In 1964, An Act respecting the legal capacity of married women gave women farmers the means to have their citizenship recognized and to exercise it in the conjugal setting and in the conduct of farm business. They were able to expand and diversify their roles and take on a more fragmented role in farm activities, which gradually would become family businesses.
In associative matters, two organizations were set up for women in agriculture before the mid 20th century. The Cercle des fermières was founded in 1915 and grew under the wing of the Department of Agriculture. The Union catholique des fermières was created in 1944 as a branch of the Union catholique des cultivateurs. After decades of effort and mobilization, the Fédération des agricultrices was created in 1986, granting professional recognition to women farmers. Women farmers became increasingly involved in ownership structures, to the point that at the turn of 2000 they were co-owners or shareholders of half of the farms.
Over the past 20 years, the momentum of feminization of the agricultural profession has continued, and nearly 45% of new farms are now products of women’s initiatives. Having more advanced education than men, women farmers are not yet done with demonstrating their full potential in the agricultural world.
Cumulatively, these advances offer women who are the heirs of yesterday’s struggles the opportunity to consolidate what has been learned and pave the way for the next generations of women farmers, as stated by Jeannine Messier, president of the Fédération des agricultrices du Québec. The Quebec agricultural world can indeed count on the vital contribution of the women who are now injecting it with new energy