UFU female farmers going global

Once a month we put one UFU female farmer in the spotlight, giving them a platform to share their story, letting their voices be heard and reiterating the importance of women in the industry.

We also hope that our members’ profiles, inspires young girls to consider a career in farming and agri-food.

One of the most recent profiles featured Mary Hunter chair of the UFU North West Derry group, who is well-known within the farming community. One of Mary’s daughters who was born and raised on the family farm now lives in New York, previous to this she resided in Hong Kong and Singapore.

A simple share on her daughter’s behalf resulted in Mary’s profile reaching people from various corners across the world. It highlighted the power of social media and feedback showed that not everyone is aware of just how important family farms, agriculture and local food production is to NI. Not to mention how it is a passion, a way of life and not a nine to five job that is sidelined at the weekends.

In this day and age, the majority of us have loved ones living outside the UK and those who settle elsewhere in the world always speak of home with the greatest pride. Especially those who developed their hard-working nature from life on a family farm, a trait that is valued highly no matter where you are in the world or what profession you do.

Social media has given us the ability to reach a global audience and create something out of nothing. Look at all our young farming influencers who have generated thousands of followers of the back of promoting agriculture and their day to day life on the farm on their social media channels. They too started off with zero followers and a blank profile page.

The stories of our NI farmers have been kept under lock and key for a very long time, but the era of social media has created a shift.

The next generation tend to be more open and their transparency has put farming in the spotlight for all the right reasons and their posts often have an educational twist.

The education of agriculture beyond farming families is severely lacking and this is highlighted too often when the industry is portrayed in mainstream media. Many consumers do not understand the vital role farmers play, contributing to their lives through food production at least three times a day, creating jobs in rural areas and helping to generate tourism by looking after our landscape. Nor do they have knowledge as to why farmers do annual tasks such as shearing sheep which is carried out primarily for animal welfare reasons as the cost of wool doesn’t cover the cost of clipping.

Through social media, our young farmers are telling it straight from the horse’s mouth.

So let’s continue to give people who are residing at both home and abroad something to share and shout about on the global stage that we have at our fingertips. You don’t need to have thousands of followers to make a difference.

If you are a female UFU member and would like to share your farming story with us, please email [email protected] or [email protected].

Here’s a recap of the inspiring women in agriculture who have featured to date: