Gina Gutierrez, dairy farmer, Mezquital (Mexico)
When Gina Gutierrez decided to join her father and grandfather on the family dairy farm in Mezquital, Mexico, she probably didn’t expect to have such an impact on the perception towards agriculture or become a powerful representative of women in agriculture in her country. Her Facebook page “la vida láctea”, created to raise awareness for dairy farming, gathered over 71.000 followers.
Gina’s career is made up of a series of firsts. First woman in her family to join the farm, first woman involved in her co-op as a farmer-owner and first woman editor at the three Mexican magazines she writes for, Gina is kicking down gender barriers, one outdated tradition at a time. Having built an impressive following with her Facebook page, where she shared scientific facts about dairy farming, Gina uses her voice to raise awareness and change perceptions.
Hi Gina, please introduce yourself!
My name is Georgina “Gina” Gutierrez, I am almost thirty-nine years old (my birthday is in August), and I was born in Mexico City. For the past thirty-three years I’ve been living in a smaller city that’s closer to the family dairy farm I joined in 2008 after graduating from business school. Today, I am the business manager of the farm. I love Mexico City, even with all its challenges, so I will always say I’m a city girl that loves dairy farming!
As such, I am the fifth generation on the farm and started working alongside my grandfather and my dad who are both veterinarians. My brother, who is an agronomist, came to join us on the farm a few years after me. It’s only my dad, my brother and myself now but we make a great team. The men take care of the operation, from the cows to the land, while I make sure they have everything they need for the farm to run smoothly while helping out wherever I can.
As of 2016, I’m a member of Global Farmer Network, where we amplify the farmers’ voices. In 2018, they honoured me with the Kleckner Global Farm Leader Award, and in 2022 I joined the staff as the Community Outreach Agvocate. In other words, I’m the “community director”. This really opened my eyes and helped me realize I’m part of the global agricultural sector.
In 2020, I became a Dairy Ambassador for Global Dairy Platform, a select group of people that actively advocate for dairy in different spaces, including the UN and it’s agencies like FAO, UNCCC, UNEP, etc.
Tell us a little about your geographical situation.
Our farm is located in the valley of Mezquital, in the state of Hidalgo, a very dry area, so we rely on drip irrigation for our forty hectares, where we grow several crops to feed our 500 cows and 380 calves and heifers. It’s a rural area and even though it has grown a lot in the past eighty years, “civilization” is still far from reaching us. When my great-grandfather bought the farm eighty years ago, there was nothing and nobody owned cows. He built roads and even a school for employees to send their kids to. He chose this spot because he used to farm in Mexico City and got pushed away as the city grew. He didn’t want to go through that again, and decided to establish the farm where we are now.
Why the decision to join the farm?
I wasn’t planning on becoming a farmer, that’s why I went to business school to get my degree in management and also graduated with a marketing diploma. I thought I was going to work in marketing, in an office with a view of the city… But “blood called” and one semester before I graduated, I realized I already had a job. Nobody believed I wanted to go to the farm, so before I left for my last week at the university, I left my CV and a job application on my dad’s bedside table. He answered by email, very professional, accepting my application. I was almost twenty-three.
