, you know, have a team meeting and, you know, bring other their family out. And when I saw the bigger picture, I thought, okay, I can buy into that.
But also, there was a question of I have these skills. What else can my role be? And these are the things that I want to do. And how does that look like in the overall farm picture. And that was great because I had more opportunity to learn how to run equipment. I might not be the number one. I, might be on team B, and that's okay. But and this is how I can support the farm. So having those conversations and bringing it up to how what everyone can do to help support the farm that helped us.
Marie-France: Picking up on what you just said earlier about mentorship. You know, I strongly believe in the power and the benefit of mentorship. Who have been your mentors? Were they women or and how have they shaped your, uh, presence in the agricultural sector?
Lesley: Yeah I've had a lot of amazing mentors, and two of those have been my parents. My mom, the farm wouldn't be where it is without my mom. And then my dad, who saw agriculture, he was forward thinking, he challenged us. He created a culture of openness and accountability and passion.
And then also, I've been very privileged to have amazing women in my corner. You know, the two that come to mind are Sherilyn Nagle and Allana Koch who are farm women right here in Saskatchewan who at times really helped me think differently. You know, Alana Cook was the individual who really encouraged me to run as a director for Saskatchewan Wheat. And I had never thought of, you know, being involved at a commission level and being part of a board. And honestly, I, I didn't feel like I was qualified. I'm born and raised on a farm, but I didn't go to an ag college, I went to the business college and then went into my career in marketing. And so I shared with her my insecurities and I didn't know the value that I would provide. And she said, that's exactly why you're needed. You come at it with a different skill set, a different viewpoint, you have different experience. And that really helps. And I ended up running and being elected. So now I after being in the industry for 20 or so years and having amazing mentors, now I'm looking at, well, I would love to give back and who can I now mentor and be that person that encourages other women to see their value and see their worth and what they can help with the industry.
Marie-France: So if I ask you in in the near or far future, what is your vision for women in the sector?
Lesley: My vision, so if I look into 20, 25 years when I might be retiring from the farm and looking at my next stage of life, my vision for us in, in Canadian agriculture, women, that we no longer have to prove that we belong that we are assumed to be leaders and decision makers and owners right from the start. Then through that I hope that we have more access to capital and resources and technology and leadership and that it's in it's part of our culture. Because what I've seen through my mentors and being part of that and all that they've given to me, is that when women, when we fully thrive, our industry becomes stronger, our farms are stronger, our industry is stronger and we are more resilient and sustainable.
Marie-France: I totally agree with all she said Kirk. Success is tied to access — to capital, to mentorship, and even to a stronger sector.
Kirk: And that’s where Lauren Younkers’s story connects here. She’s a ruminant nutrition specialist from Alberta. She’s also a member of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council. Her path into agriculture was driven by the same curiosity, confidence, and willingness to claim a seat at the table.
Marie-France: So Kirk, where did Lauren’s story begin?
Kirk: It began on the farm but the what hooked her into Agriculture was 4-H
Lauren: When I got involved in beef 4-H. And, and had my first 4-H steer, um, he actually ended up not working out, and I had to use a different animal. By the end of the year, because he was pretty mean. But that hooked me. And between that and thinking I wanted to go into vet school and become a veterinarian or large animal veterinarian was kind of where I fell in love with the beef industry and really just chased that.
Kirk: The one thing that I see with the 4-H and I love this, you know, the annual speech contest. You know, I was I was always delighted to sit in on those. You've got teenage kids. And, you know, you talk about having influence. Right. Well, you need to be a communicator, right? You need to be clear. You need to know your topic. And, you know, the 4-H kids were blowing my socks off.
Lauren: Yeah. I'd say, you know, that helped me and my brothers especially. When we started speaking in public or getting involved on boards and just having the confidence to speak up in any situation, it kind of gives you some confidence to let your voice be heard. And that's one thing I noticed when I went to school in the States is the Americans also did FFA and I felt like a lot of those kids were very well spoken in the university system and very good at advocating for themselves.
Kirk: That’s amazing, and so after 4-H what happened next?
Lauren: So I went to the university of Saskatchewan and from there, discovered the world of ruminant nutrition specifically, and just the amount of people in the beef industry that were involved outside of just farming and veterinarians and so I decided to chase that. While I was at the university of SK, I used by summers to learn about different facets of the industry. My final summer I spent at the Lakeside feedlot in brooks and loved the feedlot world and just fell in love. And we talk about agriculture, careers not being well known outside of agriculture. And I feel like within agriculture, that is also true. I didn't know ruminant nutritionist was a job until I was just about done my undergraduate degree.
Kirk: That’s a great journey to find a career. When you look at women in agriculture across generations — your grandmother’s generation, your mom’s generation, and now yours — what’s changed?
