Why does diversity and inclusion matter in farming?
Author: Mark Dodds, Chair
The statistics speak for themselves; 97% of workers in agriculture are white, 83% are male, that’s a good starting point. When there is a campaign to support female farmers or Agrespect share some support for LGBTQ people in the industry, the instant reaction from some is “Why do we need to do this, there’s enough females in farming? Why do we need to hear about this, I don’t want to see two women or men”… Why do we need this response?
The response comes from lack of self-awareness and education; if we all looked at the context behind the need for these campaigns then we would all be on board supporting more. But some people forget their privilege and jump into defensive mode. Every one of us is diverse and the more we understand our own diversities, the more we can support each other.
In farming, we are discriminated against for the way we use the land, what we do with animals, our hobbies, how we spend our money … when you realise that as a farming population, we are part of a minority and remember those moments when an animal activist wrote something discriminatory on your social media or someone judged your education based on your job role or what you was wearing.
When you lean into that feeling of discrimination, you surely don’t want to make anyone else feel like that. So why judge others? I ask you all, does me being a lesbian impact the yield of your production? Do I prevent you paying your mortgage or enjoying time with your family? Most likely no, so it shouldn’t bother you enough to comment on social media posts or change the way you treat a worker or colleague.
The business impact of great inclusion and diversity is huge.
If I came to you with a new tractor, type of seed or machinery and said “this is going to produce 60% more yield”, you would snap it up without even asking how much it costs.
Think about it just for a second; to be resilient and productive in farming, you need to implement various mechanisms to support growth? That’s the end goal, growth of the plant/crop or animal against its turbulent background. But what about people? If you employ anyone, or even just talk to anyone about your business, we always tend to assume that diversity and inclusion stuff is for those big farms that employ more than 3 people but that’s simply wrong.
Farmers connect with so many stakeholders throughout the business year; vets, agronomists, bank managers, accountants, consultants, partners etc… so if you are going above and beyond to create the best possible environment for your crops and animals, what environment are you creating for your people?
Because they matter too, and they impact the bottom line just as much. The research from McKinsey & co states that truly inclusive work cultures, where everyone can come to work with the right tools, behaviour and safe space to talk are 60% more productive. And what if I told you that most of the mechanisms you can implement to create an inclusive workplace are free!!
It takes a pragmatic approach
So what does this look like from a real pragmatic perspective? I think it starts with understanding your team or stakeholders, really understand what matters to them. This doesn’t need to be a counselling session but showing that you’re open to listening and then taking action based on that will encourage them to “show up”.
Following this, a little education and training always helps. There are some fantastic pieces of content out there, feel free to get in touch to find out more.
Finally, allyship – speak up for those underrepresented individuals, call out bad behaviour. The ideal scenario is where we are with health and safety on farms; it has taken many years but now if you walked on a farm without the right equipment or did something dangerous you would be called out, it is now socially acceptable to call out poor health and safety behaviour. That should be the same with this; you hear or see any behaviour that discriminates someone (like sexism or racial comment) and you call it out.
Amie Burke
IGD Lead on Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace