Manitoba Co-operator: Linked by technology

As the Manitoba Co-operator reports: 

Women who farm and live in rural Manitoba need relationships with each other, not merely ‘connections,” — not easy to establish or maintain given provincial geography.

But organizations well established and new are working hard to change that, and with a high-tech twist.

Technology has helped close some of the distance gap, enabling more women to meet, organize and build skill sets as they work together, said panellists at the recent Manitoba Farm Women’s Conference.

“We’ve kind of built our own machine,” said Pam Bailey, chair of Ag Women Manitoba which formed last year.

Their group emerged from a University of Manitoba mentorship program where participants said they wanted and needed to support each other as they started farming or pursued other agriculture industry-related careers.

Bailey told the conference she was recognizing her own need for a network at the same time. She is the first woman on the Manitoba Canola Growers Association board. She helped co-found Ag Women Manitoba after realizing farm life could potentially get isolating.

Read the full story here.