Country Guide West

W E S T E R N E D I T I O N country-guide.ca November 2011 $3.50

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240

GET MORE VALUEFROM YOUR GEN Y STAFF

TAP THE SECRETSOF HUTTERITE FARM SUCCESS

RETIRED BUT ACTIVE?RUSSIA’S FARMS ARE CALLING

+PLUS

HOW CANADA’S NEW FARMERS

ARE CHANGING EVERYTHING

Lance StockbruggerSee more stories at www.fcc.ca/advancing

Lance Stockbrugger

“We see FCC as our partners – they support young farmers.”

If it’s agwe finance itLocal office 1-800-387-3232

10/11-17142-1A

17142_1A FCC StockbruggerAd_FBC.indd 1 11-10-12 4:34 PM

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a 3

FEATURES8 BOOK REVIEW

Instead of complaining about cities, it turns outwe need to start copying them.

10 CUTTING EDGEHarry Schulz is ready to operate on agriculture, bringing the skills to the farm that he has used to bag mega-dollars for medical inventions.

14 YOUNG AND IN MOTIONAt 26, Melanie Sommers is running one of Canada’s largest dairy farms, and plotting business strategies for a future free market.

18 RENT TO GROWJordan Kambeitz sees renting from the big farmland trusts as his springboard to economies of scale. At 30, he’s farming 10,000 acres, and plans for more.

20 THE CITY QUESTIONGwen Donohoe is exactly the kind of person that agriculture wants for its next generation of farmers. So why is she living the city life?

24 WHAT IS IT YOUNG PEOPLE WANT ANYWAY?Contributing editor Anne Lazurko fi nds farmers like Andrew Monchuk, 30, are crystal clear about their strengths, and their challenges too.

28 LISTENING INGen Yers like Sarah and Logan Wray are already fl exing their farm muscles. You just might not know it if your aren’t linked in.

32 NEW FARM LESSONSThose new wannabe farmers emerging out of our biggest cities might not be so different from Canada’s oldest farm families after all.

34 YOUNG EMPLOYEES TOOAt 32, Jeff Vermeersch knows how to get more from his Gen Y employees by acknowledging they’re as different from the Boomer generation as he is.

38 MORE, MORE, MORECase IH execs tell our Scott Garvey what to expect from the big manufacturers in the next fi ve years.

40 THE BEST FAMILY FARMSHutterite farms are misunderstood, mistrusted, and often very, very successful. Gerald Pilger sets out to learn their lessons.

48 CANADIANS IN RUSSIARetired and looking for a challenge? How about working in Russia to help farmers there start climbing the technology ladder.

EVERY ISSUE6 MACHINERY GUIDE

These small tractors deliver big results, but it canbe tough to make right choice.

46 HANSON ACRES Dale remembers talking his own father to accept change. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

50 GUIDE HEALTH Sssshh… Marie Berry talks about the unmentionable, your GI tract.

52 PETUNIA VALLEYAfter a year of fl ooding, the boys head to the marsh for some hunting. This is Christmas?

Our commitment to your privacyAt Farm Business Communications we have a fi rm commitment to protecting your privacy and security as our customer. Farm Business Communications will only collect personal information if it is required for the proper functioning of our business. As part of our commitment to enhance customer service, we may share this personal information with other strategic business partners. For more information regarding our Customer Information Privacy Policy, write to: Information Protection Offi cer, Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1.

Occasionally we make our list of subscribers available to other reputable fi rms whose products and services might be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call 1-800-665-1362.

NOVEMBER 2011

CON

TEN

TS

Young and BOLD, STARTING PAGE 14For years, their parents wondered whether our 20-somethings would ever measure up on the farm. Well, they’re here now, and they’re rewriting all the old rules. Don’t believe it? Then check out this issue full of profi les, and get ready to learn some new tricks.

4 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 1

d e s k

Is this the last generation?The facts seem arrayed all against our

young farmers. Economics is no friend, espe-cially the massive capitalization required to generate a living income. Social trends aren’t helping either, starting with the fact that this is the first generation whose parents recog-nize they deserve a healthy retirement.

In a way, the job is against them too. Today’s 55- and 60-year-olds think of the kinds of decisions that keep them awake at night, and they tally the hours that they must put into farm management and then they sometimes shake their heads, wonder-ing what this job has to do with the job they thought they were signing on for.

These parents look at the photos of graduates from our ag colleges and wonder how long they’ll still be smiling.

But that’s why it’s good to talk to the kids themselves. If you’re looking for self pity, you’ll have to look elsewhere. If you want self-awareness though, and if you want a clear-eyed understanding of the realities of farming, you will find it here in spades, more than in any preceeding generation, including their parents’.

We aren’t wearing rose-coloured glasses. We know that the number of sons and daughters from this generation who make it as farmers will be much smaller than the number of their parents who are retiring.

We also know that many of these new farmers will farm in ways that are unrecog-nizeable to their parents. But if you question their commitment, or if you doubt their abil-ity to succeed, do please read the stories in this issue, and then flip through some back

issues as well (and keep your subscription up to date too, because we are determined to keep bringing you stories about young farmers).

What we’re all learning is, if you’re in your 50s or 60s, optimism is your job.

Here’s one example why. I got a recent call from an Alberta purebred cattle pro-ducer in his late 50s with a prosperous farm and a good reputation. He has four children, none wanting to stay on the farm, but he wants the farm to continue and would like nothing so much as to find a young person to work and buy into it over time.

Not surprisingly, it has been a struggle to find that young person, not because they don’t exist, but because our ag communities are so spread out now, we no longer have a way to get the news about such opportuni-ties out to our young hopefuls.

How this can be in an agriculture that has new program announcements rolling out of Ottawa and the provincial capitals every other day and that has more commod-ity organizations collecting and spending more fees and checkoff is hard if not impos-sible to fathom.

Some boards are making progress, and they’re to be congratulated. But the point is, the kids are doing their part. Now, more of their parents generation need to realize optimism isn’t an emotion, it’s a job, and like every job of the farm, it’s to be approached with energy, commitment and innovation.

Let us know if we’re getting it right. Reach me at [email protected] or call me at 519-674-1449.

Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine

EDITORIAL STAFFEditor: Tom Button 12827 Klondyke Line, Ridgetown, ON N0P 2C0 (519) 674-1449 Fax (519) 674-5229 Email: [email protected]

Associate Editors:Gord Gilmour (204) 944-5756 Fax (204) 942-8463 Email: [email protected]

Maggie Van Camp (905) 986-5342 Fax (905) 986-9991 Email: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALESCory Bourdeaud’hui (204) 954-1414 Cell (204) 227-5274 Email: [email protected]

Kelly Dundas (519) 619-2140 Email: [email protected]

Head Office: 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562

Advertising Services Co-ordinator: Arlene Bomback (204) 944-5765 Fax (204) 944-5562 Email: [email protected]

Publisher: Bob Willcox Email: [email protected]

Associate Publisher/Editorial Director: John Morriss Email: [email protected]

Production Director: Shawna Gibson Email: [email protected]

Assistant Production Manager: Farrah Wilson Email: [email protected]

Director of Sales and Circulation: Lynda Tityk Email: [email protected]

Circulation Manager: Heather Anderson Email: [email protected]

Designer: Jenelle Jensen

Contents of this publication are copyrighted and may be reproduced only with the permission of the editor. Country Guide, incorporating the Nor’West Farmer and Farm & Home, is published by Farm Business Communications. Head office: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Printed by Transcontinental LGMC.

Country Guide is published 12 times per year by Farm Business Communications. Subscription rates in Canada — $32 for one year, $49 for 2 years (prices

include GST). U.S. subscription rate — $35 (U.S. funds). Subscription rate outside Canada and U.S. — $50 per year. Single copies: $3.50.

Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Canadian Postmaster: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses (covers only) to: Circulation Dept., PO Box 9800, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K7.

U.S. Postmaster: Send address changes and undeliver-able addresses (covers only) to: Circulation Dept., PO Box 9800, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3K7.

Subscription inquiries:

Call toll-free 1-800-665-1362 or email: [email protected]

U.S. subscribers call 1-204-944-5766

Country Guide is printed with linseed oil-based inks

PRINTED IN CANADA Vol. 130 No. 12Internet address: www.agcanada.com

The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Country Guide and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis. However, the editors, journalists, Country Guide and Farm Business Communications, cannot and do not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication and the editors as well as Country Guide and Farm Business Communications assume no responsibility for any actions or decisions taken by any reader for this publication based on any and all information provided.

ISSN 0847-9178

Helvetica Neue (Condensed Bold, Regular; True Type), Minion Pro (Regular; OpenType)

Bayer Crop Science

Insertion Date: November 22, 2011

BCS11033

CALMCL-DMX7991 Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

100%

SBC.11021.12Country Guide West10-24-2011 4:04 PM

Marsha Walters

100%

SAFETY: 7” x 10” TRIM: 8.125” x 10.75” Bleed: 8.675” x 11.25”8.125” x 10.75”

SPEC ORIGINALLY GENERATED: DLO PAGE: 1

SBC.11021.12.indd

Production Contact Numbers:403 261 7161 403 261 7152

S:7”S:10”

T:8.125”T:10.75”

B:8.675”B:11.25”

Protects the best.Liberty® herbicide is sworn to protect number one yielding InVigor® hybrids at all costs. As a dedicated Group 10, it’s more than ready to take out the most dangerous weeds in your crop, including resistant ones. Whether you want the added protection of a higher labelled rate or a 2-Pass, Liberty’s new lower price gives you the exibility to decide how to best neutralize the threat. Unlock the yield potential of InVigor with Liberty.

BayerCropScience.ca/Liberty or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® and Liberty® are registered trademarks of Bayer. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada. 09/11 - BCS11033

SBC.11021.12.indd 1 11-10-24 4:04 PM

Machinery By Philip Shaw

MASSEY FERGUSON 5400 SERIES Massey Ferguson offers nine models in their 5400 series rang-

ing from 86 to 145 horsepower. It’s a series that the company

describes as technologically advanced, high powered and eco-

nomical to operate.

The MF 5400 series is powered by four and six cylinder

engines. A Power Boost feature increases torque at six km/hr. in

the third and fourth range, which adds even more power to their

operation.

The series also features the Dyna-4 transmission’s 16F/16R

semi power shift gearbox with left hand Power Control Speed

matching. Maximum speed is 40 km/hr. There are also creep

(eight more gears) and super creep (16 more gears) options for

applications which need very low speeds.

The MF 5425 and 5455 feature sloping hoods, providing

greater visibility for tasks that require a loader or any other front

mounted equipment.

www.masseyferguson.com

KUBOTA M SERIES Kubota’s M Series brings four models topped out by the

M135X, Kubota’s most powerful M-Series tractor with a

374-cubic-inch, turbocharged direct injection diesel engine that

generates 118 PTO horsepower.

According to Kubota’s Christian Bisson, the M-Series tractors

feature added power, torque and an electronic common rail fuel

system for more power, less noise and reduced emissions.

The M100X and M110X are powered by a 3.8-litre engine,

while the M126X and M135X are built on the new four-cylinder

6.1-litre design. The 16F/16R Intelli-Shift transmission

offers an eight-speed dual-range power shift of 16 gears

forward and reverse, plus hydraulic shuttle and a stan-

dard wet main clutch.

The Kubota M-Series also features new dash-

instrumentation with an LCD panel that displays

engine information, fuel efficiency,

travel direction and gear selec-

tion. The Electronic Manage-

ment System (K-EMS) is an

electronic engine control

system, including a com-

puterized governor control

to manage engine RPM.

www.kubota.com

CASE INTERNATIONAL MAXXUM SERIES The Case International Maxxum series brings eight models

from 90 to 120 horsepower. According to the company, these four-

and six-cylinder models are powerful, versatile and economical,

and offer more flexibility, maneuverability and comfort to meet the

needs of today’s operators.

The Maxxum 110, 115 and 125 models feature mechanical

engines with minimal electronics for simple control and horsepower

without extras. They are mechanically governed, with a rotary

fuel-injected pump with two valves per cylinder. The five Maxxum

“Pro” models use an electronic rail fuel system and four values per

cylinder to generate more power and faster response along with

improved fuel economy, lower noise and reduced exhaust.

The Maxxum Pro Cab offers a deluxe air-ride seat with adjust-

able armrests and a tilt and telescoping steering wheel. A turn

assist option gives the operator the ability to fully turn the tractor

with a 10-degree twist, reducing operator effort and at the same

time increasing efficiency.

www.caseih.com

Small tractors promise big results. Increasingly, they deliver on those promises too, especially if you match the right tractor to the job. Be forewarned though. This isn’t as easy as you might think. The days when every small tractor was basically the same as every other small tractor are long gone. Today’s small tractor segment (under 120 hp) is evolving rapidly.

6 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1

New HollaNd T6000 SerieS New Holland’s T6000 series ranges from 90 to 135 horsepower in three dif-

ferent configurations, the Delta, Plus and Elite models. The result is a series that

the company says is a natural for haying operations, heavy loader work, roadside

mowing and row crop applications.

Delta models are the series base, with Plus models bringing all the stan-

dard features plus a semi-power shift transmission, higher capacity closed

centre hydraulic system and the Horizon cab with added

comfort features. The Elite configuration delivers top of

the line comfort and performance features including

engines with Electronic Power Management Power

Boost, Custom Headland Management and Elec-

tronic Draft Control systems.

On Elite T6000 models the New Holland Custom

Headland Management System stores up to 28

tasks, including transmission upshift/downshift,

engine speed, engage/disengage constant RPM

cruise control, three-point hitch and electro-

hydraulic valve operation. This allows the oper-

ator to make headland turns with a touch of a

button, reducing repetitive tasks on headlands

and lessening operator fatigue.

www.newholland.com

CHalleNger MT400B SerieS Challenger’s MT 400B series is designed to offer more

torque, more control, more serviceability and more fuel effi-

ciency for today’s farm operators, all in four models from 75 to

100 PTO horsepower.

MT400 Series tractors are powered by new generation Cat

ACERT Tier III engines. As well, a new front-axle support cast-

ing on the six-cylinder MT 475B means you can add a fully

integrated front three-point hitch, with the extra option of a

1,000-r.p.m. PTO.

All MT400 Series models feature narrow, sloping hoods

for enhanced visibility. Inside, analog gauges and an instru-

ment panel provide a simple but powerful information centre

in cabs that can be outfitted with an optional air-ride seat with

armrests and an instructor seat.

www.challenger-ag.us

N O v E M B E R 2 0 1 1 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a 7

8 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1

TRIUMPH OF THE CITY: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier

Edward GlaeserThe Penguin Press338 pages$24.75 at Chapters

Reviewed by Tom Button, CG Editor

No matter what the book title says, those of us in rural Can-ada have always thought that

agriculture is humanity’s “greatest inven-tion,” just as we have always thought that it is farming — and definitely not cities — that make the world “richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier.”

