Women in farming

Amy Wilkinson farms with her Dad in Lancashire. Growing 285 Ha of Arable crops and rearing 550 beef cross cattle through to finishing.

efra estimates wo‐men now make up 28% of the Agricul‐tural workforce, I am just one of those women and I am im‐mensely proud to be

in that 28%. However, I am prouder to be part of the incredible workforce that make up British Agriculture. Brit‐ish Agriculture and its farmers have, and are still, facing some unimaginable pres‐sures, especially over the past 12 months, but has met them all while maintaining the highest animal welfare and envir‐onmental standards in the world. I guess what I am try‐ing to say is I farm because it is my pas‐sion and I love it not because I feel like I have to prove girls can do it. Farming now offers both young girls and boys so many opportunities as a career. One of the best factors about working in Agriculture is that it is worldwide. You will find very few other jobs where you can apply to work in so many dif‐ferent countries and can lead you to the most incredible experi‐ences. I, myself, had my heart set on working in Canada after visiting farms on a tour while at Myer‐scough College. We also visited Texas which was also incredible but for me it had to be Canada! So, once my visa application was accepted, I started looking for jobs. I applied for mainly cattle ranch work and one job I called my wild card; I was offered every job I had applied for even the dar‐ing wild card and knew I just had to take it so I did. This non horse girl had landed herself a job looking after horses com‐peting on the rodeo circuit, all on the fact she was from a farm so must be hard working. My new job was as a barn hand for a Chuckwagon racing team

@amygingewilkinson

and I would even be working the legendary Calgary Stampede. Chuckwagon Racing is a rodeo sport in which you attach four ex racing, thoroughbred horses to the front of a wooden wagon all controlled by the driver. There is also two ‘outriders’ who ride two other horses to make up the team. When racing four teams compete at once with the race starting with the ‘out‐riders’ loading the wagon with a barrel to represent a camp stove and tent pegs, they then jump on their horses as the driver man‐oeuvres a very tight figure of 8 and then charges around the track, also known as the half mile of hell, with the outriders fol‐lowing them to the finish. Time penalties can be ad‐ded to a team for any num‐ber of things. Thirty-six teams compete throughout the summer rodeos to win cash prizes as well to be named champion. It is insane but a massive spectacle to see! After arriving I settled in so fast my new bosses Jordie and Tammy were so wel‐coming and amazing to work for. The first month I was there was what they called spring training during which we broke new horses to the wagon and got the more experienced horses back up to peak fitness. We did this by attaching their lead rope to the ‘training truck’ (an old pick up with a special frame) and driving them around the track Jordie had made in the field. The scenery that surrounded me while

spring training was breath taking the ranch was in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. After spring training, we headed on to the road taking 21 horses with us, we landed at our fist rodeo and this is where the story takes a bit of a turn, I unfortu‐nately re-broke my foot there and my Canada dream came to a sad end. I was due to go back again last year to work the entire sum‐mer but due to Covid that was im‐possible. Even though it did not go the way I wanted it to, my time in Canada is the greatest experience of my life, I made lifelong friends which I hope to visit soon and gained so much confidence. I re‐commend working abroad to everyone and being a part of the in‐credible Agricultural workforce just makes it so much easier to do. So with an end in sight for Covid restrictions start apply‐ing for visa’s trust me you will not regret it!