08
Mar, 2026
Something is changing in Australian agriculture. We feel it in the rooms we walk into, in who’s at the table, who’s asking the questions, and who’s increasingly leading the conversation. More women are entering this industry, and they’re playing a key role in shaping it. For us at Sketch Corp, it’s a shift we’re proud to witness.
We’re a female-led agency, and most of our team are women, so International Women’s Day has always meant a great deal to us. But what’s made it feel increasingly significant is what we’ve watched unfold across Australian agriculture over our eleven years in the industry. Where our meetings were once almost exclusively with male leadership teams, we now regularly work alongside women at every level. Founders and executives. Managers and operators. Marketers and producers. They’re women building businesses and redefining what leadership in ag looks like.
That’s no small thing. And this International Women’s Day, with its theme of Give to Gain, it feels like the right moment to reflect on what’s driving this change – and what it means for the industry.
The numbers back it up
When the 2021 Census data landed, it confirmed what many of us were already seeing. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of women working in agriculture grew by 7,105 workers, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the industry’s total employment growth.
What’s more, the proportion of women in agriculture holding a tertiary qualification is also on the rise. The 2023-2024 Women’s Budget Statement shows 60% of agriculture and environmental studies graduates are women, and in a detail worth pausing on, it’s one of only two industries where female graduates out-earn their male counterparts.
Changes in technology and culture
Technology has played its part too. Advanced tech, data-driven decision-making and business-led farming models have opened doors that simply weren’t there a generation ago, bringing new expertise and new kinds of leadership into the fold.
But the more meaningful change has come from people making the choices. That is: organisations and agribusinesses investing in female talent, experienced leaders willing to mentor, and teams prepared to question assumptions that may not have been questioned before.
Australian agriculture has always understood stewardship. What’s changed is that more businesses are starting to apply that same long-term thinking to their people.
Give to Gain, and what it means in agriculture
The International Women’s Day 2026 theme Give to Gain resonates in this industry because agriculture already understands reciprocity at a bone-deep level. You invest in the land before the land gives back. You share knowledge across the fence line because a stronger neighbour makes for a stronger community. The whole enterprise runs on the understanding that returns require genuine commitment first.
It’s not a complicated idea. But applying it to people – really applying it, not just putting it in a values statement – takes deliberate effort.
When organisations give women opportunity, visibility, trust and support, the return shows up in stronger teams, sharper decisions and more resilient businesses. It’s tangible. Giving isn’t a concession, but rather, it’s an investment that ripples out, multiplies, and gives right back.
It’s a sentiment echoed by the United Nations’ declaration of 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer – a global recognition that women are essential contributors to food systems everywhere, and that their work has too often gone unacknowledged. It’s a timely reminder that the progress we’re seeing in Australian agriculture is part of a much larger conversation worldwide.
What giving looks like, day to day
At an individual level, giving can be calling out stereotypes or questioning bias (even when it’s uncomfortable). It can be celebrating success openly, proudly. It can be creating space in conversations, making sure all voices are heard, and recognising leadership in its many forms.
At an organisational level, it means building structures that genuinely support women, like offering real pathways for progression, genuine flexibility, and including women in ways that aren’t performative, but are simply the standard.
Closing thoughts…
Our role as an agency often sits behind the scenes. Increasingly, that means working alongside women-led businesses and teams – helping them articulate their value and stand confidently in their authority.
This International Women’s Day isn’t merely a moment to reflect. Progress in agriculture, like progress anywhere, is collective. And when we give with intention, when we create space for women to thrive, the whole industry gains.