This is part two of our IWCA Conversation Series. This segment is taken from a digital roundtable held with four honourees from the 2026 Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture program, held in June 2026 and moderated by agriculture editor Bree Rody. For information on the honourees and the background of the Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture program, click here.
The honourees featured in this conversation are:
- Jennifer Woike, B.C. Ag Council
- Margaret Hudson, Burnbrae Farms
- Susan Ainsworth, Keystone Potato Producers Association
- Tori Waugh, Ontario Soils Network
On the heaviest weights
Bree Rody: On a bit of a heavier note, I want to talk about what’s keeping producers and those within ag up at night. Some of you who work with association, beyond those press release talking points – for example, the recent massive cuts at AAFC, within research, there’s the unpredictability of major climate events, what are some of the things that both you and your professional or personal circles are bearing the weight of right now – emotionally, logistically?
Susan Ainsworth: Political instability. Our industry is highly dependent on trade. There are so many things outside our control – climate goes without saying. Any type of agriculture is going to be dependent on those fluctuations, btu I think the political piece is one that, again, is completely outside your control and that can have a huge impact.
BR: I have to say, I know it was P.E.I., but when I was writing about the recent potato wart discovery, I got so angry at how many news outlets, including Canadian news outlets, had headlines that said, “U.S. wants Canadian potatoes banned.” It’s like, no, the U.S. government has not called for anything – one lobby group has called for the banning of potatoes from one province, and whether or not that’s right, it’s so inaccurate and it bothered me so much, the panic that something like that can cause.
SA: And it’s not science-based, right? So that’s the problem – similar to what Margaret was speaking about. We have the science in this situation. We already have the science in this situation. We don’t have more to figure out. We have the CFIA, they [the U.S.] have the APHIS, we need to trust in our regulatory authorities.
Tori Waugh: For the farmers I work with, the drought last year, it’s still bad. I’m in Prince Edward County, and they didn’t get a rain period until mid-August [2025] – none from April, at all. That was really, really hard. We pulled together this amazing community day – no learning, just support. It’s like, of course, it’s still not enough. But yeah, definitely speaking to political instability, layering that on top of already not feeling fully recovered from this uncertainty about climate and extreme weather events, layering those two things together, that’s really hard right now.
Jennifer Woike: I have a list. Land cost, water, labour, competitiveness, input costs – all of those things are keeping farmers up at night. But one of the big things, and I think we’ve all touched on it, is climate and weather events. Here in B.C., in 18 months, we have had devastating forest fires, droughts, floods, a freezing event, a heat dome. Literally, we were just pivoting from one emergency to the next. And how do we deal with this? These were all new – not anything we’ve ever dealt with before. Throw in HPAI on top of that, into the B.C. poultry industry, it’s a constant on-guard feeling – “what’s coming next?” And I think working and preparing farmers and government for ways to improve emergency preparedness and emergency management… out here in B.C., we have a program that we have trained individuals to be agriculture representatives in every emergency operations centre. So when there’s an emergency, if there is ag in the area, they now have someone that can go in and speak specifically to those ag needs. That in itself is going to lessen conflict in a time where conflict is extremely high. People think this is a U.S. thing, but in a lot of places in Canada and in B.C., when those conflicts arise, when there’s an emergency situation… there’s guns. There are guns drawn by both sides, and people are angry and upset and they want to protect, and we don’t want things to get to that level. So that one thing – ever pivoting from one climate emergency, one emergency to the other, and having some preparedness for that, I think is a big thing in British Columbia keeping people up at night.
Margaret Hudson: Yes, obviously political instability has led to wars, higher fuel prices, difficult trade negotiations. I think for those of us who are in supply-managed industries, the impacts that could potentially have… jobs, food security, prices, it really does create a lot of risk and anxiety for those of us who are in those industries.
For us in particular, and this is kind of part of what everyone’s discussing, but a little more granular – one of the big issues we face is labour in rural centres. I know Jen mentioned that, but it’s a huge issue because the government brings in immigration, and it tends to come to big centres. How do we make sure we get the labour we need in the rural centres? It doesn’t necessarily come through natural immigration. So when they cut back on the foreign labour and your ability to bring labour into very specific regions and have it there… having that labour there really supports agriculture. You can operate more effectively. It helps support Canadians through lower food costs. With the government so focused on food pricing, how could they help? Well, help us with the labour we need in the communities where we need it. When the government starts volleying around things like our foreign labour as a political tool, to demonize one government or another, it really doesn’t serve us in agriculture in our rural centres. So it would be nice to get a little more focus and effort on that so we can solve that.
