Ann Veneman (left) became the first female secretary of agriculture in the United States in January 2001.
It was during her tenure in December 2003 that the U.S. announced its first case of BSE. The Holstein cow was located in Washington state but it originally came from Alberta
Marie-Claude Bibeau (right) became Canada’s first female minister of agriculture on March 1, 2019 after a cabinet shuffle saw former ag minister Lawrence MacAulay take over the veterans affairs portfolio.
Since taking over the ag file, Bibeau has been tasked with reopening the Chinese market to Canadian products like canola, pork and beef, and delivering compensation to dairy producers for trade concessions.