We might still be right, but don’t expect to have much luck convincing Harvard economics professor Edward Glaeser, who says the facts are very stub-bornly on his side.

Indeed, we might even have trouble convincing ourselves, especially if we grapple with the issue, as Glaeser does, of why in the era of electronic commu-nication — an age when no one needs to live in those expensive, dirty, crime-ridden cities — cities are growing faster than ever, and rural depopulation con-tinues.

Too few of us ask what we can learn from cities, Glaeser says. We still think of cities basically as dormitories for fac-tories and office towers. But in the same way that we know agriculture isn’t really about seed or tractors — it’s about the farmers who decide how to use those seeds and tractors — cities are all about how great ideas get born and nurtured.

Besides, our preconceptions are all wrong anyway. Cities aren’t dirty and unhealthy. Glaeser’s evidence is from the U.S., but a quick Internet check sug-gests the numbers are similar in Canada. A century ago, an average Kansas boy could expect to outlive a New Yorker by seven years. Today, the New York boy can expect to live a year and a half longer than the Kansan, and urban life expectancy keeps going up while rural statistics are stagnant. Nor is serious crime worse in cities, or suicide, or any other measurable quality-of-life variable. In fact, the stats all favour the city.

Also higher in successful cities is income. Cities, it turns out, are amaz-ingly successful at converting ideas into money. As Glaeser says, 600,000 Ameri-cans work in the one mile of Manhattan between 41st and 59th streets, and they each earn an average of over $100,000, nearly three times the national rate.

As you might expect, 40 per cent of them work in the financial sector, and fewer and fewer actually work with anything that most of us would recog-nize as things at all. Clothing factories are almost non-existent, for instance, but this is the home of the great design shops, including the Calvin Kleins and Donna Karans that are world standards.

And while those of us in agriculture might think this leaves New York vulner-able to fickle fads and trends, it’s actually the cities that depend on manufacturing — such as Detroit and Buffalo — that are suf-fering. New York’s wages have climbed all through the recession. So have London's.

The reason is because people in cities are always talking and interacting, and new technology is making them even bet-ter at it. There were brave claims a decade ago that electronics would let people live wherever they like, but as Glaeser explains, it turns out most e-traffic actually stays inside cities. People use cell phones to stay in touch with people they see in person. They text friends and colleagues, and they email people they've already met.

In other words, electronic commu-nication makes cities even more com-petitive compared to the countryside, because not only do people in cities talk more, they bring a much more diverse set of backgrounds, ideas, assumptions and ambitions to the mix. After all, Glaeser argues, most new ideas are actually new combinations of old ideas.

This may be the more serious chal-lenge for farmers. It’s easy to hitch a BlackBerry on your hip and keep it buzzing with new emails and chock full of apps to keep you up on the latest developments, wherever in the world they occur.

But how likely is your BlackBerry to make you new friends in the shoe busi-ness, the financial software sector, the publishing industry and elsewhere?

COUNTRY GUIDE has set aside consid-erable space in this issue to look at the state of farming from the vantage point of young farmers. In that context, here is a book that should arguably be on the curriculum at every ag college and uni-versity, although it probably is on none.

Arguably it is a book too that every farm couple should at least ponder over if they are wondering how to get their children started on a successful farming career. Unless farmers make deliberate efforts to broaden their connections, Glaeser seems to be saying, agriculture will get left behind. “Our culture, our prosperity and our freedom are all ulti-mately gifts of people living, working and thinking together,” Glaeser says.

It’s an interesting idea. Probably we should go to the city and talk to him about it. CG

BOOK REVIEW

DON’T JUST PERFORM…

OUTPERFORM

5525 CL Comes throughLike a Champion

5525 CL, for mid to long season zones, consistently outperforms all Clearfield®

competitors and challenges the yields of top varieties in any system.

BrettYoung’s newest Clearfield addition, 5535 CL, is the yield leader in short season zones, making this newcomer a top performer.

in the end, it all comes down to performance, and BrettYoung brings a new standard of excellence to the field.

5525CL5535CL

brettyoung.ca 800-665-5015

JON MONTGOMERY2010 Olympic Gold Medalist – Skeleton2008 World Championship Silver Medalist

“In any field, a gold medal performance is a result of preparation, hard work and unwavering support.”

BrettYoung is a trademark of BrettYoung Seeds Limited. Clearfield® is a registered trademark of BASF.11035 10.11

Check 100%

104%1

105%2

1 Check varieties from 8 field side-by-side trials include PH 46P50, InVigor 5440, PH 45H73, CT 1651 and DK 71-40.2 Checks 16 field scale 2010 BASF Grow Forward Yield Challenge trials include D 3150, DK 71-45 RR, InVigor 5020, 5030, 5440, 8440 and PH 45H28.

Yield0 30 60 90 120 150

2009 Side-by-sides

2010 BASF Grow Forward Yield Challenge

5525 YIELD RESULTS

BY_Clrfld_ad_FC_CanDigest_Nov__ 11-10-24 9:00 AM Page 1

n September 2008, Mark Torchia found himself in an operating the-atre at the world-renowned Cleve-land Clinic, holding his breath.

The Winnipeg-based professor, researcher and medical device specialist was about to see the result of several years of hard work by himself and a team with members from the St. Boni-face General Hospital, the University of Manitoba, and Monteris Medical.

A new medical device was meeting its first living patient. The surgeons had drilled a hole about one-half the size of a dime in the patient’s cranium and were preparing to insert an MRI-guided, laser-tipped probe into the patient’s brain in an effort to destroy what would have other-wise been an inoperable brain tumour.

“I will never forget that feeling as the probe entered the patient’s cranium, not as long as I live,” Torchia tells me. “It was our first patient, all the relatives were there waiting outside the operating room, the patient knew he was dying and that this procedure, which had been explained to them, was the last resort.”

“They’re looking at you, and you’re the person who’s going to fix this — it’s a tre-mendous feeling, both positive and nega-tive. You’re excited and terrified at the same time, and you just want to see it succeed.”

Long roadThe journey to that American oper-

ating room started with a conversation among colleagues at the hospital, Torchia recalls. “It was sort of like the old sto-ries we all hear about things sketched on

Can Prairie Fire help farmers tap the funds that earn millions for medical research?

By Gord Gilmour, CG Associate Editor

b u s i n e s s

Cutting edge

1 0 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 1

Ph

oto

cr

edit

: Kh

am

my

Ph

aN

thav

oN

g

Like a lot of farmers, medical researcher Mark Torchia needed funding. Now, the strategy that

earned cash for his medical probe might net big dollars

for agriculture too.

b u s i n e s s

N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 1 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a 1 1

the back of napkins,” he says. “We had an idea we thought would work, so our next step was to build a simple prototype — and this wasn’t anything fancy. The very first one we built was something I probably could have made in my basement.”

The basis of the idea was already being inves-tigated in other fields. Increasingly surgeons were finding new and innovative ways to use cutting-edge technology to avoid invasive surgery. Probably the best known example is heart surgery. Just a few years ago there was only one way to operate on the human heart — cracking the chest wide open by cutting an incision directly down the middle of the breast bone.

These days however, surgery incisions are getting smaller and smaller and further away from the heart as surgeons use remotely controlled robotic tools to perform the surgery through what are known as “keyhole” incisions.

The basic idea behind the tumour treatment was the same. Rather than opening the skull and performing invasive surgery, the surgeons would use MRI technol-ogy to guide a laser-tipped probe through a small hole and right to the centre of the tumour, where it would then be used to “destroy” the tumour in place.

After building the prototype, Torchia and his team were even more convinced that they were onto some-

thing. What the team had was a new piece of equip-ment that could help doctors treat tumours, create better outcomes for patients, and ultimately perhaps save lives. There was just one problem — it wasn’t doing much good on the lab bench, and Torchia rec-ognized his expertise was in medicine, not business.

Enter Harry SchulzThe day I visit Schulz is one of the last of the pleasant

summer days in Winnipeg, and when I find him he is laughing at himself in his office at the National Research Council building in the gritty West End neighbourhood.

Schulz is a renowned medical fundraiser known throughout Manitoba as one of the key movers behind an emerging bio-medical cluster than includes public research institutes allied with hospitals, uni-versities and other public institutions, pharmaceutical companies and other medical supply and medical technology companies.

The subject of his self-effacing humour is a set of six Rolodexes that perch behind his desk — some-thing he insists is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the virtual phone directory of contacts he’s made after decades in the business.

Continued on page 12

As head of Prairie Fire Growth Ventures, Harry Schulz’s job is to pump more money into farm inventions and new technologies.

1 2 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1

“That’s just the current ones that haven’t made it onto my computer yet,” Schulz says with a laugh. “You should have seen my first day of work — I started syncing my contacts to the com-puter, the lights dimmed and a few hours later it was finally done.”

The new job he’s referring to is one that’s very similar to his old role as the chief innovation officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. In that job his primary task was funding good medi-cal ideas in their various forms. That might mean finding a name sponsor for a new research centre at Health Sciences Centre, the city’s major teaching hospi-tal, or perhaps working with a researcher like Mark Torchia to bring a good idea to life in the operating room by commer-cializing an innovative new technology.

But these days Schulz is beginning his post-retirement career as the head of Prai-rie Fire Growth Ventures, a new organi-zation jointly funded by the federal and provincial governments that aims to use similar strategies to develop agriculture-related research work into economically viable commercial companies.

As he details the effort, a clearer pic-ture emerges. Prairie Fire, with some

initial seed money from the two govern-ments, will essentially function as a ven-ture capital fund, with a target of raising $100 million which will be used to fund about 20 start-up companies.

“Typically this is where researchers and other innovators face their most sig-nificant hurdle — the very early work to commercialize their research,” Schulz says. “It’s where you see ‘angel’ investors like friends and family, because there are significant risks and it’s very likely that you’ll see your initial investment greatly diluted or it could fail outright.”

That's the opening for Prairie Fire, an entity that could probably only come from the strange blend of a provincial NDP government and the Harper Con-servatives in Ottawa.

It recognizes that there is a role for at least limited government activism but insists that those government footprints be the light tracks of the facilitator, rather than the heavy hand of the regulator or central planner. It is in many ways the per-

fect expression of the pragmatic brand of Prairie politics that Manitoba is known for, never straying too far to the left or right no matter what ideologues are in power.

Essentially the Prairie Fire model will see the professional fundraisers pull together a venture capital pool, scout out investment opportunities and make deals with companies throughout the region. It won’t direct or fund research, but rather fund the commercialization of promising existing research that’s currently sitting on the lab bench. That’s a very impor-tant distinction, Schulz insists, because it means that the economic development will be market driven and therefore more sustainable. It also will likely mean that the companies stick around Manitoba once they’re up and running.

While medicine to agriculture might seem quite a stretch, it was actually through his earlier work that Schulz says he gained his first significant exposure to agriculture. That was where he saw com-modity groups like Pulse Canada part-nering with research institutes like the U of M’s Richardson Centre for Func-tional Foods and Nutraceuticals and can-cer researchers at St. Boniface Hospital to explore the health effects of pulse-rich diets. He also points out that there is a fundamental similarity between today’s advanced life-science companies and phar-maceutical companies with their research-driven focus.

“Frequently they’re actually even the same companies,” Schulz says. “Take Bayer, for example. They’re an agriculture com-pany and a pharmaceutical company.”

Ag focusA few hours down the highway at

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Sas-katoon Research Centre, Sue Boyetchko might be slightly outside Schulz’s catch-ment area, but she’s right in the demo-graphic he’s looking for.

Boyetchko, a plant pathologist by training, has spent the past two decades finding ways to disrupt weeds using natu-ral bio-controls. One of the most promis-ing she has found is a soil-borne bacteria that occurs naturally in Prairie soils and that attacks the roots of grassy weeds.

B U S I N E S S

1 - Engine HP, Max. output per ECE R24 • Fendt is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation. © 2011 AGCO Corporation • FT11C011-24-100050-1

Groundbreaking ground breaking technology.The Fendt philosophy is different from other tractor manufacturers. We believe every part of the tractor can be used to get more from less–and with the new 800 Series we’ve put money where our mouth is. With the world's most tested stepless transmission, a remarkable suspension system that allows

amazing transport speed and an engine that is not only better for the environment, it’s better for your bottom line.

T H E B E S T R U N O P E R A T I O N S R U NT H E B E S T R U N O P E R A T I O N S R U N

Model 822/220 hp1 Model 824/240 hp Model 826/260hp Model 828/280hp

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE 4508 – 49TH ST

MILLET, AB T0C 1Z0780-387-4747

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE#10 – 59422 HWY 44 S

WESTLOCK, AB T7P 2P6780-349-3113

FARMWAY MACH.90 – 12TH AVE, SE

HIGH RIVER, AB T1V 1E6403-652-2414

HANLON AG CENTRE, LTD.3005 – 18TH AVE N

LETHBRIDGE, AB T1H 5V2403-329-8686

IRELAND FARM EQUIP., LTD.4814 – 49A ST

VERMILION, AB T9X 1C8780-853-4013

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE, LTD.3859 HWY 12

LACOMBE, AB T4L 1A8403-782-6873

HAT AGRI SERVICE2008 BULLSHEAD RD

DUNMORE, AB T1B 0K9403-526-3701

AVENUE MACHINERY CORP.1521 SUMAS WAY

ABBOTSFORD, BC V2T 6Z6604-864-2665

AVENUE MACHINERY CORP.7155 MEADOWLARK RD

VERNON, BC V1B 3R6250-545-3355

AG WEST EQUIP., LTD.HWY #1A WEST

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB R1N 3C2

204-857-5130

AG WEST EQUIP.236 PTH 16 WEST

NEEPAWA, MB R0J 1H0204-476-5378

K M K SALES, LTD.HWY 20 SOUTH

HUMBOLDT, SK S0K 2A0306-682-0738

AGWORLD EQUIP.HWY #3

KINISTINO, SK S0J 1HO306-864-2200

WHERE’S YOUR CASH?THE CASE FOR INVESTING IN HIGH-RISK RESEARCH

The cost of research can be astronomical. Spending as much $100 million before ultimate commercialization isn’t unheard of, which raises the question, where does any-one find that kind of money?

For farmers, the question might also be, should some of that money be yours?That’s why both researchers and investors listen closely to Harry Schulz, head of

Prairie Fire Growth Ventures, who believes that most major projects will need several streams of cash.

For example, an average investor might want to consider sinking some cash in a high-risk portion of their portfolio.

