There’s always more to learn – about agriculture, about food and about yourself.
That’s one of the biggest lessons one can glean from the 2025 IWCA interview series with Emily Ford of Bow Island, Alta.
Ford, a senior agronomist with Quattro Farms, is one of the 2025 Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture. Her nomination package described her as not only hardworking and accomplished in potato agronomy, but also as a tireless advocate for agriculture, driven by a passion of helping Canadians understand where their food comes from.
1. Ag appeals to lifelong learners.
Ford only realized in retrospect that the role agriculture played in her young life planted some seeds – so to speak – early on. She grew up spending time at her grandparents’ P.E.I farmhouse, with her parents working in agricultural fields, but hadn’t consciously thought about a serious agriculture career. All she knew was that she loved learning and science.
Turns out, that was what did the trick.
“Ag was always a topic of conversation for me… but I didn’t really see it as a long-term plan,” said Ford. “I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do – I just knew I liked science.” Her undergraduate degree at UNB focused on biology, and her Master’s degree in environmental science was something she described as a “leap of faith” more than something she’d been determined toward since childhood. That baseline agronomic knowledge led her to consider agriculture more seriously.
Driven by a love of learning, she said the constant change of agriculture appealed to that nature. “Everything is constantly changing,” she said. “The season is always changing, there’s always something new to learn.”
From there, Ford packed up and moved to Saskatoon with nothing but her cat, her suitcase and a dream.
2. There’s no such thing as a false start.
Despite Ford’s natural, fresh-out-of-school enthusiasm for her first professional role, she quickly realized the job – and the environment – wasn’t for her. “It didn’t feel like my ideas mattered, and I really started to question, ‘is this the right line of work for me at all?’” She didn’t leave right away, but once she did, she returned home to New Brunswick to run the McCain research farm, a role she described as a “breath of fresh air.” It gave her an up-close, real-time view of innovation, sustainability and grower relations. “To me, that’s where the lightbulb went off.”
From there, an opportunity led her to a different role with McCain’s in Alberta – which was as different an environment from New Brunswick as one could get. But Ford also looked at that as an opportunity. “Growth doesn’t come when you’re comfortable,” she said. With ears open for learning, she grew in the role until she, in her own words, “hit a wall in the corporate world” and pivoted once again, eventually landing at Quattro.
But Ford doesn’t look at those situations where things weren’t perfect with regret. She looks at every past role as a valuable experience – even that first one where she felt like her ideas didn’t matter. “I guess what that job taught me is there is value in listening to your gut… and to advocate for your own mental health.”
3. There’s an ag gap – and we can fill it.
Because Ford grew up around farms – even if she had no intention of farming herself – she experienced a “lightbulb moment” in her career: many Canadians are far removed from where their food comes from, and lack a true understanding of the intricacies of agriculture.
That moment came, she said, during two subsequent farm tours she hosted – one for students and one, later, for teachers. During the second tour, Ford made a fascinating discovery. “A lot of the questions the teachers were asking me were the same questions the kids were asking me in the previous tour.”
“There’s a gap that we need to close,” said Ford. For people who don’t normally get to be on a farm, such as those in urban environments or who don’t have family and friends in agriculture, Ford realized she could play a role that was important not just for their individual understanding, but also for advancing appreciation of agriculture in Canada more generally.
“There’s so much we take for granted – you don’t see it every day. It’s really cool when you can be a person to show them.” Ford now engages in programming work through the Irvine Ag School to promote these concept.
Listen to Ford’s full interview here.
