The Rural Voice, 1978-07, Page 5Greta de Vos in her milking parlour with son Gregory.
[By Alice Gibb[
Ten years ago. independent women farmers were the
exception rather than the rule.
Today. more and more women are choosing farming as an
occupation - either as a joint par tnership operation with their
husbands. or as their own independent career.
With increased mechanization in the farming business, brains
became more of an asset than brawn in the industry.
After talking to five women who are earning part or all of their
income from an independent farming operation. it becomes
obvious there are certain characteristics women in the business
share. All the women value independence highly. enjoy working
outdoors and have a special feel for animals. Three specifically
mentioned housework wasn't really their thing. The women
value their freedom and the challenge of operating a small
business. All of them spend time reading farm publications and
listening to farm programming to keep up with the changes in
agriculture. All in all, women in farming are in the business for
many of the same reasons as men.
Sheep farmer Florence Pullen. of R.R.4, Clinton. was one of
three daughters of a St. Marys' area farmer who operated a dairy
farm and raised sheep. As a teenager. Mrs. Pullen belonged to
4-H Clubs, although never a homemaking club; and majored in
botany at the Ontario College of Agriculture. After graduation,
she married Don Pullen, now Huron County ag. rep. In 1963,
while the couple were living in Clinton, Florence bought her first
truckload of sheep and she's been in the business ever since,
first on a part-time business while she taught in Seaforth, and in
Read about five of them
and see if you
don't agree...
Women
make
good
farmers
the last few years, when the Pullens moved to their own farm, on
a fulltime basis.
Mrs. Pullen now has 100 purebred Suffolk breeding ewes,
replacement lambs and studs with 65 acres of the farm in pasture
and hay.
Greta de Vos, of the Wroxeter area, was raised on a dairy farm
and swore "up and down that I'd never marry a farmer." She
married Aart de Vos, an OAC graduate in 1973 and in 1976, the
couple purchased a 200 acre farm and set up a dairy operation.
Since Mr. de Vos works for King Grain, his wife, who's half
owner in the dairy operation, handles the responsibility of
morning and evening milking chores. The de Vos farm, set up to
handle a herd of 60 cows, now has 33 cows milking. The couple's
milking parlor is almost fully automated. The push button
operation means, "I don't carry anything, maybe half a pail of
water;"- said Mrs. de Vos.
Re -arrange time
Although Mrs. de Vos has one four-year old son, and is
expecting another child in the early fall. she handles the daily
milking and says quite definitely, "I'll manage after the baby
conies, it will just take some re -arranging of my time, that's all."
Beef farmer Anna Draper, of R.R.1, Stratford, grew up in
Montreal, trained as a nurse. and worked as the editor of a
Hamilton entertainment paper.
In the late 1960's, she and her husband bought Shoreleave
Farms, outside Stratford. and employed a farm manager to
operate a Simmental cow -calf operation. Mrs. Draper and the
THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1978. PG. 5