'Just the Wife'

Last week I was at an agriculture tradeshow speaking with farmers from across North America. I had many conversations with farm couples and often the women would introduce herself to me as 'just the wife'.  As today is International Women's Day, I feel inspired to address this statement.

Farm wives, you are not 'just the wife' and my wish is for you to stop saying that. You play an absolutely critical role in the success of your farming operation and you truly need to recognize that. Farming is an extremely complex business that requires a huge spectrum of expertise and talent to be successful and no matter what specific duties you own you are a partner in this business. More often than not, you carry the great responsibility of supporting the mental wellness of the operation and of your family - in my mind, this is the largest job of them all!

So today, I invite you to take a moment and write down all of the roles that you play in your farm operation and keep that list handy. Use this list to decide how you want to introduce yourself going forward and please replace 'just the wife' with something that truly reflects the tremendous value that you bring.

Happy Women's Day - you are all a true inspiration to me!