Kim Jo Bliss has been running a beef and sheep farm near Emo for many years, but sometimes she has still to deal with some confusion about that.
Though “farming is definitely what I do,” she says, not everybody can wrap their head around the fact that Bliss — not a man — is the one calling the shots.
“I have experienced that,” she said on Wednesday, “when I’m not around people who know me.”
“People not realizing that I am the owner and operator, that I am the one making all the decisions.”
Though Bliss says she believes attitudes towards women in agriculture have been improving in recent years, she concurs with a University of Guelph mental-health study released this week that concluded women who toil in the industry have been “under-valued.”
“Women who shared their experiences described persistent struggles to be recognized as farmers,” the study found.
“They reported disproportionate workloads that overwhelm and (led to) exhaustion. Many felt the onus was on them to find mental health support for themselves and their families.”
Bliss said she was not surprised by what the researchers heard.
“I think it always was that way,” Bliss said. “The man would go into town for a job, and the woman would stay back on the farm, keeping the house and doing the farm chores.”
The University of Guelph study cites Statistics Canada figures showing that of about 590,000 Canadians who work in farming, 30 per cent are women.
The study relied on about 75 interviews with farmers, with an equal amount of women and men participating, across a variety of different farming operations.
“Something that was clear right away in these interviews is how mental health was a woman’s job,” the study found.
The goal of the study “is to change that, to empower men to take ownership of their own mental health and that of their families.”
“Women talk about running the farm while also keeping watch on their husbands who are struggling,” the research found. “Men should also be able to recognize when their wives are struggling and help.”
That women continue working in agriculture despite its challenges “is particularly important now, with many people leaving the profession as younger generations choose not to continue the business of family farms,” the university study says.
Bliss, meanwhile, said she is continuing a family tradition that began with a much-earlier generation. This season marks her farm’s 100th year of operation.
“I’m pretty excited about that,” she said.
By Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on May 30, 2026 at 10:00
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