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Home My WebLink AboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1990-03-14, Page 75FACE 22 A. FARM FalrR -11-7-711W1111-17-41 1114115i fl 01111 Moen! tommummi Electrical Service and Emergency Repairs for Farm = Home Commercial - Industrial For all your electrical needs! •Air Conditioning •Heat Pumps •Central Vacuum Systems •Barn Exhaust Fans and Controls • Electric Heating (Baseboard . & Furnace) Over 40 Years Built. By Quality and service • CAL BURKE Electric "° ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS Open 6 days WINGHAM 557-2450 • • •s is Women do much unrecognized work Sy Sally Jehaaita Women are the unpaid aohdiers of the land, whose role in Canadian farming hes gone for generations. Now a study by two Quebec sociologists has revealed the amount of farm work done by women = and they say it's far more than anyone realized. Often, women also have to leave the farm each day to work in an office or 'machinery, factory to help pay for expensive farm Dr. FranShavergof we Uohner niversi- ty nd ty in Montreal. Many of the chores done by women are not regarded as true farm work - even by the women themselves. Yet feeding. chickens, freezing homegrown produce, bookkeeping and even answering the telephone - all jobs generally done by women - are just as important to the run- ning off the farm as ploughing a field., say the; sociologist$. As well as these 'hidden' tab, women are taking on more standard farm work such as milking and caring for livestock, say the researchers,. The • husband -and -wife team spent a year living in the farming communal of Cap Saint. Ignace, 70 kilometres east of Quebec City, where they ettamined: agricultural technology's effects on farm! families. They interviewed 89 fango families about changes during the period from the 1940s to 1979. Up to four adults were in- terviewed in each household, including the farmer, spouse,' grandparents, grown children and other relatives. To establish who did what in the• household, the scientists questioned ,each family about the farm's history, When machinery was bought, about education and jobs and how they spent their days. Reimer and Shaver found that women's participation in, running the farm grew with the increase . in mechanization, On the farms surveyed, mechanization resulted in the need for more, not less, labour; explains Reimer. Both -paid and unpaid labour increased by about 20 per cent when machinery was introduced and, 98 per cent of the unpaid labour ;fell to' women and children. • "Farmers have had to- capitalize on ex- pensive xpensive equipment to stay competitive and in doing so have got caught in a price -cost squeeze," says Reitner. To leap pay for the machinery, fanners have aigranded their options by ren- ting more land or divereifying into other projects such as poultry -rearing. This in turn leads to the need for more help. "Therey�has q�been �. a ps�{h�yiltiow of ac- tivities," says Reimer. " hlle the farmer spends more time repairmain tainhig machinery he 9lleeastitime A say, the milking, which is taken over by another family member, often a woman,' In addition, nonny farms rely on in- come from off -farm work to survive, says Reimer. Sixty-two per cent of the Cap Saint Ignace farms had at least one famr- ly member working part or foil -time in local industry. Thirty-five women livingfanny have outside jobs. Reimer and Shaver found that women play a bigger .part in running the fart.► than is shown by official census reports. They say women make up 38 per cent of the agricultural workforce - whereas the census figure is only 19 per cent. The researchers estimate that women account for 27 per cent of total agricultural work hours, compared with the' 20 per cent calculated by censuses. Shaver says that their flildinge give a clearer and more accurate picture' because they include tasks vital to the running of the farm which previously have not been counted as farm work. . "When 'a Woman 'balances the books, she's saving farm expenses," says Shaver. "Even cleaning the house ,is a contribution because In any other business you would have to pay someone ' to clean the office. Yet these tasks are seldom regarded as farm work, even by the women themselves." These '`hidden' farm chores add four hours to . a woman's working day, the researchers. calculate. ` • ' Reimer and Shaver stress that their study looked at all family members . in-, volved in the farm, while most official censuses deal only with the farmer .and spouse. - • "We know. that Canadian farms are in trouble and our study provides some detail of the nature of that trouble:" says Reimer. "But it is also a: testament to the ingenuity and flexibility of these family farms. that they want ,to keep what they've got and will find ways of accounnodating technological changes." ' (Canadian Science News) FOR QUOTATIONS on. FARMS and HOMES, contact your nearest Broker or Agent Harold Fair 396-7082 Kincardine McDonagh Ins. Brokers Ltd. Lucknow 528-3423 Teeswater 392-6200 392-6806 James G. Mair Teeswater FOR'CLAIMS, CONTACT YOUR NEAREST DIRECTOR or the Office immediately! Lloyd, Hehn 3924307 RR # 3 Walkerton Gerald Murray Holyrood 395.5250 Eric R. Thacker RR #4 Kincardine 395-5829 Chapman, Graham & Lawrence Walkerton 881-0611 Ayton 665-7728 Ackert ins. Brokers 389-4142 Port Elgin. 392-1;119 Robert Ferris RR # 2 Cargill COMPANY OFFICE: TEESWATER 392-6260 e Way it Was - The Ontario Agricultural Museum's Harvest Festival = and Farmer's Market on September 9. f will give you a chance to • view a heavy - it horse plowing match as well as \many other demonstrations. (photo courtesy On- tario Agricultural Museum)