The “remarkable” achievements and leadership of Women in Agriculture were celebrated at a special ceremony at the Royal Norfolk Show.
This year’s event shone a spotlight on Norfolk’s female farmers during the International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Working in partnership with Green Shoots Productions, the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association and the Food and Farming Discovery Trust created a gallery of photographic portraits and personal stories, capturing the experiences of the women shaping Norfolk’s farming industries and rural communities.
Many of them also attended a reception hosted by show president the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham Usher.
One of the group is Sarah Juggins, who keeps a Wagyu cattle herd in East Winch in west Norfolk.
She said the show’s Women in Agriculture project featured some of the 94 Norfolk members of the Women That Farm group, which initially sprang from the North Norfolk Coastal Group.
“There were women within the group who were probably fairly new to farming, insecure in standing up, talking, asking questions etc,” she said. “So we decided to make an informal breakaway group as a chance for women to express their thoughts and concerns and considerations about farming, which would then give them the chance to go back into the wider group and talk with knowledge and sense of credibility.”
She said perceptions are “changing for the better”, but the group is still trying to inspire more young women into the industry.
“I think we have a very progressive group of farmers in Norfolk, actually,” she said. “I think the farmers, whether they’re male or female, do respect each other, but the issue is that lots of people use this phrase ‘imposter syndrome’, because for so long it’s been a male dominated sector.
“I’ll use an example. There’s a couple of daughters inherited a farm, they felt they had come into a world where their voice wasn’t being recognised, they didn’t feel confident speaking, but actually, two or three years on, they’re leading the way in a lot of discussions, and that’s really good, but there’s still a feeling that this isn’t our place to lead the discussion. I think this group has helped, and I think it is changing for the better.
“The classic thing is if you ask a school child to draw a farmer they will draw a male farmer, so we are trying to change the perception and be an inspiration to people coming into farming that actually females can do this as well as a males.
“We lose too much talent out of this county. We have these bright young people who could be scientists, they could be economists, they could be farmers, they could be all sorts of things in the rural economy. They leave, they go away, we lose it.
“Hopefully some people will look at our exhibition and see pictures of female farmers, and a couple of them might think: Actually, she’s doing it, why can’t I?”
Bishop Graham said the reception aimed to recognise and thank “a group of people whose contribution has often been understated, but whose impact has always been profound”.
He said: “Women are leading farms, pioneering new technologies, championing environmental stewardship, developing diversified businesses, advancing agricultural science, and inspiring the next generation of rural leaders.
Chris Hill – EDP