“Somewhere, in a diversified portfolio, everyone should have at least one long shot,” Schulz says. “This isn’t what you want to plan on for your retirement, but it’s the small piece that could really pay off in a big way.”

Doing that through a structured vehicle like an investment fund allows those inves-tors to play that game, but also helps hedge risk by making a number of investments. Some will fail, but the law of averages also suggests that a few will succeed and when they do the payoff can be handsome.

Or there might be companies in related fields like pharmaceuticals or even agricul-ture life science that make an investment not with an eye to making money, but to know-ing just what’s going on in ag research from a prime vantage point.

“Research is very, very expensive,” Schulz says. “Many of them look at this sort of investment as a cost-effective way of keeping an eye on what’s being developed, and possibly identifying areas where they may want to make investments.”

Continued from page 11 “ Somewhere in every diversified portfolio, everyone should have at least one long shot.”

— Harry Schulz

Among its primary targets are green foxtail plants that are becoming increas-ingly resistant to the established chemical control products.

“We isolated and tested thousands of potential organisms before finding a really promising one,” Boyetchko says. “In retrospect, finding the organism was probably the easiest part. It was labour intensive, of course, but it was relatively straightforward.”

Then Boyetchko began the painstaking process of designing a workable delivery system. It’s been a process of trial and error because the bio-pesticide industry is still in its infancy, she says.

“These are new products, so we still need to develop ways to formulate them and deliver them to where they need to be deliv-ered,” Boyetchko says.

And that’s without ever getting off the lab bench. In that department Boyetchko is luckier than most. She’s in the final stages of inking a development deal with Mycologic, a smallish industry partner that began life as a spinoff by University of Victoria research-ers, and which has accrued “significant expertise” in the bio-herbicide field.

Finding the money But getting there wasn’t easy. It took

years of working the industry circuit and making the necessary contacts to know who to call, what to propose and how to strike a deal. When Boyetchko hears the story of Schulz’s Rolodexes she concedes it might have been good to have someone like that in her corner.

“It’s so important to have the right combination of people if you want to succeed,” Boyetchko says. “Having your network in place is so important.”

For a scientist like her, that’s meant learning a whole new set of skills. While she welcomed that challenge, other research scientists may prefer to spend their time at the lab bench and as a result may never commercialize their work.

Back in Winnipeg, Mark Torchia agrees that for him it’s been a roller-coaster ride, learning new skills, meeting new people and taking on new roles. But overall he enjoyed the process so much he did it twice.

Torchia also developed a robotic sys-tem that frees hospital pharmacy staff from the drudgery of mixing IV solu-

tions, as well as the ever present dan-ger from handling toxic substances like chemotherapy treatments. Schulz also played an instrumental role in bringing that product to market.

“It’s been the experience of a lifetime,” Torchia says. “When Harry and I get together for dinner, I sometimes think our wives don’t believe a word we say — and I can’t really blame them. It went from despair to elation and everything in between, from wondering how you’d pos-sibly move forward to holding a cheque for $7 million to fund the startup.”

But ultimately Torchia says there’s no arguing with results, and in this case the result is two viable companies, based in Winnipeg, employing other Winnipegers in stable, well-paying jobs.

And then of course there’s the small matter of the contribution to better medical technology and better results for patients.

None of those more philosophic rewards are likely to come unless the dol-lars come too, however, and it's here that Schulz knows his job, and how impor-tant it is: “My reputation is being the guy who can find the money.” CG

B U S I N E S S

1 - Engine HP, Max. output per ECE R24 • Fendt is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation. © 2011 AGCO Corporation • FT11C011-24-100050-1

Groundbreaking ground breaking technology.Groundbreaking ground breaking technology.The Fendt philosophy is different from other tractor manufacturers. We believe every part of the tractor can be used to get more from less–and with the new 800 Series we’ve put money where our mouth is. With the world's most tested stepless transmission, a remarkable suspension system that allows

amazing transport speed and an engine that is not only better for the environment, it’s better for your bottom line.

T H E B E S T R U N O P E R A T I O N S R U NT H E B E S T R U N O P E R A T I O N S R U N

new 800 Series we’ve put money where our mouth is. With the world's most tested stepless transmission, a remarkable suspension system that allows amazing transport speed and an engine that is not only better for the environment, it’s better for your bottom line.

Model 822/220 hp1 Model 824/240 hp Model 826/260hp Model 828/280hp

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE 4508 – 49TH ST

MILLET, AB T0C 1Z0780-387-4747

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE#10 – 59422 HWY 44 S

WESTLOCK, AB T7P 2P6780-349-3113

FARMWAY MACH.90 – 12TH AVE, SE

HIGH RIVER, AB T1V 1E6403-652-2414

HANLON AG CENTRE, LTD.3005 – 18TH AVE N

LETHBRIDGE, AB T1H 5V2403-329-8686

IRELAND FARM EQUIP., LTD.4814 – 49A ST

VERMILION, AB T9X 1C8780-853-4013

PENTAGON FARM CENTRE, LTD.3859 HWY 12

LACOMBE, AB T4L 1A8403-782-6873

HAT AGRI SERVICE2008 BULLSHEAD RD

DUNMORE, AB T1B 0K9403-526-3701

AVENUE MACHINERY CORP.1521 SUMAS WAY

ABBOTSFORD, BC V2T 6Z6604-864-2665

AVENUE MACHINERY CORP.7155 MEADOWLARK RD

VERNON, BC V1B 3R6250-545-3355

AG WEST EQUIP., LTD.HWY #1A WEST

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB R1N 3C2

204-857-5130

AG WEST EQUIP.236 PTH 16 WEST

NEEPAWA, MB R0J 1H0204-476-5378

K M K SALES, LTD.HWY 20 SOUTH

HUMBOLDT, SK S0K 2A0306-682-0738

AGWORLD EQUIP.HWY #3

KINISTINO, SK S0J 1HO306-864-2200


B U S I N E S S

Young & in motion

B U S I N E S S

elanie Sommers tears around the corner of her family’s free-stall barn, jumps out of the tractor cab and pokes a hand out of her coveralls for a handshake. She’s been cutting some fourth cut hay and

is rushing to get it done before the fall rain sets in. The pres-sure is on, but she is not about to back down.

Along with her parents Louise and Peter, Sommers man-ages a 510-cow herd, raising their own replacements. It's an impressive operation. The cows are milked three times a day in a double-12 parlour and the Sommers also grow corn, soy-beans and hay on 1,650 acres of the high-yielding sandy loam flats west of Montreal, near Lancaster, Ont.

As Sommers and I tour the twice-expanded 600-foot long barn, she notices an injured cow and stops to ask one of the nine full-time staff to look after her. As we continue, it soon seems the mountains of corn silage in the just-filled bunker silos behind the barn are small compared to the amount of work required to run a dairy and cropping operation this size.

The calf barn is the farm’s original tie-stall barn, reno-vated into low-cost, well-ventilated group pens. When Peter started farming 35 years ago, his family milked 40 cows in this barn and had 270 acres. His transition into farming full-time was early and abrupt. He was only 20 years old when his father, a post-war Dutch immigrant, died suddenly.

Now that it is time for Peter himself to think about succes-sion planning, however, the generational transfer is happening by choice, and with much more preparation.

At 55, Peter is still as passionate about farming as his daughter. “We’re always talking about business,” says Melanie, comparing herself to her two sisters who have successful careers off farm. “Maybe our relationship is too much about business.”

In fact, Melanie herself earned a degree from McGill before committing to the farm. That was three years ago, and since then she’s been incrementally learning and getting comfortable with each new responsibility. First comes the transition of management power and eventually financial control or share ownership.

Currently, Melanie manages the animals and the people who look after them, stressing animal health. Since Melanie started farming full time three years ago, she’s been tracking and managing the herd based on health numbers including milk fever, mastitis, and dead-on-arrivals and is encouraged by the improvements. A couple of key changes have made a difference. For example, she started feeding acidified milk to the calves and switched their semen supply to a company with genetic merit scores based more on health traits, not type classification.

It’s further proof that while on many farms a 26-year old is definitely still considered an apprentice, on the Sommers farm, Melanie makes major decisions. Partly, that is because Peter is willing to trust her judgment, but it’s also because Melanie has proven that she has what it takes.

Peter manages all the crop production and does the bookkeeping with a close eye on statistics such as whole-

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a 1 5

Young & in motion


Melanie Sommers is boss in the barns, and much more too. At 26, she’s in charge of key business decisions and is setting her own strategic direc-tion for this expandingeastern Ontario farm

By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor

PHOTO CREDIT: IMAGE-INE PHOTOGRAPHY


b u s i n e s s

farm ROI, and he is confident the farm is financially healthy enough to transfer.

“Taking over a successful business allows you to have some equity to work with, to continue to expand and grow the business,” says Peter.

New directionsFor this family, the first step in mapping

out a succession plan began with a share buyout. In 2004, Peter’s partner and brother died. The farm corporation recently bought his shares from his widow. Now the Som-mers are dealing with that debt load.

For the next few years they’re focused on paying down this debt so the corpora-tion can transfer to Melanie in a stronger debt-to-equity position, enabling future growth. The Sommers have a goal of being able to grow four to six per cent per year. In the past Peter has averaged 10 to 12 per cent growth but that’s with lower asset val-ues, some inflation and higher ROI.

Melanie’s vision for the farm is more complicated than her father’s low-cost per unit, expansion-based business model. Her mission statement includes words like sustainable, profitable, progressive, and consumer-driven.

Although someday she’d like to expand the facilities and potentially increase milk production, the lack of quota on the mar-ket means they can only increase about five to 10 cows per year.

So instead the Sommers have taken a different path to increase profitability. Two years ago they started producing a niche product, omega-3 milk at a premium of seven to eight cents per litre. The marketing is all done by the processor and under the quota system. They’ve found the net returns can get pretty skimpy since the purchased feed costs five cents more per litre of pro-duction. Moreover, there’s been a significant suppression of their fat test and an increase in feet- and rumen-health problems.

However, this niche strategy is also about managing the threat of the poten-tial loss of supply management. Their already significant land base is also a strong fallback position. For now only about a third, some 500 acres, goes to off-farm crop sales. “The cropping is our diversity in the agricultural industry, like our safety net,” says Melanie.

Their most potent hedge against this loss of supply management risk is to enhance their farm’s ability to produce milk with low overhead and low operating costs per

litre, says Peter. “With or without supply management, the low-cost always survives,” he says. “We need to position ourselves so we’re the ones left in the industry.”

EmployeesThe two generations agree that their

business relies on good employees, both for current day-to-day operations and in order to expand in the future. Farms are no different than any other industry, says Peter. To keep growing, you need to keep more people. “Only farmers who can successfully work with people will be able to keep growing.”

Along with paying the area’s going full-time rate, the Sommers say the little things make a difference. The staff each get a birthday and Christmas cards with monetary gifts. During the year they also receive some beef and milk.

Melanie has focused on formaliz-ing their human resource management by creating employee handbooks, job descriptions and taking over the hiring procedures. Most of their employees have been very accepting and capable of adapting many of the changes she’s implemented, such as new milking pro-cedures, treatment protocols and work/holiday schedules. She’s also fluent in both French and English.

“I didn’t grow up working with people, Melanie did,” says Peter. “That’s the hard-est thing to learn, how to treat people.”

Even with these efforts, some employees have had difficulty transitioning decision-making power to the new young, female boss. As they see her ability to perform and

her knowledge, and as they learn that she treats them with respect, they’re listening to her more. Yearly employee evaluations have helped too, and Melanie has also found that communicating daily instruc-tions on white boards helps to ensure noth-ing gets missed.

She’s also trying to build respect with knowledge. Any chance she gets, Melanie reads farming articles, attends seminars and uses the Internet to continually look for answers. She has spent three days in Wisconsin on a large-herd manage-ment course for middle and upper man-agement put on by Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (http://www.pdpw.org). This winter Melanie has been accepted into the George Morris Centre’s C-TEAM program.

Beyond the information she garnered at university, Melanie says she learned how to learn, how crucial it is to anal-yse situations, ask the question why and use conceptual thinking. Moreover, she learned who she was at her core and what she wanted.

While going to university, she worked in a real estate office in downtown Mon-treal and discovered how much she dis-liked the environment — the high-traffic commute, being confined inside and the limitations of working for a company.

“I always enjoyed the farm, the way of life, working outside, and finding new ways of doing things and applying new ideas,” says Melanie. “It’s a lifestyle, not only a career. And it’s something you need to be passionate about for the next 40 years, not just this week.” CG

Continued from page 15

Grow more. Make more.

©20

11 C

argi

ll, In

c. A

ll rig

hts

rese

rved

.

When it comes to canola hybrids, VICTORY® Canola is driving innovation that pays off for you.

Discover how our advanced agronomics and fi nancial tools can push your yields higher

and grow your profi ts while reducing your risk. Get more for your canola dollar with VICTORY.®

Scan the code for access to grower trial updates and more at victorycanola.com

www.victorycanola.comwww.cargill.ca

B U S I N E S S

ason Kambeitz knows that when farmers get together over coffee and the conversation turns to farmland investment companies like Assini-boia Capital and AgCapita, the

smiles disappear and a sober seriousness takes over. By buying up local farmland, the talk goes, the big funds are driving up land prices, and they’re taking capital out of rural communities too.

It can’t end well, the consensus often says.

But not all of the stories are bad. Jor-dan himself is a case study in how work-ing with these companies may be a new opportunity for young farmers who want to build up a successful farms.

Kambeitz grew up in Regina. Now he’s running a grain farm, partly from behind a desk at his office in the city where he is co-founder and managing partner of Kingsland Energy Corp., an oil and gas development firm based in Regina. Kingsland owns over 20,000 acres of mineral rights in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba.

But don’t try telling Kambeitz that he isn’t a farmer. “This is where I hang my hat when I’m not at the farm,” he says.

Nor should you make the mistake that there is anything part-time or scaled down about Kambeitz’s farming objectives. At only 30, he is already running a 10,000-acre farm near Sedley, Sask. and is expand-ing into the Kronau area.

“The rental model has allowed our operation to grow at a faster rate than would otherwise be possible,” says Kam-beitz who owns about 3,000 acres and rents the remaining 7,000.

“The cost of growing a bushel of prod-uct is too great,” Kambeitz says. “You can’t have all your capital tied up in land owner-ship and expect to grow at the rate you want to grow.” The majority of the land

Kambeitz rents is owned by his father and uncle, and he also rents some “odds and ends” from retired farmers.

And, some of the acres Kambeitz rents are managed by Palliser Land Manage-ment, a Regina-based company that looks after 115,000 acres of Saskatchewan farmland owned by Assiniboia Capital Corp., as well as additional land held by other parties. Murray Gogel, Palliser’s senior farmland manager, says the land Kambeitz rents is “some of the best dirt in our portfolio.”

