March 8 has been recognized since 1911 as International Women’s Day (IWD). The very first gathering was supported by over one million people. It has been gaining momentum ever since as a day to celebrate social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. “The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality” (international womensday.com), with the 2022 IWD theme of “break the bias”.
IWD 2022 lists John Deere as one of the partners to #breakthebias, along with LinkedIn and HCL Technologies. “John Deere embraces a culture in which diversity, equity, and inclusion provide the fuel for innovation, opportunity, and teamwork” (international womensday.com). 
It is great to see such an iconic agricultural business take this leadership position supporting IWD. In an industry that is largely seen as being male dominated, farm women have had to fight for recognition, regardless of how the workload has been shared over the centuries. 
In 2020, Dianne Margaret Harkin, a beef farmer from Winchester, was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Harkin, nominated by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), had influence over three broad categories: “the official recognition of the contributions of women to Ontario agriculture, the systemic acknowledgement of the importance of sustainable agricultural systems and the role of agricultural extension in the promotion of sustainability, and the growing awareness of governments and consumers of the importance of the Ontario agriculture and food sector” (oahf.on.ca).
Along with two other women, Harkin co-founded the Ontario chapter of Women for the Survival of Agriculture in 1975, and recently published a book about her experiences, They Said We Couldn’t Do It – The Story of a Quiet Revolution. The organization came to be during a time when all in agriculture were struggling, and farm women were fighting to help hold onto their homes and businesses. The group grew to include about two dozen women locally, as well as chapters across Canada. 
“Harkin emphasizes the movement also aimed to support Canadian farmers and farming generally – both men and women – at a time when there was substantial hardship in Canadian agriculture. ‘Farmers were being treated like crap.’ Some were committing suicide under the weight of soaring interest rates of the day” (nationvalleynews.com/2019/01/08).
Newspaper clippings from the 1980s tell the story of the desperation that people were feeling. Gisele Ireland, a farmer and member from Teeswater, pointed out that “farm economics had deteriorated so badly during the past two years that women can’t afford to leave the farm to attend conferences and lobby for changes” (Edmonton Journal, Friday, November 30, 1984). Women, in particular, were also fighting for equality. It may seem hard to believe today, but during that time, banks were still refusing to loan money to women, and when they did, they required women to have a husband to co-sign the loan. 
Harkin’s group got started when the federal Food Prices Review Board was critical of farmers for gouging consumers and making too much money. The Board was established in 1973 “in response to public uncertainty and political tension surrounding rapid food price increases, which began in late 1972” (publications.gc.ca/site/fra). It was replaced in 1975 by a federal anti-inflation program.
When farm men refused to talk to her, Harkin was able to talk to farm women, who largely kept the farm financial records. She was able to prove that farmers were not making the massive profits the Review Board suspected, and eventually won that battle. The WSA was able to show that Canadian farmers had increased efficiencies that enabled food prices to stay lower than they would have been otherwise. 
She went on, with the WSA group, to lobby politicians, banks, and generally raise awareness of issues affecting farm businesses and families. In spite of being labeled “a crazy radical” and “one of those damned women’s libbers”, Harkin and her group gained attention for issues such as capital gains legislation, day care, and the economic plight of farmers (Edmonton Journal, Friday, November 30, 1984). “A key result was the amending of the Canadian Income Tax Act and the Canada Pension Plan to enable farm women to claim a salary for their work on-farm. They were then able to apply for loans and to purchase farms as independent farm operators. This represented a major step forward in raising the social economic status of women in agriculture” (oahf.on.ca /inductee/Dianne-margaret-harkin/). This also benefited farm men, as farm households were then able to draw two CPP cheques on retirement instead of one. 
Harkin went on to chair the public relations committee for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, was appointed to two terms on the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, a director for the Canadian Senate’s Soil Conservation Canada, and a member of the Ontario Institute of Agrology’s study team on “Directions for Sustainable Agriculture”. She is also a member of the Order of Ontario, and was a founding member locally of Naomi’s Family Resource Centre (nationvalleynews.com/2019/01/08).
They Said We Couldn’t Do It: The Story of a Quiet Revolution is available for $25 per copy through quietrevolutionbookorder @gmail.com. ◊