[There’s also] rural infrastructure. I drive around rural Eastern Ontario and the line drops constantly – we need better connectivity, better roads, better water. A lot of the things Jen mentioned. Food and agriculture employs one in seven in Canada. That’s a very important sector for our country. So it really deserves to get more attention in terms of how we support those in agriculture so they can operate effectively and keep the price of food down.
JW: It needs to be deemed essential. That’s the bottom line – not as an afterthought.
MH: Well that’s the thing. It seems there’s this big focus on car plants – well, agriculture is bigger than cars. What about our connectivity? What about our roads, our water? Our services and labour? That would probably be the biggest one. We have a location in Eastern Quebec and we’ve basically had to be put on recycle water because the town stopped supporting us with the water supply. In the interim, we have to truck in water. It’s this big issue, and very costly.
On the unseen roles of women
BR: I always feel self-conscious about the way I ask this question – the fact that I have to ask this question – we know that as women, in our roles and then outside our professional roles, even in a more egalitarian society, women still often bear the greater weight of domestic labour – childcare and elder care as well, financial decisions in the home, etc. So, when it comes to even just our personal stresses, what are some things that you wish some male colleagues or male equivalents understood?
JW: One of the first board meetings I ever attended, about 10 years ago, at Egg Farmers of Canada, I had a male counterpart ask me if I was there with my husband. I said no – I was there representing, and he asked, “Well, who’s looking after things at home?” I said, “Well, my husband!” I asked if he was married, he said he was, so I asked, “Who’s running your farm while you’re here?” He said, his wife, and I said, “Yes, of course!”
I think it’s gotten better, there was a time, and Margaret can probably attest to this in the egg industry… I took a picture 10 years ago at an Egg Farmers of Canada meeting, and it still pops up in my memories. And I said, “What’s missing from this picture?” There was no women in the room at all. I think that’s changing. I hope it’s changing.
BR: Wow.
JW: But you know, I think the next generation sees things a little differently – a little more in terms of shared values and shared responsibility. There are no “blue jobs” and “pink jobs.” I can say that’s never been the case in my house. I’m very lucky – I have a very supportive husband who’s always been like, “I’ll manage.” Sometimes I get home and I’m like, “Hmm, did you manage?” I’ve had that support, but it hasn’t been an easy road.
SA: Absolutely, I think things are changing too, but I think we have a long way to go. I would say the same thing – when I entered into this industry in the 90s, there were many times where I was the only woman in the room, and we’re not thinking about it. I don’t think anyone else necessarily is thinking about it. I hate painting everything with the same brush, but I think it is a blind spot. I don’t think the men I work with understand that when I leave work, what I go home to do, necessarily. I’m lucky too, I have a very supportive husband. I wouldn’t be in this role if I didn’t have n.
And I think in general we still have a long way to go. There are more women when I look around the potato industry who are involved – but on our board of directors, I don’t have any young women. So, anybody that would have young children at home, their husbands are on the board, their husbands have the capacity to do that because they have their wives at home. And they give a lot of time and effort to the association, but they are often only able to do so because they have wives who are either back [home] helping out the farm, or looking after family responsibilities. So I still think there’s a blind spot.
In my position, personally, at this age, I still hold a lot of resentment about that. Things that were expected of me when I was younger – trying to prepare meals and have them ready so I could travel for work, coming home after putting in a long day in the field and still being the one responsible for getting the groceries or getting supper on the table versus male colleagues who get home to eat supper. So yeah, I hope things have changed. I hope we’ve made it better for the women who are coming up.
JW: Honestly, I created a lot of fuss. I was nominated a couple years ago to Egg Farmers of Canada as part of of a program called Women in Egg Farming. Each province sends someone to represent them. They went around the table asking everyone, ‘who are you, why are you here?’ When they got to me, I said I didn’t know why I was there, because I think this is kind of a stupid thing to have! Why are we segregating men and women in egg farming? Why don’t we just have ‘people in egg farming?’ Of course I understand the reason, it’s helping those who maybe don’t have the voice or have the tools or skill set to get to the table, but still, I was just like, ‘I don’t get it!’ I don’t get why we’re still segregating and saying, ‘you have your special place over here.’
SA: I’ve had those same feelings, Jen.