“Jordan’s quite an entrepreneur,” Gogel says.

Gogel believes his company can help famers expand their farms: “We’re a par-ticularly good fit for those who are rela-tively young.”

There are farmers with a negative atti-tude towards these institutional owners. “I was one of them, at the beginning,” Kam-beitz says. He had seen non-farmer investors with deep pockets come to town to buy land that Kambeitz had hoped he might be in a position to buy himself someday.

Yet after working with Gogel and watching other young farmers rent land from investment companies to expand their land bases, Kambeitz has come to believe there are benefits to having these players in the market.

Land owned by typical farmers often gets sold from one generation to the next with no public notice and no open bidding. This can frustrate farmers like Kambeitz.

The funds put more structure in the mar-ket, he believes, and because agriculture is so cyclical, Kambeitz predicts there will come a day when land prices will fall and the companies won’t be able to charge high rents. Or, investors will want to cash in their investments and buy something else. When

Rent to growJordan Kambeitz sees renting from

the big farmland trusts as a springboard for today’s young farmers

By Leeann Minogue


B U S I N E S S

that happens, “this will all get recycled. We’ll see all this land trade hands again someday.”

As evidence, Kambeitz cites the story of an Alberta holding com-pany which had owned land near his farm. “Last week, a 21,000-acre package sold.” The holding company had bought the land not long ago, consolidating about seven farms into one block. Since then, the per acre price has doubled and the company decided to take the profit. The land didn’t sell to another institutional buyer. It sold to a handful of smaller landowners.

The Alberta investors walked away with a lot of capital, but Kambeitz wonders if, overall, this capital outflow is made up for by the fact that these companies are helping young farmers.

“Land funds potentially keep a lot of young guys around,” Kambeitz says. “There are lots of young guys who farm 2,000 acres with their dad and want to keep farming.” They need to expand their land base to stay profitable, but they don’t all have the capital to do that. The existence of land funds gives young farmers like this a whole new solution — a large-scale landlord. When the young farmer is ready to rent land, Kambeitz explains, “That farmer can call Murray Gogel and says ‘what have you got for me?’”

As Kambeitz sees it, non-farm landowners have also created a timely solution for older farmers. “I believe that some people from my dad’s generation were scared up until four or five years ago.” They were worried about how they could retire and what would hap-pen to their land. Not all farmers have a clear succession plan, and not all farm kids are interested in farming.

“In my opinion, a lot of people felt stranded,” Kambeitz says. Companies like Assiniboia Capital are another potential buyer for such farmers, he says. “Now, there’s a way out.”

But Kambeitz won’t be looking for that exit door anytime soon. He’s in expansion mode. “I’m a bit of a bull when it comes to the commodity market,” Kambeitz says. “I’m expanding at the pace that my labour model can keep up to.” He has five employees working on his farm. Two are on staff full-time, year round, and three are seasonal full-time employees.

The need to keep staff around through the slower winter months is partly a side effect of Saskatchewan’s tight labour market. “I fight the oilfield,” Kambeitz says. Sedley is located mid-way between the southeast Saskatchewan oilfield and the city of Regina. Kambeitz has to be competitive with both of these labour markets if he’s going to keep good help.

“I have to offer stable employment,” he says. He appreciates his staff and does what he can to keep them, like offering his full-time staff a month off in the winter. He places a high value on staff and believes that investing in people makes good eco-nomic sense. “I can buy all the equipment I want, but the equip-ment doesn’t do much if I don’t have the guys to run it.”

And, between his farm and his other business interests, Kam-beitz realizes that he’s “more valuable throughout the year sitting behind my computer.”

There are also his interests in Kingland Energy to attend to. Oil and gas development is moving closer to where Kambeitz farms, and being involved in the resource industry from the points of view of a developer and a farmer has given him a good understanding of both sides.

With both a farm and off-farm business interests, Kambe-itz can take to his office when things are slower on the farm, or head out to the farm when he needs a break from city life. “I love it,” he says. “I love farming. It’s my escape from the office.” Then he says, “Is it a lifestyle or a business? I’m trying to make it both.” CG


PH

OTO

CR

EDIT

: CA

REY

SH

AW


By Rebeca Kuropatwa

B U S I N E S S

The city questionIn past, sons and daughters like Gwen Donohoe chose farming “because of the lifestyle.” Now it can be what keeps them away

t was never going to be easy. Gwen Donohoe knew that, the same way that every farm kid knows that tak-ing over the family farm is going to demand total commitment.

Yet it isn’t the hard work that has convinced Donohoe she needs to keep a least one foot in the city. She wasn’t even put off by the tough economics. Instead, what is tainting the dream for Donohoe is the very thing that is supposed to be one of farming’s great advantages.

It’s lifestyle. “It’s really hard for young people who come to the city and then return to the farm,” says Donohoe, whose family farms at The Pas.

Seven hours north of Winnipeg, The Pas can feel even more remote than most other farm communities, but in Donohoe’s view,

it’s only a difference of degree. The same trends are sending signals to farm kids all across the country that it’s time to leave.

“Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, all towns had curling and hockey rinks and large community centres,” Donohoe says. “You also had a sense of community and social life in the towns. But today it’s pretty tough. You go home and there aren’t other young people to farm with or any kind of community.”

“It used to be more fun to live on a farm,” she says wistfully.

But this isn’t simple nostalgia on her part. The kinds of pleasures you can get from farming are changing too, Donohoe believes. Indeed, those pleasures have to be different and they have to become more focussed on



B U S I N E S S

The city question

PHOTO CREDIT: VICTORIA ANNE PHOTOGRAPHY


b u s i n e s s

financial management and strategic planning if young farmers are going to succeed.

As farming gets more and more con-centrated on business issues, Donohoe says, why wouldn’t you just stay in the city and manage a business there?

“Don’t get me wrong,” says Donohoe, talking of her generation. “We’re very hard workers… but, we know we can work a 9-5 job in a town or city and we want to have that kind of lifestyle on a farm — which is completely impossible.

“You might love your farm and land, but it’s tough to give up all those urban opportunities.”

At 28, Donohoe knows a lot about both the city and the country sides of agriculture. Today, she is working on her doctorate at the University of Manitoba, looking at how different management practices can influence the environmental implications of over-wintering beef cattle.

Donohoe also sits on the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council board, a feder-ally funded council that works to build up farm innovation in rural communities. On the board she’s joined by other farmers, but also by individuals who represent con-sumers, producers and food processors.

Donohoe’s specific assignment on the council’s board is to work as its youth director, and it becomes obvious in talk-ing to her that the connections she makes through the organization are important for her own definition of what makes a good lifestyle. “It’s an exciting group of people to work with,” she says, “real leaders in agriculture and food in Manitoba.”

It isn’t her first experience with farm organizations. Donohoe’s parents were dairy through her early years until in 1995 they sold their quota and started what has grown to a 300 cow-calf operation plus 1,000 acres of grains and oilseeds. The farm’s weaned calves are sold to buyers in Alberta and Quebec, while their grains are marketed in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

In 2005, after earning her undergradu-ate degree in agriculture at the Univer-sity of Saskatchewan, Donohoe returned home to the farm. In fact, Donohoe is still very involved there. The farm is her par-ents’, but Donohoe owns her own herd of cattle that stay with her parents’ cattle. She rents the land and feed from them, so it all gets managed together, and she and her parents work the farm on their own without any hired help.

When she returned, though, Donohoe

also brought many of the perspectives she had learned both at school and in the city. At first, that meant she was eager to start organic farming, although she soon came to change her mind and to decide that what is really at the core of her beliefs is sustainability, which she now believes is quite a different thing than organics. “To me,” she explains, “organic is just a label, a certification — and not necessarily a sus-tainable operation.”

Being one who loves teaching and help-ing others, Donohoe is also interested in demonstrating good management skills to other producers or in being involved in like-minded organizations.

“We can teach producers to be even more sustainable than some of the organic operations out there simply by using good management practices,” she says.

This line of thinking is what led Dono-hoe to get involved in The Pas’ local conser-vation district board. The board is funded by the province and rural municipalities, and is directed by landowners, with projects geared toward activities that promote sus-tainable soil and water quality management to help producers adopt good practices.

Through the conservation district board, Donohoe has been involved in many pro-ducer field trials, one of which was the nitrogen ramp trial, helping producers determine a good nitrogen rate to apply to their crops. “It’s especially important to not over-apply nitrogen, so the nitrogen won’t start leaking into the waterways,” she says.

The board also organizes many guest speaker events geared toward producers. Through Donohoe taking her master’s degree (in soil science in 2010), she was able to tie in some of the university profes-sors and people who like to do extension work — getting them to come up to The Pas and talk to producers.

Still, Donohoe recognizes that the reality of family farming is that when the children come home, Dad and Mom still call the shots. She recognizes too that this is how it has always been. And while there were a few bumps (“I learned pretty quickly with

my own parents not to go tell them, ‘We need to do this, because you’re doing it wrong.’”) she also discovered that both gen-erations share the same core values, espe-cially their belief in sustainability, and she feels it is likely the same on most farms.

“When I first came home from school, I really wanted to put one of our fields into alfalfa for a few years,” she remembers as an example. “It was really hard to con-vince my dad to do this… then he saw it as a great idea, making our own fertilizer.”

“We all have the same goals — wanting to be sustainable economically and envi-ronmentally,” she says, although it’s clear there can still be differences. “We have different perspectives about how to get there,” she admits.

Still, Donohoe does believe there’s an even more fundamental difference between the generations, because her generation is facing an even starker choice between life in the city and life on the farm.

She would like to see farm groups accept this as a challenge and develop strategies to tackle it.

“Our agriculture community doesn’t have a framework set out for a social net-work for young people. Maybe we need to have more of that — more get togethers in towns and cities where young farmers can meet up and have a satisfying social life and communication.”

On top of that, agriculture can focus on rural development too, Donohoe suggests. “Get rural populations back up by integrat-ing industry back into the towns and small cities, or by finding a way to make smaller farms more sustainable in the long run.”

Then, recognize that the coming genera-tion is impatient, for good reason. They can achieve their lifestyle goals in the city, with more time for family life and more opportu-nities for vacations and social interaction.

“It’s not that earlier generations didn’t want that, but they didn’t have the same kind of opportunities,” Donohoe says. “Today,” she says simply, “young farm-ers want to do more of what regular people do.” CG


The Perfectly Practical Utility TractorsThe new 2012 John Deere 5E Limited Series

Take a good look at the new 83- to 101-HP 5E Limited Series, and you might be tempted to call these “the perfect utility tractors.” Considering improvements like the redesigned, more ergonomically sound cab, the re-engineered, lower effort controls, and all the new standard and available comfort and convenience features, we won’t argue.

But the real test is how the 5E Limited Series handles your jobs. So we kept all the features that made these some of the most capable tractors in their class: standard four-wheel drive. Standard independent PTO with fuel-saving Economy mode. Standard 12/12 PowrReverser™ transmission.

Are the new 5E Limited Series the perfect utility tractors? We’ll let you decide. Until then, we’ll just call them perfectly practical. Find out more from your John Deere dealer, or visit us on online.

JohnDeere.com/Tractors

50555-2 5E Ltd no price 1p.indd 1 9/29/11 8:28 AM


s questions go, this isn’t exactly new. What do young people want? Every generation has wondered at the behaviour of their

young, and every age has questioned the wisdom of its children’s long-term goals.

Granted, it doesn’t help that the ques-tion sometimes gets asked with sarcasm in the voice and a raised eyebrow, but mostly there is good intent behind it.

A perplexing problem presents itself when the question is asked on the farm, though. Children don’t seem to be wired to give answers with lots of specifics, but their parents know that if the farm is going to survive through succession, the “specifics” are exactly what the children have to be good at.

In the past, our “wants” and “needs” were differentiated. If you didn’t need something to survive or prosper it couldn’t be all that important. That was the thinking of a post-war generation bent on success at any cost. And it made sense. Who could think about the frills while trying to make a go of farming, whether seeding the bald prairie or mired in an Ontario clay? That pesky memory of the Depression made financial success paramount, motivating farmers to work harder and longer to get ahead.

But the shift happening amongst corporate managers, professionals and

small business executives has come to the farm. Young farmers “want” more. This doesn’t necessarily translate into the desire for more wealth, though that would be nice, but instead is articulated in a desire for a better life, however that’s defined.

This shift has led to an increasing number of young farmers who see the farm as a means to an end, as a busi-ness through which to attain the balance of income and lifestyle. These are goals vastly different from those the older gen-eration might have had. Or perhaps they are things for which their parents wished all along, but didn’t dare to ask.

Andrew Monchuk is 30 years old. He’s married to Pam and they farm with his Dad near Lanigan, Sask. Andrew has been farming full time since finishing his agriculture degree in 2003. At 1,750 acres, their farm is relatively small by Saskatchewan standards, but the family is expecting to expand to 2,500 acres next year. They have 1,000 acres of grass and pasture, run 50 cows, and back-ground calves over the winter.

What does Monchuk want as a young farmer? He defines things in terms of personal and financial goals, though the two overlap. He’d like to see his farm business be financially successful so he can expand, but also so he can farm in a sustainable manner. He’d also like the

farm to make enough money to raise a family and provide for the eventual retirement of his folks.

Like many, his goals get a little fuzzy when he talks about the personal side of things. Simply put, he wants to have a successful farm and enjoy being there.

“You see people who hate the farm. I don’t want that,” Monchuk says. Enjoy-ment comes from two angles. First there is the independence farming offers. “I don’t have to punch a clock. And to a certain degree I get to decide what to do and do it. I don’t have to ask permis-sion… well except from Dad,” he laughs.

Second, Monchuk enjoys the lifestyle farming offers. He lives in an area with a huge potash industry where there is no lack of high-paying jobs. But he ques-tions what people in that industry give up in order to get ahead, most impor-tantly family and leisure time. The Mon-

What is it young people want anyway?

Bringing the universal question to the farm

b u s i n e s s

Ph

oto

cr

edit

: ref

lec

tio

Ns

by

ric

ha

rd

By Anne Lazurko, CG Contributing Editor

b u s i n e s s


chuks have a long-term goal to see both Andrew and Pam working full time on the farm, something you couldn’t con-ceive of in many other industries.

Still, such goals are common in family businesses of any nature, says Art Lange, farm and industry adviser with AJL Con-sulting out of Sherwood Park, Alta.

“Most family businesses come about in the first place because the individuals want some control over their personal lives and to be independent,” Lange says. “I saw farmers in crisis five years ago who found a way to make it (their farm) work because their lifestyle was para-mount. Any independent business people cherish their independence and being responsible for driving the business.”

