Rural women across Australia have a vital role in building a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive rural sector.
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It is why the United Nations celebrates International Day for Rural Women on October 15.
The day provides an opportunity to highlight the contributions of rural women not only in Australia but also in our neighbouring Asia-Pacific, as well as shine a light on the barriers women in agriculture and rural businesses sometimes face.
'Buck that trend'
Growing up, sheep producer Georgia White, Coolah, said she faced some inter-generational challenges both within the family and outside.
"They all had my best interests at heart but had slightly old-fashioned opinions," she said.
"I would constantly hear comments along the lines of, 'well, if you want to be a woman in agriculture, you will need to....' usually with some form of compromise following.
"Me, being a bold, independent teenager, would reply, 'I don't want to be a woman in agriculture, I just want to BE in agriculture'."
Georgia went into her first few jobs lacking the skills her male counterparts had already learnt growing up - welding, driving tractors, using a chainsaw, and the list goes on.
"This often led to being overlooked for the more desirable tasks on the stations or farms I was working on," she said.
"But, I made a conscious effort to learn all those skills and more and asked management what I had to do to get the good jobs.
"Now, 10 years later, the tides have turned, and some of the best hands in the industry are women who backed themselves and followed it up with results."
Georgia believes women bring a whole new level of enthusiasm and passion to agriculture, which she suspects is because they have had to work a little harder to achieve their goals.
"All the women I have worked with or view as mentors to me in the industry are just brilliant problem solvers who think outside the box," she said.
"I truly believe that most of this stems from the simple fact that women just cannot use brute force to get stuff done - well, I definitely can't anyway.
"So I have to take a step back and think about why something isn't working in the first place and fix that issue first, rather than just pushing through."
Georgia said women looking at entering the agriculture industry must stay true to themselves if they are to reach their goals.
"Honour your gut feelings, and if you want to do something or be someone, make it happen," she said.
"Don't doubt yourself. You'll more than likely find a different way of getting the same or better result in whatever you're doing. Buck that trend."
'Just do it'
Karyn Cassar and Carissa Wolfe operate an organic dairy farm at Hannam Vale on the Mid North Coast.
They ran a business in Oregon, US, servicing the dairy industry for a decade before moving back to Australia to continue their agricultural journey.
Like Georgia, they agreed there were preconceived ideas of the role of women in agriculture.
"The biggest challenges have not been in the areas of skill or expertise or the ability to figure something out or get the job done, it is the mindset of peers and industry of the traditional 'women in ag' role - that it is seen as a support role to the 'real' farmer," Carissa said.
Karyn believes women need to embrace their unique skills as women instead of shutting them down to "fit in".
"One of the unique skills women have is the capacity to adapt the solution, not just muscling through," she said.
"It is often discussed how women tend to have an affinity with animals and make great machinery operators.
"They see their community as an extension of their family and contribute to maintaining the fabric of it."
Their advice to other women looking at entering agriculture or a rural business was: just do it.
"The internet is at our fingertips; there are so many courses and resources available - educate yourself," Carissa said.
"Connections with other women farmers are as close as social media; there are more women-owned businesses to work with - build your support network. Be brave.
"The reward for being in a rural industry you love, doing what fulfils you, makes the cultural challenges a frustration, not a barrier, and every one of us contributes to changing that culture."
Supporting rural women in the Asia-Pacific region
Good Return, an Australian-based charity supporting women entrepreneurs in rural and developing countries for 19 years, has gathered messages of support from women in rural Australia in a show of solidarity for women working in agriculture and rural businesses in under-developed regions, such as the Asia-Pacific.
Overwhelmingly, these messages highlight the respect rural women have for each other and the critical role they play in the lives of their families, communities and economies.
Chief development director of Good Return, Kellie Robertson, said that despite women's huge contribution to rural economies, they still face barriers to accessing finance, training and support.
"Almost half of the world's farmers are women, yet they do not have the same access to finance, land or training as men in their sector due to ongoing systemic gender-based discrimination," Ms Robertson said.
"Despite their almost equal ratio in the agricultural workforce, less than 20 per cent of landholders worldwide are women, and around 42pc of women in the Asia-Pacific region are unbanked.
"We know that if these women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30pc.
"Furthermore, if we bridge the gaps for rural women and allow them to formally participate in the agricultural economy, the global gross domestic product could increase by US$5.8 trillion."
Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific and Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, said this is an important day to celebrate the achievements and contributions of rural women not only in Australia but also in the Asia-Pacific.
"We know rural women, here and abroad, still face many barriers," Mr McCormack said.
"Some of those barriers are highlighted during times like these when we have flooding across parts of NSW.
"Women make up more than 40pc of the agricultural workforce in our neighbouring Asia-Pacific countries, but many receive no recognition for their hard work and, as a result, have no financial independence.
"It is important Australia works with our neighbours to help empower and support these women who contribute greatly to our region's agricultural success."
Good Return particularly supports women building socially-focused businesses, employing other women and using new methods of farming and waste management to reduce their impact on the environment.
"Increasingly, we are seeing rural women at the forefront of managing and resisting climate change, and we celebrate the diverse ways this is being played out across Australia and developing nations," Ms Robertson said.
Good Return encourages people across Australia to support rural women by donating to their financial literacy programs for low-income women in developing countries or making a loan to a rural woman entrepreneur.
Find out more at goodreturn.org.au/rural-women-2022
