Kent farmer and midwife urges more women to go into agriculture

A Kent dairy farmer who juggles the job with being a midwife wants to encourage more women into agriculture.

Third generation farmer Florence Mannerings works on her family farm in Alkham, near Dover.

“I definitely live to farm – I love it,” she said.

According to a survey by Farmers Weekly, 60% of female farmers find “industry attitudes” prevent them from achieving their career goals.

The 28-year-old said she was lucky to have her mother and grandmother – both farmers – as role models to look up to.

“In general, no-one’s surprised to see you if you turn up at market driving a trailer,” she said.

Farming is “perfect for women,” Ms Mannerings believes, because “you have to be strong and resilient” as well as “patient and nurturing”.

Her mother, Susan Mannerings, used to received “terrible comments” from people selling fertiliser or animal feed.

“They would say: ‘Is your husband in?’ and I would think: ‘You’re not getting our business,'” she said.

In the Farmers Weekly survey, 75% of farmers said commitments to children were an obstacle, while 59% said a lack of self-confidence stood in their way.

Anna Eccleston, project leader for Farmers Weekly, said: “Women still feel that there are big obstacles that they face in the farming industry.”

Although, there had been positive changes in the past 10 years, she said there were “still areas to focus on”.

Ms Mannerings said being a hard worker and resilient were the most important attributes for the job.

“To be a farmer, your gender doesn’t matter,” she said.