At the same time “young farmers don’t necessarily want the farm to be the be-all and end-all for their total lives,” Lange says. “They want private time for

themselves and their families separate from, or away from, the farm.”

And they want a good income and the ability to influence decision-making. “Sometimes the younger generation is seen as glorified hired labour, they are not well paid and not part of decision-mak-ing,” Lange says. “Why would they stay? The next generation cares about a living income, however that’s defined. They are not willing to live on a low income just because there’s a side of beef thrown in.”

“The older generation stuck with it. If they had a few good years they lived on that and simply kept plugging away dur-ing the bad,” Lange says. “Quitting and selling out was seen as a failure.”

That’s not good enough for today’s young farmers, who bring other lessons from industry to the farm. They want to have business plans, marketing plans, set goals and objectives, and determine how

to get there and the measures of success, Lange says. “Saying ‘Someday this will all be yours’ may backfire if they look at the books and it scares them away.”

If young farmers don’t see a hope of success on the balance sheet, they are more willing to walk away from an unprofitable farm. Lange believes part of the onus then is on older farmers to have their affairs, such as debt, in order so that succession doesn’t cripple the younger generation.

Andrew Monchuk believes this last point is a two-way street. “We (young farmers) have more of a sense of entitle-ment than our fathers did,” he admits. “We see a guy with 5,000 acres and want to be there today. That guy might have taken 30 years to build to that point.”

His father is still actively farming and Monchuk is realistic about the time it will take. “It’s a partnership in transi-tion… kind of a mentorship program that allows me certain freedoms,” he says. “Mine will be a long-term appren-ticeship. I have to learn the pieces of the puzzle as I go and the more I learn and the more I can do, the more responsibil-ity I can take on.”

Planning, adapting and using tech-nology all enter into the picture. While we all know you can’t avoid the busy seeding and harvest seasons, Monchuk believes there are tools that can help optimize time for things other than farm-ing. Marketing decisions can be set out ahead using technology and using tools such as futures and options. If you can plan your marketing schedule, you can also plan a holiday around that.

Labour is an issue for any farm and the booming industrial sector in Sas-katchewan is driving up wages. “I think you have to be able to adapt to every situation and be willing to hire some-one, and pay what they need in order to reduce stresses and get the job done and have time with family,” Monchuk says.

Monchuk also believes he will have to make realistic decisions based on the indicators that Art Lange talks about. “If we got too big and couldn’t find help, then we’d have to look at downsizing, fewer cattle, less land or whatever the situation is and what the business plan looks like,” Monchuk says. “You can work smarter and not necessarily harder, and be better off.”

That’s not likely to be something you’d have heard come out of a farmer’s mouth 50 years ago. CG

“ We have more of a sense of entitlement than our fathers did.”

— Andrew Monchuk

™Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC®All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.® Registered trademark of the Canadian Football League0811-16906-1

Our hybrids are backed by healthier agronomic performance, higher profi ts from healthier oil premiums and contracts, and the Healthiest Profi t Challenge. More acres are needed right now to meet the growing demand for heart-healthy Omega-9 Oils. Talk to your Nexera canola crusher or retailer. Call 1.800.667.3852 or visit healthierprofi ts.ca.

HEALTHIER YIELDS BY THE BUSHEL.

EVEN MORE PROFIT BY THE BOTTLE.

Now the profi t is really fl owing, with NexeraTM canola genuity® Roundup Ready®

and Clearfi eld® hybrids.

Proud partner of the

HYBRID GUSHER.IT’S

A

16907-1_HybridAd-CountryGuide.indd 1 11-08-22 8:51 AM

™Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC®All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.® Registered trademark of the Canadian Football League0811-16906-1

Our hybrids are backed by healthier agronomic performance, higher profi ts from healthier oil premiums and contracts, and the Healthiest Profi t Challenge. More acres are needed right now to meet the growing demand for heart-healthy Omega-9 Oils. Talk to your Nexera canola crusher or retailer. Call 1.800.667.3852 or visit healthierprofi ts.ca.

HEALTHIER YIELDS BY THE BUSHEL.

EVEN MORE PROFIT BY THE BOTTLE.

Now the profi t is really fl owing, with NexeraTM canola genuity® Roundup Ready®

and Clearfi eld® hybrids.

Proud partner of the

HYBRID GUSHER.IT’S

A

16907-1_HybridAd-CountryGuide.indd 1 11-08-22 8:51 AM


generation ago, Sarah Wray might have gone looking for a farm organi-zation to join. Maybe she would even have started a new club so beginning farmers such as she and her husband

Logan could learn from others about getting off to a good start. Or she might have opened up a new branch of Junior Farmers.

Instead, the young Alberta farmer turned to the Net. Instead of looking for a meeting to attend, she and a handful of friends helped build a website for beginning farmers, got government funding to pay for it, and are getting credited with doing a world more good than they ever could at a club meeting.

It’s a sign of how Generation Y is going to do things differently.

Not only is this the first generation of farmers to have grown up with keypads welded to their finger-tips, it’s also a generation with new insights into the power of groups.

“Collaboration will create greatness,” Wray tells me with firm conviction.

Yet this generation is also easy to misunderstand. In fact, unless you make a special effort to listen in, it’s a generation that you’re almost certain to get wrong. Which is a pity, because it’s already clear that this is a generation that intends to make its mark.

“Communicating with Generation Y is a whole new playing field for most in agriculture,” says Wray, a part-time farmer from Bashaw, Alta., and one of the founders of FarmOn, a website for young farmers.

Every generation is distinguished by its experi-ences and expectations, as well as by the way it works and communicates. Farmers born from 1922 to 1945 are often called Traditionalists or Builders, and were influenced by the Great Depression and the Second World War. Then came the post-war wave of Baby Boomers, followed by Generation X, or the MTV Generation as it sometimes called, which was born from about 1965 to 1980.

Now a new group of farmers is entering the profes-sion. Generation Y was born between the early 1980s and the new milennium, and this latest generation of farmers has its own unique way of communicating and working, and it has its own way of setting priorities too.

Plus, unlike any other generation in recent mem-ory, they’re launching their farming careers in a swell of grain market optimism and amidst a new wave of farmer-direct selling and computer technology.

“Our generation is part of the information age,” says Wray. “And using social media is second nature to us.”

Listening inGen Yers like Sarah Wray are already flexing their farm muscles. You just might not know it if you aren't linked in

By Maggie Van Camp, CG Associate Editor

B U S I N E S S

PH

OTO

CR

EDIT

: RO

XAN

NE

MIL

LER

B U S I N E S S


Started in 2007 by five friends who showed cattle together, www.farmon.com was initially created with financial backing from AVAC Ltd. as a way for new farmers to share experiences and learn about the business of farming. “We felt there was a real dis-connect between what was actually happening and us,” says Wray.

The friends also thought their generation needed a way to sort though the information overload while still having a chance to show and discuss ideas that can actually help. This is a multi-tasking generation, after all. A Gen Y farmer is often simultaneously

establishing a new farm business and working at an off-farm job, pursuing post-secondary education, and even raising a young family.

Not unlike many starting farmers, Wray and Logan both work full time off the farm. They also have three young children, and on top of that they direct market meat and eggs and are building a show-quality breeding herd of beef cattle on their quarter section.

“I look for my information at midnight, when it’s

THE SURVEY SAYS…Roughly 30 per cent of the farmers in Agri Studies Inc.’s recent survey of

commercial-size farms report they are using social media. That may not be a surprise. What’s surprising, though is that there didn’t seem to be any differ-ence across age groups.

Is it enough to debunk the idea that the entire younger generation is addicted to Facebook, while older farmers don’t even know what it is?

“Social media is simply another way to communicate,” says Justin Funk, managing partner of Guelph-based Agri Studies and president of the Cana-dian Agri Marketing Association (CAMA).

In the Agri Studies grower survey, “starting farmers” made up only three per cent of total respondents. Even so, it’s important for retailers to go after their business, Funk says.

They’re at a stage when they really value the extra service, Funk says. “Get them while they’re starting, especially for smaller local retailers. It pays to spend time for the future even though it takes extra work.”

Besides, he says, smaller producers also mean more profit. They need help and information, and are willing to pay for it. According to marketing theory, if there’s less competition, like in niche markets, you can charge more.

Still, the ag inputs sector also needs to get ready for the fact that Gen Y is going to change the game. In particular, this is a group that’s hard to tie down. “The industry has built itself on loyalty,” Funk says. “We’re not going to be able to hang our hat on it anymore.”

Yet in other ways, Gen Y farmers are the same as any others. Regardless of age or size of operation, the Agri Studies survey showed that the single most important factor in influencing farmers’ purchase decisions is their own experience with the product.

That means Gen Y farmers need more service and more information, but it also means an opportunity for suppliers who are willing to go the extra mile and give Gen Y farmers one-on-one help.

As innovation, performance and price become more important, suppliers will have to create new ways to sell, says Funk.

Pioneer dairy specialist for all of Canada, Robert Larmer, recently bought a farm west of Peterborough and lives and breathes mobile, real-time com-munication. Although some of his Gen Y customers have complete reign over all decisions, many are on multi-generational farms and don’t always make the final decision. Still their opinion matters.

Larmer has a Twitter account to communicate with his younger custom-ers, passing on things like yield information on a daily basis. Larmer’s not sure buying decisions are based on his tweets, but he says it’s a way to build a relationship with younger farmers. “I’m one of them so we understand each other,” he says

Says Larmer: “The younger-generation farmers may not have enough influ-ence yet to say yes, but they definitely can say no.”



too dark to work on the farm and the kids are asleep,” says Wray.

FarmOn’s recently updated platform, funded by Rural Alberta Development Fund and a Rural Diversification Initia-tive grant, combines social networking with e-learning. The Farm Masters por-tion delivers extension content in short videos, downloadable PDF documents and audio podcasts.

Farmers can also ask questions and interact with expert guides, all while forming relationships with their peers that essentially become their own online support system.

The goal isn’t to recreate the infor-mation, says Wray. It’s to engage farm-ers and experts of all ages to discuss the information. It’s also a way to link new farmers with actionable resources, men-tors and the general public.

“We all strive to make our busi-nesses better but sometimes we can’t

do it alone,” says Wray. “It takes the power of many.”

Texting, instant messaging and email are tools for unprecedented connectivity, but they aren’t alone. There’s also sharing videos through websites like YouTube, plus other broadly used social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

In an agriculture where the distances between farms — and between farmers and consumers — are getting larger every day, this is a generation that has refused to let distance become an obstacle.

“Farming has changed already, purely because communication has changed,” says Wray. By engaging the general public and by injecting their opinions into farm businesses strategies, Wray says farmers will continue to improve. In fact, she says it’s unavoidable at this point.

Reflecting the social network all-inclusive concept, FarmOn is open to all experiences and promotes the conversa-tion around that, both positive and nega-tive. “It’s like a big coffee shop,” says

Wray. “We hope it provokes thoughts, tests credibility.”

Yet this is also an impatient genera-tion. Online communities can test and filter innovations quickly and widely. “Innovation in our industry has been underfunded,” says Wray. “We need new thoughts and new ideas.”

Next spring, the FarmOn Foundation wants to open their site to the broader agricultural community. For example, company crop specialists could not only reach their own farmers through the Far-mOn platform, they could also capture an expanded audience within the Far-mOn community.

If history repeats itself, Gen Y will continue evolving. In just a few short years email and chat rooms have become antiquated for many young people. Mobile apps are taking over.

“Mentorship and guidance are huge for my generation,” says Wray. “This is a way to capture and share this wealth of knowledge before it disappears.” CG

b u s i n e s s

“ Farming has changed already, purely because communication has changed.” — Sarah Wray


QUICK CONNECT

When Rodney Voldeng from Naicam, Sask. answers his cellphone, he says he’d like to be part of our discussion, but could I email him so he can respond when he’s not on the combine? Like most of the younger generation, Voldeng is open to sharing his opinion, but prefers communicating by computer.

Voldeng and his brother Doug grow 3,600 acres of grains and oilseeds. They also used to have a farrow-to-finish opera-tion but depopulated three years ago with the decline in pork prices. Voldeng has a degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is chair of the Saskatchewan Young Ag-Entrepreneurs, where his wife, Gwenda, is general manager.

For Voldeng, regular mail service is too slow, so information that comes in the mail-box tends to be the last to get looked at when time is tight. “Littering the mailbox with all kind of gimmicks is not a good way to get young farmers attention,” he says in his email written in the evening.

His smartphone, particularly via texting and Internet sourcing, is his communication conduit of choice. “Young farmers utilize more social media than ever before and communicate greatly by use of their cell-phones and texting,” Voldeng says.

Voldeng receives daily market updates through text messaging on his cellphone from a number of end users. “It’s extremely handy in helping me make marketing deci-sions, especially during the very busy times of the farming year,” he says.

He has noticed for most young, commer-cial scale farmers like himself, most input purchases are dictated by price, then perfor-mance and availability. That may not be all that different from his parents’ generation.

Also, most younger farmers shop for equipment at auction sales with price dictat-ing many purchases.

However, when negotiating with deal-ers, service is high on Voldeng’s priority list. Again, that can be true of older farmers too.

What may often be different, though, is his reliance on mobile technology to help manage both sides of the balance sheet. “Young farmers today are willing to shop around for price and service,” Voldeng says, “and they will deliver their product many miles away, if it’s best for their operation.”

B U S I N E S S

WHAT GENERATION IS YOUR FARM?

Ag marketing theory crashes with reality on Meredith Fuller’s desk. She’s vice-president of public relations at Quarry, an agricultural advertising firm in Waterloo, Ont., and she also farms part-time with her husband, Paul Knafelc.

They grow 12 acres of fruit in the heart of the Niagara Region, including strawberries, pearches and sweet cherries. They also work with Knafelc’s family, which farms next door, while another farmer manages and harvests about four acres of pears on their property. The couple sells at the farm gate and at a local farmers market.

It all means Fuller brings per-spectives not only as career execu-tive and farm business partner, but also as both marketer and buyer, listener and talker.

Painting all young farmers with the same communications brush can be a mistake, Fuller says.

Yes, some topics and issues do affect young farmers more than their older counterparts, or per-haps it’s different perspectives on those topics. However, she says generational divisions shouldn’t be used too rigorously, especially when you’re talking to farmers.

The label “young” can become shorthand for attributes such as innovativeness, tech savviness, willingness to take risks, and willingness to try new products or pro-duction practices, Fuller says. That’s a mistake, she says, “Many older farmers are quite tech savvy, innovative and first-adopters of new technology, products, and tech-niques.”

