Niagara Falls, Ont. (Rural Roots Canada) – Women from across Canada’s agriculture and food sector will gather in Niagara Falls this fall to discuss leadership, technology, resilience, and some of the challenges facing farms and agribusinesses.

The Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference East 2026 runs November 22 to 24 at the Sheraton Fallsview in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

This year’s speaker lineup will tackle issues currently affecting agriculture, from employee recruitment to farm succession to uncertainty and mental wellness.

Artificial intelligence, which has been a big topic lately, will also be part of the conversation.

Wendy Cukier, professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University, will lead a workshop examining how women can help lead the adoption of artificial intelligence and robotics throughout agriculture and food.

The discussion will move beyond chatbots and office applications. It will explore AI in crop and soil monitoring, autonomous equipment, quality inspection, traceability, supply chain forecasting, marketing and customer service. It will also examine where human judgment and accountability remain important as the technology is adopted.

Cukier will join Nicole Hayes, Director of the Innovation Hub at Farm Credit Canada, for a leaders panel that will discuss how AI is changing the business of agriculture, including financial planning, market forecasting, supply chains and product development.

University of Guelph professor and Canada Research Chair in Livestock Genomics, Christine Baes, will bring her experiences in agriculture, research and leadership to the conference.

Her presentation, The Career I Never Planned: Lessons in Curiosity, Courage, and Saying “Yes,” will look at the unexpected opportunities that can shape a career. Baes, who was raised on a dairy farm near Mitchell, Ontario, has worked around the world and now leads research and partnerships involving genomics and big data to improve livestock health, productivity and environmental sustainability.

Her message will centre on embracing unexpected opportunities, investing in relationships and recognizing there is no single path to career success.

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Leadership and human performance expert Beverly Beuermann-King will take on several topics during the conference.

Her plenary presentation will focus on adaptability and how people can respond when the unexpected happens. She will also lead workshops on recognizing and responding to manipulative behaviour and on helping farmers and agricultural businesses become more confident telling their stories.

The latter will draw on Beuermann-King’s experience with more than 500 media interviews to help participants identify stories, prepare for interviews and communicate what they do to a wider audience.

The international agri-food sector will also be represented.

Nelly Elinam Kurd-Marckay, Quality and Food Safety Manager for Bunge in West Africa, will travel from Ghana to speak about resilience. Drawing on experiences including stories of women farmers in Ghana, she will explore how joy, humour and recognizing small successes can help people remain resilient without burning out.

Kurd-Marckay brings more than a decade of experience in food manufacturing and agri-food, overseeing quality and food safety systems across multi-country operations in West Africa.

Another international speaker will tackle one of agriculture’s ongoing challenges: finding and keeping employees.

Grace Nugent, Managing Director of UK-based De Lacy Executive Recruitment, will lead two workshops. The first will look at recruiting employees based not only on skills and experience, but also on culture, values and long-term fit. Her second session will focus on communication, support and accountability within teams.

Nugent grew up on a farm and has worked with agricultural and food businesses on recruitment, succession planning and talent strategy.

Several speakers will bring the discussion directly back to life on the farm.

Ontario beef and crop farmer Lisa Pallister will challenge the idea that women need to perfectly balance farming, family and leadership. Her presentation will instead look at how priorities change throughout the different seasons of life and business.

Rebecca Posthumus with Agriculture Wellness Ontario will lead a workshop on preparing for uncertainty in agriculture. Northern Alberta rancher Lori Kinnee will share her experiences with burnout, resilience and reconnecting with self-worth.

Mental wellness and farm succession will also receive significant attention. Lauren Van Ewyk, CEO of the National Farmer Mental Health Alliance, will lead a five-hour Sunday session focused on communication and supporting the wellness of people in rural communities. She will also lead a farm succession workshop examining family relationships, expectations, conflict and communication, and deliver a plenary presentation on leadership and legacy.

Rather than relying solely on presentations, the conference allows participants the opportunity to take part in workshops, discussions and networking. Monday morning will include a series of workshops, with full registrants able to choose three sessions. A student and sponsor reception will also be held Sunday evening, followed by the main conference programming Monday and Tuesday.

Together, the sessions provide a broad look at the changing agriculture and food sector while giving women an opportunity to learn from one another, build new skills and develop connections they can take back to their farms, businesses and organizations.

More information and registration are available through the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference East 2026 website.

The conference is designed for people throughout agriculture and food, including farmers, entrepreneurs, students, grower association members and those working in agribusiness. More than 9,000 people have attended Advancing Women conferences since the initiative began more than a decade ago.