We spent the day at a Calgary ranch to explore women's roles in Canada's ranching and grilling world

“Where are your husbands’ girls?” is a phrase that female ranchers, farmers, and Grill Masters are more than used to hearing. But phrases like these haven’t stunted the number of women pursuing these industries and providing representation for young girls dreaming of growing up behind the grill or raising beef cattle.

Canada Beef is looking to shed light on the growing role that women play in both the day-to-day operation of Canadian farms and ranches, along with those heading behind the grill through their new Ranch-her meets Grill-her campaigns.

The Wray Family Ranch (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

Daily Hive got a personal behind-the-scenes tour of the Wray Family Ranch — the 2023 recipient of the Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) for Alberta and the national TESA award by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association — to learn how Doug and Linda Wray, along with their nephew Tim and his wife Joanne, are working hard to protect and enrich the ecosystem while providing high-quality beef to Canadians.

We also got to check in with a famous Canadian sister duo, Maddie and Kiki Longo, who are inviting women from all over the world to step behind the grill and take the tongs.

For anyone who thought ranching or farming was simple — think again! From farm to table, there’s a meticulous amount of detail that goes into every step of the process, from raising healthy cattle to maintaining sustainable land, it’s truly down to a science.

Knowing the land, its patterns, and the ecosystem is something that only comes with time. Plus, getting into the ranching and farming industry can be expensive and pose barriers many can’t overcome alone.

Representing women on the ranch

The Wray Family (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

Growing up a farm girl, Linda Wray was no stranger to a working ranch when she married into the Wray family.

“I grew up on a dairy farm in the Howick, Quebec area, south of Montreal,” Wray tells Daily Hive. “It’s very difficult to get into farming or ranching — whether you’re a man or a woman — unless it’s a family affair. It’s very expensive and nearly impossible to just start up a farm or ranch without that family connection.”

She adds that she is seeing many opportunities pop up in the agricultural services sector and that there are more and more women in these roles doing a great job.

The Wray Family Ranch is a multigenerational ranch that has proudly been operating for over 110 years. Linda and Doug are the third generation of ranchers on the land and have been pioneers in the Canadian forage industry, focusing on using cattle to improve the grass and keep the soil healthy.

(Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

“I worked shoulder to shoulder with Doug for 20 years, helping with fencing to everything cattle related,” says Wray. “One of the ways we feel we’re protecting the ecosystem is the fact that 80% of our land is seeded to perennial pastures that help provide habitat for a wide range of plants, animals and insects.”

She adds, “We rotational graze in the summer and swath graze in the winter. During the summer months, we run the cattle on 20-acre paddocks with a water trough in the centre of every 4 paddocks. The cattle get moved every couple of days and that grass is then rested for 45-60 days — depending on rainfall — often not returning till the next summer.”

Doing this allows the Wrays to improve the soil health and maintain the productivity of the pasture without using additional fertilizers and ultimately produce extremely high-quality beef, which is especially important for Grill Masters like Maddie and Kiki Longo.

Representing women behind the grill

Maddie and Kiki Longo (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

As true female pioneers in a very male-dominated domain, Ontario’s Maddie and Kiki Longo have gotten used to putting their blinders on and blazing forward to build their name and reputation into what it is today in the world of barbeque.

“We grew up in a family that valued cooking together and eating together. Our dad is an awesome home chef, but he certainly is NOT a grill master,” explains the Longo sisters. “Our mom was the grill master in our home and she shaped how we viewed BBQ and cooking outdoors. We would watch how she turned ground beef into the most delicious wood-fired burgers we ever had.”

The sisters would refer to their mom as “BBQ Mama,” teaching them her innovative reverse-marinating technique for grilling everything from meat to vegetables.

“When we started entering BBQ competitions, festivals and shows, we’d always be the only women participating in the events. In five short years, we have watched the BBQ industry evolve and definitely for the better.”

“Women have finally arrived at the awesome art of BBQ and they’re not giving up their tongs anytime soon!”

Tips for new at-home grillers

The Longo sisters gave the audience some hot tips on grilling techniques (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

Through a special demonstration at the ranch, Maddie and Kiki explained why charcoal grilling is one of their favourite methods when applying the reverse-sear technique on a set of steaks — a similar method to sous vide cooking. Their number-one rule? Don’t add oil on the grate!

“No matter what type of grill you are grilling with, always preheat your grill for 10-12 minutes to ensure your food does not stick to the grill,” say the Longo sisters. “Nothing can ruin a BBQ experience more than seeing your food get stuck to the grill grates.”

“We always say, every time you fire up your grill, it is an opportunity to learn! We are still learning every day when it comes to the BBQ.”

Reverse marinating after grilling (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

As Grill-her partners, Maddie and Kiki are always looking for opportunities to empower women to take up grilling and become masters of the grill.

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” they say. “We have taught women how to light all kinds of grills, as that is what they have shared to be their biggest fear when it comes to grilling. Once they master this simple skill, whether it’s a gas grill, charcoal grill, etc., we have seen women soar when it comes to BBQ!”

Some delicious charcoal-grilled steak on bruschetta naan (Derek Nguyen/Daily Hive)

If you’re interested in taking up grilling, increasing your grill game or simply garnering some new go-to recipes, check out the Grill-her site by Canada Beef, and the Canadian Beef Information Gateway. There you’ll find more tips and tricks for heating up the grill, learn more from advocates like Maddie and Kiki, and even have the opportunity to enter to win a Big Green Egg charcoal griller.

We also highly recommend adding Maddie and Kiki’s Charcoal-Grilled Steak in Reverse on Bruschetta Naan to your list of must-try recipes. We can 100% attest — it’s delicious!