Instead she says the critical differences often lie more in stage of the farm and the size of the operation, not in the age of the farmer. “Most young farmers are in a family farm that they will likely take over,” Fuller says, “so communication also needs to con-sider the life-stage of the farm as opposed to the age of the farmer.”

For example, a new farmer just getting into the business or into a new type of production requires and appreciates much different information than a third-genera-tion farmer on a long-standing family operation, even though they could both be the same age.

In Fuller’s experience, farm size is often used more than farmer age in determining not only what is communicated, but how it is communicated. For example, since grow-ers with large operations spend more, they typically get more attention from the compa-nies, with reps driving up the laneway to talk machinery, seed and pesticides.

However, more companies are coming to grips with the need for multiple venues, says Fuller. For example, chemical companies produce both hard copy and online ver-sions of product guides, and they produce mobile apps to assess disease pressure while still hiring agronomists to walk fields.

Ag companies are also getting more sophisticated at customizing their grower com-munication, so growers get messages targetted directly at them, Fuller says. “As an industry we perhaps aren’t as far along that curve as others are, but it is improving.”

Farm stage often means more than farmer age,says Quarry’s Fuller



heir parents can probably be forgiven for assuming that a “farmer” growing five acres of strawberries in southern Ontario can’t possibly have anything to teach a young farmer breaking into

large-scale production on the Prairies.Even Christie Young, executive director with

Ontario’s FarmStart, describes her ideas about small-scale, new farmers as unique. But when you look at them juxtaposed with the concerns of Saskatch-ewan’s Andrew Monchuk (see What is it Young People Want, page 24), you can see that for the most part young farmers are all in this together.

First, though, you need to know that all of the members of the non-profit FarmStart organization are either immigrants, young people from non-farm-ing backgrounds, or older second-career farmers.

In fact, FarmStart’s mandate is to serve only these demographics, and to increase their presence and enhance their chances of success.

FarmStart supports the ideals of local markets, short supply chains, and even shorter value chains. Its members typically farm small acreages of higher value crops, and they promote ecological agricul-ture which, according to Young, doesn’t only mean organic. Almost all FarmStart members come at farming from an environmental or social perspec-tive, and they are seeking meaningful careers and opportunities for community stewardship.

“Certain people who weren’t born on a farm or who have farmed elsewhere make really good farm-ers,” Young says. And while FarmStart has helped many get a start with their incubator farm program, only 25 per cent of those who dream of farming will actually get there, she says.

While conventional farming types might be roll-ing their eyes about now, it’s important to under-stand these people mean business. “They are different than the back-to-the-landers,” Young says. “These are serious entrepreneurs who believe in the purpose and value of farming. But they are also coming to it with the intention to build a business, be their own boss, and make decisions.”

It seems these goals aren’t so different from Andrew

By Anne Lazurko, CG Contributing Editor

B U S I N E S S

Are the wannabe farmers in Canada’s biggest cities really so different? Maybe not

“ These are serious entrepreneurs who believe in the purpose and value of farming.”

— Christie Young

B U S I N E S S

Monchuk’s. So if the goals are the same, and the basic production concept is similar, maybe it’s true that there’s more that the different ends of Canada’s young-farmer demographic can learn from each other.

After all, the main commonality is that getting into farming isn’t easy for anyone, whether you’re born on a farm or not. It takes a spark, and maybe that spark is transferable.

FarmStart participants approach farming with the long term goal of earning their livelihood through their efforts. This differentiates them from hobby farmers who have been taking some flack in south-ern Ontario and B.C. for driving up land prices and “wasting” prime agricultural land. And while Farm-Start members may require off-farm income until they get their heads above water, so too do many young Saskatchewan farmers working their way into a 10,000-acre operation.

While the entire sector faces transitional chal-lenges regarding farming’s capital requirements, new farmers have to make a bigger leap because they come to it without family backing and so are search-ing for lower risk avenues to get into the business. Many FarmStart and incubator farms start small and lease a large portion of what they farm. They

can then scale up incrementally. They are also form-ing co-operatives, joint ventures and partnerships with other new entrants.

This is, of course, if land is available. In southern Ontario and B.C., speculators have bought up land and taken it permanently out of agricultural produc-tion, leaving little opportunity for the kinds of small farm initiatives Young is talking about.

“We have to get to retiring farmers before they have a crisis and sell to investors,” she says. “Often they would prefer to sell to a new farmer but the turnaround is too quick for that new farmer if it’s not planned ahead.” She’d like to see government policy developed that keeps agricultural land in the hands of farmers, security of land tenure, and possible public land ownership designed to help new entrants.

New and young farmers need a break, Young says. They need patient capital, they need venture capital to be extended to the agriculture sector, and they need better help with succession planning.

“Seventy-five per cent of farmers will retire in the next 10 years, and 60 per cent of those have no succes-sor,” Young says. “It’s unprecedented, and what does it mean? I think we have some huge readjustments to make to support a new generation of farmers.” CG

Gleaner is a registered trademark of AGCO. e3 is a global trademark of AGCO © 2011 AGCO Corporation • GL11C001ST-24-100049-1

THE NEXT BIG THING IN COMBINES ISN’T MUCH BIGGER AT ALL. Gleaner Super Series

combines featuree3 technology.

THE NEW ULTRA LIGHT WEIGHT, NIMBLE, FUEL EFFICIENT

Snap this tag with your smart phone to watch

the Gleaner Super Series in action.

DENNILL’S AGRICENTER, LTD.VEGREVILLE, AB T9C 1N6780-632-2514

PARKLAND FARM EQUIP., LTD.NORTH BATTLEFORD, SK S9A 2Y3306-445-2427

CARROT RIVER IMPL., INC.CARROT RIVER, SK S0E 0L0306-768-2715

FULL LINE AG SALES, LTD.SWIFT CURRENT, SK S9H 0A5306-773-7281

BROWNLEE FARM EQUIP.BROWNLEE, SK S0H 0M0306-759-2002

AG WEST EQUIP., LTD.PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB R1N 3C2204-857-5130

DRUMMOND’S FARM SVC., LTD.HOLLAND, MB R0G 0X0204-526-2740

GRANDE EQUIP., LTD.GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB T8V 4J7780-538-9330

NICK’S SERVICE, LTD.EMERALD PARK, SK S4L 1C6306-781-1077

K M K SALES, LTD.HUMBOLDT, SK S0K 2A0306-682-0738

SHOAL LAKE FARM EQUIP., LTD.SHOAL LAKE, MB R0J 1ZO204-759-2527

AGWORLD EQUIP.KINISTINO, SK S0J 1H0 306-864-2200

FULL LINE AG SALES, LTD.SASKATOON, SK S7K 3J7306-934-1546

WENSTROM EQUIP.LANGDON, AB T0J 1X0403-936-5801

WYNYARD EQUIP., SALES, LTD.WYNYARD, SK S0A 4T0306-554-3033

TROCHU MOTORS, LTD.TROCHU, AB T0M 2C0403-442-3866


hen I’m on assignment for COUNTRY GUIDE, young farmers have been talking to me for several years now along the lines of, “My father has hired hands, I have employees.” Now, however, today’s young farmers are

moving the HR yardsticks even further.My interview with 32-year old Jeff Vermeersch is a prime

example. Vermeersch, who operates a large cash crop farm near Tillsonburg, Ont. with his brother, Greg, age 36, and their parents George and Willy says he’s a better human-resources manager because he recognizes that he and his employees share a series of traits that have a huge bearing on loyalty, commitment and performance.

YOUNG EMPLOYEES TOO

B U S I N E S S

Their parents might learn some from pointers by watching how

today’s young farmers get more from young employees

By Helen Lammers-Helps


“ My generation needs to be praised, rewarded continuously and have someone take interest in our personal development.”

— Jeff Vermeersch


www.farmtechconference.comFor complete details and the latest updates,

Toll Free 1-866-FARMTECREGISTER BEFORE JAN. 6th, 2012

for Early Bird Discounts!

FarmTech 2012 Speakers

FarmTech 2012is Proudly Hosted By:

Join us... Jan. 24-26Edmonton EXPO CENTRE

at Northlands

FarmTech2012

General Rick HillierFormer Chief of the Defence StaffCanadian Forces

Glen HodgsonSenior Vice-President and ChiefEconomistConference Board of Canada

John ShmorhunPresident & CEO - Harmelia Holdings73,000 ha farm in the Ukraine

James PeckManaging Director & Nuffield ScholarP.X. Farms Ltd.Contract farming agri-business in England

Gerry DeeAward Winning ComedianFarmTech 2012 Banquet

FarmTech 2012 promisesto be bigger and betterthan ever.The Edmonton EXPO Centre is allowing FarmTech togrow to meet the demand: more participants,more educational sessions, bigger meetingrooms, and a bigger tradeshow.

The new agenda has expanded to include 60 concurrent sessions covering the latest in technology, environment, agronomy and farm business management.

ACTS IIALBERTA CONSERVATION TILLAGE SOCIETY II

FarmTech 2012is Proudly Hosted By:

Global Perspectives...Local Knowledge

b u s i n e s s

As a young farmer, Vermeersch says he’s constantly reminded of the differ-ences between his generation and his par-ents.’ “We’re more involved with our families,” Vermeersch says. “We want more time off to spend with our families than our fathers did. Our wives work off the farm and the world doesn’t revolve around the farm the way it used to.”

Vermeersch also believes farming today is simply more intense, and that it can take a toll faster than it used to. It’s why the Vermeersch farm has set out structured schedules to allow time for family and renewal. “We all try to take at least one day off per weekend to spend with our families,” says Vermeersch, who also tries to get away for an annual vacation.

“Farming seems to get more stressful every year so we like to get away for a winter vacation,” he adds, noting that his parents at his age didn’t seem to have the same need to travel and “to see what else is out there.”

On the Vermeersch farm, what goes for the farmer, goes for the employees too, including the five full-time staff as well the family members involved in the operation.

“Farming is a business these days more than a way of life,” Vermeersch says. It’s a sentiment that most farmers would agree with, whatever their age. But Vermeersch and his contemporaries take it a step farther.

“Like any business, you need to have more structured hours if possible, espe-cially with employees in the younger gen-eration,” Vermeersch says. “We always meet every day at 8 a.m. at our office to set the expectations for the day in terms who is going where and what they are doing. In the off season we try to end the day at 4:30 p.m. This way the employees can plan their lives! 8-4:30 p.m.!”

“In the busy time we work hard, long days like any farming operation,” Vermeersch adds, “but we always try to be reasonable and safe, as working too many hours burns people out and quality of work dramatically decreases.

“If at all possible we try and take Sundays off, except during planting and harvest if weather forces us to work on a Sunday.”

Vermeersch employees get two weeks off plus they can take their banked overtime off if they wish. “Vacation is important to clear your head and come back refreshed and ready to go again,” Vermeersch says.

It’s important to be flexible too, he adds. “We try to accommodate any of the employees who need to spend time with their children or partners, as we acknowl-edge everyone has responsibities at home. Recently we have designed a perfor-mance-management system to reward our employees for taking responsibility and working above and beyond. We set targets as a team and individually.

“As part of the performance manage-ment we also try and outline one or two personal development areas (training). As part of the performance management we review one on one with the employees to give and receive feedback. We have found that it is extremely important to allow employees to be independent and give them an opportunity to voice opinions.”

It’s just part of what makes this gener-ation different, Vermeersch says. And it is a difference that employers need to note, because employees will rapidly figure out whether they’re working in an environ-ment that is one they want to stick with.

“My generation needs to be praised, rewarded continuously and have some-one take interest in our personal devel-opment,” Vermeersch says. Some other farmers might complain about what seems like hand holding, but to Vermeersch, it marks an opportunity. “This is all part of our employee retention plan.”

Building on youthVermeersch’s comments ring true with

Deb Calverley, business adviser with MNP LLP in Deloraine, Man. Farmers today are looking for a more defined work-life balance, Calverley says. “Business owners as a whole, including farmers, are recog-nizing their own need to spend more time with their family and to take planned breaks from the business.”

The farm as a people place has changed, Calverley says.

In the past, the farm was the hub of family activity, with the entire family working together and everyone driven

first and foremost by the objective of making the farm as successful as possible.

Today, by contrast, family interaction no longer centres on the farm, Calverley says. “People are working off the farm, and children are more involved in extra-curricular activities.”

In the same timeframe, however, the farm as a business has changed at least as much. Today’s farms are larger and they operate in more competitive markets. The machinery is massive, too, because more work must be done in a shorter period of time.

Such changes come with major implica-tions for human resources. Many jobs on the farm today are too complex for a teen-ager just off the bus from high school. The equipment is too complicated, the jobs are too time sensitive, and the costs of getting it wrong can quickly become astronomic.

Besides, in order to achieve their own work-life balance, farmers need knowl-edgeable and reliable employees. “Like other business owners, farmers face the challenge of attracting and retaining good labour,” Calverley says. “They need to offer an employment package which among other things allows for their employees to achieve a work-life balance.”

Today’s farmers are also building busi-ness models with the specific intention of providing opportunities that support work-life balance and allow more family time and vacations. For example, Calver-ley worked with one operation involving three families. The first step was a family discussion to determine their personal and business goals for the purposes of creating a mission statement. All three partners identified work-life balance as one of their goals. As a result, they agreed upon vaca-tion schedules and days off and wrote these into their policy manual.

John Fast, an executive coach and president of Family Enterprise Solu-tions, has worked with farm families in every agricultural sector in every prov-ince. He sees the increased focus on



Ph

oto

Cr

edit

: dav

id C

ha

rle

swo

rth


work-life balance in the younger genera-tion as a very positive change.

When working with farm families, he has seen some family members — more often men but sometimes women — become addicted to work. “There’s nothing wrong with hard work but it can get excessive,” says Fast. “It gives people a sense of confidence, and a measure of control, but if we look deeper it’s often because they feel emotionally discon-nected from others but don’t know what to do about it.”

Such workaholic farmers might think they’re committed to the farm when in fact, they’re avoiding dealing with issues that would make them healthier, more effective managers. “They lack the abil-ity to express themselves and to develop more intimacy in their relationships,” explains Fast. “I’ve seen a lot of pain and depression among farmers as a result.”

Fast recommends farm couples partici-pate in a marriage-enrichment workshop. They're a good way to tune-up a mar-riage, they’re fun, and they’re a tool for moving up to peak performance, he says.

Such programs stimulate discussion and

open up the communication lines, Fast says. “Often spouses have no idea what the other person wants to get out of life.”

Farmers must be disciplined about scheduling vacations and time off, con-tinues Fast. “If you are emotionally healthy you will find ways to create positive time to spend with your fam-ily,” he says. If it’s just not possible to schedule big blocks of time away from the farm, use smaller blocks of time to participate in activities you enjoy. He also recommends cultivating friendships and social networks.