Lauren: Yeah my grandparents, on both sides actually emigrated to Canada shortly after the second world war and my grandma on my moms side actually ended up owning the farm after a while. And then my grandma on my dads side, she was very involved in producing the food for the family at the garden scale, and kind of helping make some of those decisions. And when my mom married my dad she didn’t really have a choice, she was part of the farm and has been a decision maker alongside my dad since the beginning. Looking back on some of it I find that the women of my moms generation were more seen as the gophers and probably holding the fort down at home more so in terms of doing the books, or raising the kids, doing the off farm jobs etc. And now to my generation you know were seeing it in universities where a lot more women are getting those professional degrees and showing up in a professional capacity on the farm. And what I see at work and in the industry, I’m primarily focused on the feedlot world, is there a lot of younger crews and younger, say feed lots, are a lot more women in charge or in managerial positions roles, or whoever is best fit for that position is there.
Kirk: Does your mother ever kind of comment to you about, you know, how things have changed or how things are changing, you know. Is there a perspective that you can share?
Lauren: I've talked about it a lot from my perspective. And, and she's mentioned to just kind of what was expected of her, um. You know, she wasn't as involved, say, going to conferences or being on boards or being invited to be on boards like my dad was and I mean, just in the last few weeks, I've been invited to be on two different boards to help bring a young farmer perspective towards those.
Kirk: Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about that, the representation of women on boards. Where are things at and where would you like to see things at?
Lauren: You know, we talked about it at the CAYC meetings is a lot of just who's at home with the kids or, you know, some of us have had to take a step back as we've raised kids and lack of access to childcare. And how does that look on the farm and traveling and so I'm extremely fortunate in my small town that we have a daycare that's a two minute drive from my house and so, um, and I know that's not an option that, that a lot of people have. And so it becomes who's on the board, you know, and what do you have the capacity for?
Kirk: You actually mentioned that when we were talking before the interview about your experience with the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council, CAYC , you mentioned that you were quite, pleasantly surprised by the diversity of, you know, people in the, you know, in the industry. I'm actually interested to know a little bit more about that, what do you mean by that?
Lauren: You know, I work as a consultant for feedlots, and so my world has become just feedlots and not even so much, you know, the cow calf industry anymore. And so even within the beef industry, I was getting quite siloed. And to come to the CAYC, you know, where it's farmers and agriculture representatives from across the country. My limited perspective from Alberta where, you know, we know that we're an Ag powerhouse, but we're also quite limited on what crops we may or might grow or what we're contributing.
And, and there's just a lot of perspectives and ideas as to how agriculture can be integrated into society. And, and some of that diverse thought is, why can't some of this be brought home to a farm in Alberta, even, you know, if it's something they do out in P.E.I., what's the implications for my farm? Is that something I can diversify or you know, improve the food production system by bringing some of those ideas out West. Not everyone comes from a multi-generational farm, which I think I forget about to.
Kirk: So when you think about advisory groups like the CAYC or the boards you mentioned being invited to — and the fact that not everyone comes from a family farm — it sounds like there’s no single path into leadership in agriculture. What would you say to women who are on the fence about putting their hand up for those leadership roles?
Lauren: So obviously, my mom being involved on the farm and being a primary decision maker, along with my dad, I. That was my life. I didn't know any different. And I think that just kind of gave me the confidence to kind of chase whatever. I'm pretty famous for just applying for stuff and then I'll make the decision if I want to be involved afterwards. And, and so even the CAYC is something I applied for and kind of forgot about until they accepted me.
As women if you think you need to be there, then find a way. You know, um, for some of us, it's probably easier than others, but, you know, we all deserve to be in that room. And don't think that not having an ag background or, you know, growing up on a farm is not a requirement to be on a board. And so there's more and more people every day that that are joining agriculture that didn't have that background and frankly, would have some, some new ideas that we haven't thought of because agriculture can be, well, this is how my dad did it. So, um, if you want to be there, be there so and see what happens.
Marie-France: Be there and see what happens, love that…and it mirrors so nicely with what Lesley said earlier about success being tied to access.
Kirk: You know, I always want this podcast series to be both informative and inspiring. Those interviews hit both of those notes.
Marie-France: N’est ce pas?
Kirk: Indeed. Women working in our food system – like Lauren Younker, like Lesley Kelly, and like you, Marie-France -- are central to food security, nutrition and economic resilience. That’s exactly what the International Year of the Woman Farmer is meant to recognize and reinforce.”
Marie-France: And we want to make women central to the future of our industry. AAFC supports women farmers and food processors across the country. Women are eligible to apply for all our programs and you can visit agpal.ca. It’s our one-stop portal for all ag and food related funding.
Kirk: Also, look into Farm Credit Canada. FCC offers specific support for women farmers and entrepreneurs through its dedicated Women Entrepreneur Program, providing access to capital, specialized learning, mentorship, and networking opportunities. It’s all meant to tackle barriers like skill gaps, financing, and isolation in the agriculture and agri-food sector. It’s part of the Government of Canada's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy.
Marie-France: Check out the episode notes for links to those programs.
Kirk: And in the meantime, you know what to do?
Marie-France: Try something new.
Kirk: N’est ce pas? (That is such a great term.)