Janette James, Drouin - March // 2025 Mental Health Calendar

At 64, Janette James is stepping back from a career she’s loved—dairy farming. For decades, her life was defined by early mornings, hard work, and devotion to her family’s land in Drouin. But as her body signaled it was time to scale down, Janette made the difficult decision to semi-retire, downsizing her operation to 67 acres from the 100-cow farm she managed solo for so many years. 

As a fourth-generation farmer, Janette is deeply connected to her land. However, with no one to carry on the family farm, the decision was made to sell. The clean-up process has been both physically and emotionally taxing. She still wakes at 4 a.m., her mind instinctively ready for the morning milking. Now, she tells herself to go back to sleep, though she’s soon up to feed her three dogs, let out the chooks, tend to her garden, work on growing her vegetable patch, and finally find time for sewing again. She also spends time caring for her aging parents. 

Letting go of the farm has come with grief—not only for the life she built and the strength it demanded of her, but also for the steady rhythm of those monthly milk cheques. With dairy behind her, Janette is adapting to the challenge of starting fresh, this time shifting her downsized farm to beef. 

Farming solo as a woman had its challenges, especially in a world where people often expected a man to “make the deal.” Janette stood her ground, doing her own research and managing her Guernseys, Friesians, and Jerseys with common sense and grit. Reflecting on her experiences, she says, “I think the biggest struggle most times was the old glass ceiling syndrome. But you learn to ask questions and find out as much as you could about the products you were buying, so it wasn’t as easy for them to pull the wool over your eyes.” 

There’s sadness in saying goodbye to the dairy life, and a pang of regret for the time her work took from her two grown children. But Janette is embracing this new chapter, grateful for the physical relief and slower pace that now allow her more time for herself and her family. Her dairy days may be behind her, but her legacy lives on in the resilience and dedication she brought to every day on the farm.