The next generation who will be suc-cessful will “professionalize their farms” and run them more like businesses, says Fast. With a better understanding of work-life balance, the younger genera-tion will manage their time differently than previous generations.

In Fast’s experience, the older gen-eration seems to feel the need to do everything themselves. But a division of labour which creates clear roles for those involved in the operation frees up time and allows them to use it more creatively.

Unfor tunate ly, th i s increased emphasis on time off by the younger generation can create tension between the generations. The tendency of the younger generation to manage their time differently may be seen by the older generation as a criticism of their own lifestyle, or they may think the younger generation is less committed.

That’s the wrong message for parents to draw, says Calverley.

Work-life balance is good for the busi-ness, Calverley says. In fact, it should be a business objective, and it should be discussed and planned for just like any other part of the business, with action-able plans and a firm commitment to implementing them.

Calverley says that while it is chal-lenging, work-life balance can be achieved by creating a business plan and a cash flow forecast that supports this goal. And there’s good reason to make work-life balance one of your business goals, she says. Close personal relationships are essential for helping us weather the storms of life and the stresses of farming. CG

b u s i n e s s

The Government of Canada is delivering on its promise to give marketing freedom to Western Canadian wheat and barley farmers.* An open grain market means more investment, more innovation, more value-added jobs as well as a stronger economy.

For further information, please visit www.agr.gc.ca/freedom

or call 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) TTY: 1-800-926-9105

YOUR CROP, YOUR CHOICE

*Subject to parliamentary approval.


CG: Why are we seeing so much new technology hit the market all at once?

Jim Walker: I can only answer from our stand-point, but five years ago the company made a con-scious decision to do two things. First and foremost was to assure top reliabil-ity in our existing products in the marketplace. Then,

second was to take us to a leading competitive position with our core-competency products. What we’re seeing now is, we have the highest reliability rating for our products that I can remember.

Now along with the completion of our Tier 4 Mag-nums and Steigers, which we just introduced, we’re introducing Tier 4 on the combines for next year. We’ve completed a massive renovation of our product offering, on virtually every core product we offer.

CG: Are we going to continue to see this pace of new product releases from Case IH in the coming seasons, or was this an exceptional year?

Walker: I think the pace may slow somewhat. We have plans for some avenues we haven’t completed yet, like CVT transmissions and tracks on row-crop tractors. Those are in our short-term future plans. But for me, the next generation of product technol-ogy is certainly the precision-farming field. That’s going to be the product of the future for us.

CG: Now that Case IH has its plan and technology in place to meet Final Tier 4 engine emissions stan-dards, will that free up engineering resources to focus on other systems, like precision farming products?

Walker: What we did was take advantage of our heritage and engine development experience with Iveco (a sister company also owned by Fiat Group).

So, yes we did put quite a few resources toward the development of Tier 4, but really it was more about adapting it to agriculture. We had already been run-ning Tier 4 engines in the truck industry for five years or so, especially in Europe.

We really didn’t think we had to make a decision about which technology we were going with, EGR or SCR. We already had our minds made up. But we had to make sure it was applicable to our agricul-tural products. I think a lot of companies had to put a lot of resources toward that, but in our case, with a proven example, it really doesn’t free up that much (engineering resources) in our agricultural sector.

CG: This year you announced the formation of a new division within Case IH that will work with Trimble, your technology provider, to create new pre-cision-farming products for the brand. Has demand in that area grown significantly?

Collin Rush: It (precision farming) used to be an attachment, even up to just a few years ago. Precision farming used to be defined as just guidance technology. But what we’re seeing now is it’s becoming impossible to separate the machine from the technology. The integration is huge. We’ve stopped treating it as an add-on; we’re treating it as

a ground-up integration. Technology going forward is going to be completely integrated into that machine with telematics and vehicle control. We’ve got things in the works ready to release in the next 12 to 18 months that will be game-changers for a lot of our equipment. It’s a very critical part of our plans.

Walker: It (precision farming technology) has

Senior execs at Case IH tell us what you’ll be buying next year (hint: big on precision ag, flatter on CVTs)

By Scott Garvey, CG Machinery Editor

b u s i n e s s

MoRe, MoRe, MoRe

more new tractor and combine models have been rolled out in 2011 than ever before, thanks in part to strong farm commodity

prices that have farmers buying equipment at a pace that has assembly lines working at top speed.

Those farmers aren’t just looking for the new-car smell. They’re demanding bigger, better and more efficient. In today’s

superheated marketplace, last year’s technology is already out of date, and manufacturers can’t afford to sit on their hands.

For an insider’s perspective, Country Guide sat down with two senior executives at Case IH. Jim Walker is head of the

company’s North American agricultural operations, and Collin rush is senior director of speciality business in North America.

Here’s how they see the industry, the insatiable demand for new technology, and future market demand.

Jim Walker

Collin Rush


already shown it’s a necessity for the future. Up until this year, tractor auto-guidance ready for plug and play used to be an option; now it’s standard equip-ment. We know customers are going to at least want auto-guidance. Three or four years ago when it was an option, we used to have a 10 to 30 per cent rate of take.

CG: Is the demand for guidance and precision technology confined to high-horsepower equipment or is it filtering down to lower-horsepower machines?

Rush: We’ve had a lot of requests from fleet customers who run tractors in the 100-horsepower range, that they want telematics monitoring of their equipment. It’s being integrated in all areas. For small producers it’s not as big a request, cer-tainly. But I’d say it’s 80 per cent of our focus right now. Machines all across our product range are going to have some sort of technology influence from telematics.

CG: Is the joint effort with Trimble going to result in some Case IH-specific products that won’t be available through Trimble’s own product line?

Rush: Yes, absolutely. That is part of our agreement to provide branded prod-ucts that integrate with our ISOBUS sys-tems. There will be things that won’t be available through Trimble’s other dealers.

CG: Speaking of ISOBUS, is Case IH moving toward full ISOBUS-compliant systems?

Rush: Where we can. We’ve put out that open architecture system to at least be compatible with aftermarket systems. We do have some proprietary technology. We truly believe with mixed fleets ISOBUS is the key to meeting producers’ needs.

CG: Case IH is increasing the number of models offering CVT transmissions. Is there a growing demand for CVT?

Walker: I think some sectors, such as potato or beet growing that use the type of harvesting equipment that requires con-stant speed and torque, along with manure hauling and those types of things, created the demand for it. As discretionary income became a little more available, people thought that was the best new transmission available, and a lot of people were equating IVT or CVT with maximizing fuel economy.

Now, a lot of manufacturers (includ-ing Case IH) have introduced perfor-mance management systems that develop the best fuel economy (in any transmis-sion type). Up until this point IVT/CVT represented fuel economy or a specific-task transmission. Now I think fuel management systems have separated out

the need for many CVTs. But they’ve found their niche now, and they’ll remain important for the industry.

CG: The new Case IH Magnum with 370 horsepower is the largest tractor on the North American market to offer a CVT transmission. Will CVTs be available in even larger tractors in the future?

Walker: We’re leaving ourselves options. If we see a demand for it with other implement sizes and horsepower requirements, we’ll go there. The other avenue we’re exploring is taking the Steiger styling, from the point of a four-wheel drive, and putting that into a row-crop, Quad Trac-type system. That might be the answer to producers’ needs as opposed to a CVT.

CG: The Case IH dealer network oper-ated by Rocky Mountain across the West is the largest in Canada. Is the large multi-outlet dealership group the best way to provide the level of sales and ser-vice needed by modern farmers?

Walker: Rocky Mountain is a publicly traded company and there is another in the U.S., Titan Machinery, which is also publicly traded. In working with dealers that large we’re certainly showing we’re not afraid of being involved with that type of ownership. I certainly think whether it’s publicly or privately owned, we’re open to that; we’re not trying to drive it one way or the other. The most important thing is that your footprint (as a dealer) has to be one that gives you the economics to make

you competitive. It (dealership size) is com-petitively driven.

CG: Farm size, too, is growing. If you look to the future, do you see machinery size and the demand for horsepower con-tinuing to grow as well?

Walker: One of the things that drives the industry is the need to be profitable. We had our ups and downs in the 80s and 90s, which led to growth in farm size. There certainly was a consolida-tion all across the industry that happened quickly, but now with the new econom-ics, I think it’s slowed a bit. There are a limited number of acres out there and not all of it is for sale. It’s very clear that as other opportunities appear, such as specialty crops or as the economics of farming change, there’s going to be some balance out there in the size of farm operations. The used equipment market will demand that also. We can’t just sell all new, large equipment and expect that to disappear. It has to go somewhere.

CG: Farm equipment manufacturers have been enjoying strong profits and growth despite trouble in the global econ-omy. Do you foresee continuing strong machinery sales?

Walker: We see good commodity prices driving decent farm income for the next number of years. As long as we have a strong global demand for farm commodi-ties, these prices, along with a weaker U.S. dollar, will sustain demand for machinery. CG

About Case IHCase IH along with sister brand New Holland (and Steyr in europe) make up the agri-

cultural machinery brands consolidated under CNH Global, a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Group. Case IH products are sold through a network of about 4,900 dealers in more than 160 countries around the world. In 2010, North America accounted for about 41 per cent of CNH’s nearly US $14.5 billion in net sales, making it the second-largest global farm equipment manufacturer behind John Deere.

Case IH was formed with the merger of Case Corporation and International Harvester in 1985, and it can trace its origins back as far as 1842, when the original J.I Case com-pany was founded. In 1999, Case IH became part of CNH Global.

b u s i n e s s

ll too often, a farm’s success is mea-sured exclusively in economic terms. It’s a job we know how to do. Net income, net worth, debt to equity, return to investment, and profitabil-

ity are great tools to use to determine the financial health of the business.

Yet we know that success is defined by more than simple economics.

For instance, when the Enterprise Council on Small Business asked Canadian business owners last year how they determine success, the response they got was one word: “satisfaction.”

What makes satisfaction? There are a lot of contrib-

uting factors, of course, but for 41 per cent of owners in the council’s survey, there was an important compo-nent: “maintaining a healthy work/life balance.”

“Too many people think that success is wrapped up in things,” says Ron Haynes, who has a degree in human resource management plus an MBA in marketing, and is currently a partner in a national building material company in the U.S. “But the truth is, success is wrapped up in how you see yourself and how you’re able to enjoy your life. To have a com-pletely successful life along these lines, you’ll need to consider these six components: peace of mind, health

“The best family farms”The young-farmer problem has its own dimensions for Hutterites, where each colony must found another

By Gerald Pilger


b u s i n e s s

Myth #1 Hutterites have an unfair advan-tage because of the free labour.

“Labour is anything but free on a colony,” says mNP’s Gordon Tait. “The colony looks after every need of every individual including housing, education, and even medical. This is a very high cost, even with the simple life-style of the Hutterites.”

Myth #2 Hutterites are massive landowners controlling huge tracts of land.

Hutterites own only about one per cent of the farmland in Canada, yet over 30,000 people live on the 340 colonies. In fact Hut-terites farmers own and manage very little land on an acre-per-person basis

Myth #3 Hutterites don’t pay income tax.

“Hutterites actually pay a significant amount of tax,” Tait says. “In 1961 the income tax act was changed and a section was added specifi-cally addressing Hutterite colonies. The Hutter-ite community likely pays more income tax than the average business person or farmer.”

Myth #4 Hutterite colonies are self-sufficient.

“Colonies are far from self-sufficient," Tait says. “They are huge contributors to the agri-

cultural economy, buying equipment, inputs, and supplies from local communities and marketing both raw commodities and pro-cessed products. It is estimated Hutterites are responsible for 10 per cent of the agricul-tural economy in Alberta.”


Four rural Myths Even after a century, many outsiders still believe the myths and spread the old rumours about Hutterite colonies in Western Canada. MNP’s Gordon Tait says it’s time to set the record straight:

On Manitoba’s Starlite Colony, James Hofer lives and farms in a culture that emphasizes the common good. It turns out to be a culture that is also a successful farm business model.

OTHER CANOLA IS YELLOW…

OURS IS GOLD

6060 RR SetS the neW GOLd StandaRd

BrettYoung’s highest yielding hybrid, 6060 RR, out-yielded commercial checks by 2.6 bu/ac (106%). Providing impressive

yields, 6060 RR is a leader in its class.

For proven consistent performance with yields equal to the commercial checks and better standability and harvestability, turn to 6040 RR.

In the end, it all comes down to performance, and BrettYoung brings a new standard of excellence to the field.

JON MONTGOMERY2010 Olympic Gold Medalist – Skeleton2008 World Championship Silver Medalist

“In any field, a gold medal performance is a result of preparation, hard work and unwavering support.”

6060 RR6040 RR

brettyoung.ca 800-665-5015

BrettYoung is a trademark of BrettYoung Seeds Limited. Roundup Ready® is a registeredtrademark and used under license from Monsanto Company. 11034 10.11

Check 100%

1Check is an average of 45H28 and 7265 over 18 replicated field scalegrower trials (2010).

Yield0 30 60 90 120

6060 RR 106%1

100%6040 RR

BY_RR_ad_FC_CanDigest_Nov__ 11-10-24 8:50 AM Page 1


B U S I N E S S

THE VIEW FROM INSIDEBy P. M. WipfFarm StewardViking Hutterite ColonyViking, Alta.

There are approximately 31,000 Hutterites in Canada, living on 340 colonies. Each colony has approximately 18 families working together to farm an average of 8,800 acres, or about 490 acres per family. That is not enough acres per family (farm) to be sustainable with today’s machinery. On a colony, since there are more than enough operators, equipment costs are minimized by sharing fewer pieces of machinery.

Also, with that many families on those few acres, Hutterites have the ability to be self-sustainable in many areas. We are able to raise and process our own beef, pork, poultry, dairy etc. On-farm carpenters, plumbers, electri-cians, mechanics and welders take care of building and repair needs. The ladies can be full-time moms and concentrate on homemak-ing, housekeeping, cooking, canning, etc.

The basic Hutterite business model is mixed farming consisting of dairy, beef, poul-try, hogs and agricultural land. But we have to take into consideration that some colonies are situated in areas that may be better suited for either crop farming or ranching, or they may be closer to certain markets such as hog-slaughtering plants, oilfields, manufacturing or other opportunities. There is emphasis on marketing and promoting our production as fresh and good quality and adding value rather than shipping the raw products. For example, some colonies are now selling processed meat instead of live beef.

Hutterite colonies have different levels of decision making, but virtually no decision is made alone. There are the elders, who consist of the minister, financial manager, field manager and one or two advisers, and the members who consist of all baptized males.

The elders have a brief meeting every work-day morning to discuss things like the day’s plans and activities. Subjects are first brought up at these everyday meetings. For instance, while the manager decides what to plant and what levels of input to use, his decisions are made with input from these meetings.

