b"When first hired, Owen was impressed when Smith made the point that Up to the Challenge the leader depends on the expertise and the skills of all of the different sumsMany of the supportof the team. So, despite Smith not having experience with all of the positions she oversees, shes realized how important it is to recognize her team mem- roles have been held by men, like bers for the strengths they have and make sure theyre using them.Owen says another thing which enabled Smith to excel in her leadershipfarm manager or livestock herd role at Benton Ridge is that she's keen to try out new approaches to potatomanager. But just as more and more breeding instigated by AAFCs potato breeder, David De Koeyer, and its potato biologist, Erica Fava. AAFCs potato breeding program has been undergoing aof Canadas farmers are women, modernization for the last two years under De Koeyer and Favas leadership. were also seeing women take on Rachelle has the confidence to be able to engage in that back and forth, where we depend on our farm manager to let the scientists know what's goingthese science support roles, too.to be feasible and what can truly be implemented, but still be open mindedIts a tremendously exciting time. enough to give it a really good try, Owen explains.As well as acting as the conduit between Benton Ridge and potatoJOSE OWENbreeding scientists and technicians in Fredericton, Smith supervises staff and oversees the daily operations at the 400-acre research farm, where each year about 40 acres or so are planted with potatoes and other rotation crops, such as mustard and oats under seeded with timothy. Many of the support roles have been held by men, like farm manager or This year, we tried some new things like tillage radish and some mul- livestock herd manager, she says. But just as more and more of Canadas ti-species blends, says Smith, whose role also includes deciding how thefarmers are women, were also seeing women take on these science support scientific experiments are staged on the farm and which practices to follow forroles, too. Its a tremendously exciting time. best managing the crops.Owen notes the COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of complexity to the farm manager job, but she says Smith has done an admirable job coping with it.BREAKING DOWN BARRIERSAs a female in a field long dominated by men, Smith says shes the only woman in many of the rooms she walks into during the course of her workadding another responsibility to her job.At the conventions and different events that I go to, people often don't expect a young female to be an operations supervisor, to be in leadership in a farming situation. They usually expect you to be in a lower role. So that's a little bit of a challenge that I'm looking at, she explains.Smith sees it as opportunity though to encourage other women and girls to consider jobs like hers. Women are obviously just as capable as men in every role, and I think it's great for women to break down some of those gender norms and the gender roles, she adds.Owen sees Smith as role model as opportunities increase for women in agriculture. While Smith may have grown up in a farming community, she didnt live on a family farm or have the opportunity to farm herself, and wasntOne cool canuck.necessarily considering a career in agriculture.For Owen, when she worked as an agrologist in western Quebec in the lateExperience the vigour of the north with Alberta 1990s, she would often see women working key agriculture jobs, but it wasSeed Potatoes. With colder winters and long usually in more of a support role. summer days, our spuds are the best choice for The women would work as a nurse or some other job in the community toa higher yielding potato crop.help generate the cash flow that enabled the farm to thrive, and would do aIdeal climate, profitable results.host of other roles around the farm as well, but she wasn't necessarily con-sidered a farmer, she adds. I think we're seeing some of those stereotypesCheck out our seed directory at change where women are now being considered farmers in their own right. albertapotatoes.caOwen says its a trend being mirrored within AAFC as well, with more and more women like Smith assuming key science positions within the department. 11/18-62054FALL 2020 SPUDSMART.COM 3962054-1_PGA_2018_Seed_Print_3-5X4-75_a2.indd 1 2018-11-09 1:13 PM"