Author bio: Anna Reid runs outdoor and lifestyle PR agency Reid the Room PR, and is a proud ‘TOGer’ and thrilled to be supporting the PR of the Conagri campaign on behalf of The Outdoor Guide and Julia Bradbury.
It took agricultural and construction equipment supplier Conagri’s creative pink tractor charity raffle to remind us we need to talk more about women in agriculture.
When Conagri’s Andrew Venton told The Outdoor Guide’s Gina he’d like us on board to support the raffle of two Captain Tractors – a black and a pink one – in aid of Pink Ribbon Foundation and Prostate Cancer UK – we were excited to say the least. “It’s the perfect shade of pink…” Andrew told us. The excitement bubbled.
Rightly or wrongly, it’s a colour designated by society as more ‘female’ or ‘softer’.
Why are we so shocked by pink machinery? We’re all to used to grasping on to an old fashioned image of the farming community – and it’s one society has created.
I sat down to talk women and agriculture with Vet and BFA Farm Worker of the Year 2023, Holly Atkinson, who farms a large organic coastal dairy farm – and shares insights via her instagram account, @holly.and.the.herd – to get her view.
Decked out in some deeply practical, bright pink boots gifted by The Original Muck Boot Company to support the charitable campaign, Holly said:
“When you look at children’s toys, cartoons, television programmes, it’s rare to see a female farming character, it’s often older men, that don’t always show respect to women. They portray farmers as uneducated, chewing a bit of straw and saying “oo-ar!. The reality is that it’s not like that at all.”
“You have to be business-savvy, you have to be intelligent, you have to do a little bit of everything from economics to manual labour.”
~ Holly Atkinson
Women’s strength and ability is nothing new – women have earned their place and farmed the land as long as crops have been growing on earth.
Emily Ashworth, journalist for Farmers Guardian and author of The Land Army’s Lost Women, told The Outdoor Guide:
“Women have always been, and will continue to be, at the heart of farms across the country. Looking back, especially at World War Two when thousands of women took the fields across Britain and turned food security on its head, a woman’s role in agriculture has been overlooked. But not anymore. Women are pushing boundaries, have a voice and are at the forefront of farming businesses, and that won’t stop.”
~ Emily Ashworth
There’s high hopes for the new owner of the pink tractor, being handed over in October by Julia Bradbury.
We hope it makes a statement – every time the engine starts, lets hope it reminds little girls they are strong and intelligent enough to run a farm, they can wear pink boots and drive pink machinery, if they want to. Or they can buy a black tractor – it’s all about choices, opening the conversation and shedding any unwanted preconceptions.
There’s space for everyone in farming, and farming is at the absolute heart of life on this earth.
Holly Atkinson said:
“A female that is looking to go into farming – they may think there in’t space for me here, I’m not going to be accepted. There’s nothing, as a female, that you can’t do. It’s what you bring to the table based on your ability, not your gender.”
~ Holly Atkinson
And may that be your sign to buy a £10 raffle ticket to win one of two fabulous Captain Tractors. Pink our black? You choose.