Equipment purchasing is also discussed and prices from various dealers are gathered by the financial manager. Major decisions such as equipment upgrades and purchasing are then made at a general meeting with all members attending and providing input, pref-erences, and the pros and cons.

The key to marketing the production of the

colony is knowing your cost of production (i.e. the break-even prices) and then trying to sell into a rising market. Marketing decisions vary from colony to colony depending on financial situations, bin space and cash flow, and pro-duction marketing is the financial manager’s decision with input from the elders. The key is not to get too greedy.

Colonies work closely with financial advis-ers, keep good records and are continually monitoring their cost of production. The goals which Hutterite colonies set are very simple ones. Our whole objective is to put a roof over our head and food on the table. Like any other family farm, we are consciously aware and pay attention to planning.

Hutterites are not get-rich quick, retire, build a mansion or travel the world to savour the well-earned fruits of a hard career or endeavour. No, it’s about leaving the colony (land and barns) in better shape for the next generation, preferably in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way for we are work-ing with God’s creation (the land, earth) and we respect and honour that. It’s all about car-ing for our children and children’s children!

The real strength of a Hutterite colony is being interdependent, working together, and the belief that the community is more important than any individual. There is no room for selfishness. One could conclude that the strength comes from leaders who are gifted and can inspire the members, and from members who treat their peers with dignity and respect.

Other strengths or advantages include the willingness to share the workload, which pro-vides the labour force needed for farming. Also important is a willingness to share the vision of profits going towards a common good (such as caring for the elderly, widowed and disabled) while providing a stable (if some-what sheltered upbringing) for the young and providing for future generations.

Our goal is not necessarily to get rich. It is to sustain a lifestyle that is conductive to a Christian life for us and for our children.

Other than pooling our labour and property we have no big advantage over other farms. We pay taxes and are price takers when we buy and sell commodities just like all other farmers. Non-Hutterite farmers could realize the same benefits by getting together and forming a buy-ing company to purchase multiple pieces of equipment or other farm inputs.

Farming is what Hutterites want to do. However, it is tough adjusting one’s heart and mind to the fact that it may not be possible and or profitable to do so. We understand very well that for the Hutterite community to sustain an agriculture livelihood there will be challenges and uphill battles, just like for anyone else.

With farming and the challenges that we face, we recognize that more proactive planning will be necessary, such as better knowledge of the cost of production, future marketing, and working with consultants.

A successful Hutterite farm could be described firstly as a place where you would want to raise your family and where children can be children, growing up riding horses, climbing trees, adventuring outside during the summer holidays, but also having the responsibility of certain chores such as help-ing in the summer garden, yard maintenance like cleaning up or mowing grass, helping with livestock, feeding calves, gathering eggs or many other things young people can do around the farm.

It is a place where there is an atmosphere that is conductive to Christian life, where it is as David mentioned in the Psalms 133. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” If we (Hutterites) can be sustainable that is all we truly want. Being excessively rich is not our aim; our aim is geared more towards our next life…

In conclusion, I’d like to say that we too are human and an imperfect people who from time to time make mistakes. We certainly don’t claim to be utopian. Really, we are all the same, just living out the challenge of life in different ways. We labour, worship, relax, chat and have fun living in peace with our loved ones as well as our neighbours.

I would like for my fellow man to know it is these similarities of the human existence that unite us. We are all God’s children.

Hutterites are a mosaic part of the multi-cultural Canada and we are thankful to call it our Home and Native land, thankful for our freedom of faith and livelihood.

It also helps that Canada is the best coun-try in the entire world.

b u s i n e s s

and energy, loving relationships, financial freedom, worthy goals, and personal fulfillment.”

Based on this broader definition of success, the most successful farmers today may be the Hutter-ites. Not only does their business model make them incredibly efficient, but the social structure of the colonies nurtures their members with peace of mind, relationships, and personal fulfillment.

Gordon Tait is the director of Hutterite services with Meyers, Norris, Penny, a company that has acted as adviser to the Hutterite brethren in Western Canada for over 50 years. Today, MNP represents 90 per cent of all the colonies in Canada.

Tait sees a number of reasons behind the suc-cess of Hutterite farm operations. “Hutterites have a very strong commitment to the colony,” he says. “They are hard-working and dedicated. They have significant farming skills, and each colony has a very diversified skill set.”

Tait points as well to the fact that colonies are primarily focused on agricultural production, and that the size of each colony enhances efficiency and enables diversification. “Hutterites are very adapt-able and extremely efficient,” Tait says. “They have the ability to share and make decisions which benefit the entire community rather than an individual.”

Plus, Tait adds, “Their simple lifestyle and no need for personal assets reduces the resources allo-cated for personal needs.”

To outsiders, a Hutterite colony may seem like a large industrial farm, but Tait believes Hutterites are probably the best example we have today of a family farm. “If you consider the number of families living on a colony, each family is supported by only 400-800 acres.

“By working together for the good of all, they reduce costs,” Tait says. “Whereas 10 non-Hutterite farms would require 10 full lines of equipment, the Hutterites’ willingness to share equipment and labour significantly reduces the machiney investment.”

The business model of a colony requires specializa-tion of labour. While on most farms the operator has to be a jack-of-all-trades, hiring off-farm for special-ized work, a colony trains a specific member for each job that is needed to be done.

A colony will have an individual who is respon-

calving

We need your...

Tips & Tales

Friends and neighbours, we are once again looking for your best calving tips and tales for Cattlemen’s expanded January 2012 Calving Special. We’re looking for good ideas, practical advice, or humorous tales and photos to share with fellow readers. A reward will be sent for Tips & Tales printed in this special.

Enter before November 30, 2011

Your reWard,a limited edition

Canadian Cattlemen cap

Send your Calving TipS & TaleS (and your address) to:

Canadian Cattlemen 1666 Dublin Avenue

Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1E-mail: [email protected]

Fax: 204-944-5416

“ By working for the good of all, they reduce costs.”

— Gordon Tait





sible for cropping and someone else who is responsible for each livestock sector. As well, each colony will have a car-penter, electrician, heavy-duty mechanic, and any other trade that is deemed nec-essary. “And if a colony doesn’t know how to do something, they are not afraid to learn,” says Tait. “One of the most important aspects of colony life is pass-ing on knowledge and experience to the next generation. Mentoring the young people in skills is very important in the Hutterite culture.”

The desire to learn and improve farming practices has made Hutterites early adopters of new technology. While they reject many lifestyle devices found in most homes, if new technology will increase farming efficiency, Hutterites will be among the first to embrace it. Computers and cellphones are now com-mon on colonies. The difference is, their use is restricted to the farm business rather than for personal enjoyment.

Yet technology has also reduced

labour requirements, which has led to a need for diversification strategies on many colonies. Colonies have diversified into non-agricultural businesses ranging from metalworking or carpentry. This willingness to diversify even prompted MNP to undertake a study in 2009 look-ing at the possibility of pairing Hutterite colonies with local food processors. That study (The Hutterite Option, Resourcing for the Future) found nearly 50 per cent of both food processors and Hutterite colonies see value in working together to bring new products to market. It found that partnering with a colony could provide both parties with advantages in labour, capital, resources, and even pro-duction quality.

This diversification is partially driven by the need for a colony to be profit-able, and while profitability is essential on all farms, it has some very concrete targets in Hutterite operations. Each colony must generate enough wealth to allow for creation of a new colony for the next generation.

Colonies split on average about every

20 to 30 years, and it takes a huge invest-ment to build a 7,000 to10,000 acre farm from scratch, especially when you also have to build housing and provide all of the services needed for the 60 to 160 people who will eventually be living there.

“The ability of Hutterites to continu-ally expand operations all comes back to their goal of working together in peace and harmony,” says Tait.

Tait believes all farmers can learn from the Hutterites. Sometimes, the les-sons can be very concrete, such as the benefits of sharing equipment in order to reduce inventories. Or the lessons might be structural, such as tapping into economies of scale by purchasing inputs co-operatively and marketing production jointly.

“Farmers could learn the benefits of strong leadership, good communication, and meeting together on a regular basis by looking at the Hutterite decision-mak-ing process,” Tait says. “But most of all, farmers could learn benefits that occur when the decisions are made based on contributing to the common good.” CG

b u s i n e s s

Ph

oto

cr

edit

: du

stin

Lea

der

• w

ww

.dus

tinle

ader

.ca


Hutterites can be the first to incorporate computers and new technology into their farming, but not into their personal lives.


BRITISH COLUMBIANov. 27-Dec. 3: Seasonal to cool. Fair but snow on a couple days inland with coastal rain.Dec. 4-10: Unsettled, windy on a couple days with rain and wind west, snow east. Often cold.Dec. 11-17: Fair skies interchange with rain west, snow east, possibly heavy. Sea-sonal to cold.Dec. 18-24: Heavier precipitation at times with seasonal to cold temperatures. Strong winds on several days.Dec. 25-31: Temperatures vary. Blustery. Intermittent coastal rain with periodic snow elsewhere.Jan. 1-7: Frequent coastal rain, occasional heavier snow inland. Mostly cold.Jan. 8-14: Unsettled and blustery at times. Occasional heavier precipitation. Cold.Jan. 15-21: Generally cold. Fair aside from periodic rain along the coast, inter-mittent snow elsewhere.

ALBERTANov. 27-Dec. 3: Changeable south with occasional heavier snow. Very cold, snowy north.Dec. 4-10: Blustery. Higher windchills. Fair skies alternate with occasional heavier snow.Dec. 11-17: Fair skies exchange with inter-mittent snow and drifting. Seasonal to cold.Dec. 18-24: Unsettled, windy, cold on two or three days with occasional snow, chance heavy in places.Dec. 25-31: Higher windchills. Windy at times. Fair but snow and drifting on two or three occasions.Jan. 1-7: High windchills. Fair weather inter-changes with periodic snow and drifting.Jan. 8-14: Variable and mostly cold. Gusty winds, snow and drifting on two or three days this week.

Jan. 15-21: Cold, clear on many days but slight warming in the south brings light snow.

SASKATCHEWANNov. 27-Dec. 3: Fair skies alternate with snow, heavy in places. Colder, often blus-tery.Dec. 4-10: Fair, seasonal but colder, windy outbreaks bring heavier snow, blowing on two or three days.Dec. 11-17: Changeable weather and at times stormy with snow and blowing. Often cold.Dec. 18-24: Unsettled. Higher windchills. Occasional heavy snow, blowing on a cou-ple days.Dec. 25-31: Cold. Fair but windy with snow drifting on two or three occasions. Bitterly cold north.Jan. 1-7: Very cold, fair on most days but light snow, drifting on a couple of occasions.Jan. 8-14: Cold air and fair skies domi-nate aside from scattered snow, drifting in the south.Jan. 15-21: Settled, cold on most days. Minor warming in the south brings snow, drifting.

MANITOBANov. 27-Dec. 3: Variable, blustery. Occa-sional snow, heavy in a few areas. Sea-sonal to cold.Dec. 4-10: A few higher windchills. Fair skies are interrupted by occasional heavier snow.Dec. 11-17: Seasonal to cold. Often unsettled, windy with occasional snow and blowing.Dec. 18-24: Weather and temperatures vary. Fair skies alternate with intermittent snow.

Dec. 25-31: Generally cold, windy with high windchills. Fair but snow, drifting on two or three days.Jan. 1-7: Seasonal to cold. Fair overall apart from some snow and drifting on a couple days.Jan. 8-14: Often cold with higher wind-chills. Slight warming brings some snow and drifting.Jan. 15-21: Settled other than scattered snow, drifting on two or three occasions. Higher windchills.

November 27, 2011 to January 21, 2012

NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURESAND PRECIPITATION

Coastal

rain / snow

NEAR NORMALSNOWFALL

SNOWIERTHAN NORMAL

Cold

Snowy

periods

ColdSnowyperiods

Frequent

snow / rain

Occasional

snow / rain

November 27, 2011 to January 21, 2012

NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTSThis winter, a la Niña is poised to bring a stormy weather pattern to most of western Canada, with British Columbia and the Prairies likely to bear the brunt of its inclement weather. It is expected that the southern portions of these provinces will be especially affected due to below-normal temperatures and heavier-than-usual snowfall. We also expect the cold, snowy conditions to advance into the Great Lakes by late December. However, readers living north and east of the Great Lakes basin all the way through to the Atlantic provinces can expect average winter conditions with near normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

Prepared by meteorologist Larry Romaniuk of Weatherite Services. Forecasts should be 80 per cent accurate for your area; expect variations by a day or two due to changeable speed of weather systems.

w e a t h e rNEAR NORMAL

COOLER THAN NORMAL

A C R E S


eff gulped. He could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead, but he wasn’t about to wipe it off, not with the whole family watching. This had been his idea. But now it

seemed like such a big decision. “Well?” Jeff’s dad Dale asked. “Are

we going ahead with this variable-rate fertilizer or not?”

Six weeks ago it had seemed simple. Jeff had gone to his father with a pro-posal, expecting Dale to put up a fight or at least a good debate. Jeff had prepared all his arguments. “The equipment came installed with the new tractor” Jeff said. “And I’ve done some research. Three dif-ferent guys I went to school with in Sas-katoon used this company last year, and they were all happy.” Jeff wanted to have Echelon develop a custom fertilizer plan for Hanson Acres, based on their produc-tion history, their target yield, and the organic matter seen by satellite photos.

“I took a look at the plan they made up for my friend Jason’s farm,” Jeff explained. “There were some fields where Jason needed to use a bit less fer-tilizer in total than he would normally, and some where he had to add a little bit

more. But by changing the rate within the field, Echelon figured he could make better use of the fertilizer. They made him a shiny binder,” Jeff passed around some pages he’d photocopied in his friend’s office. “See here,” he said, point-ing to the numbers at the bottom of the page. “Echelon thought Jason could get canola yields about 10 bushels an acre higher in some fields.”

“And how did that work out for him?” Dale asked.

“It’s hard to say, Jeff admitted. “Jason was in the same boat as us last year. It was too wet to seed.”

Ed hadn’t surprised anyone when he’d said, “We’re already spending too much money on fertilizer.” Ed is Dale’s father, Jeff’s grandfather. “Now you want to pay somebody to tell us to use even more in some places? Why don’t we just throw dollar bills out the window of the tractor while we seed? Maybe the birds could use them for nests.”

Dale and his wife Donna hadn’t really been on board either. “Interesting idea,” Dale said. “But I’m not convinced the tech-nology works well enough yet. Remember harvest in 2009? That stupid GPS monitor

in the combine broke down on the third day of harvest and those guys from the dealership didn’t figure out how to fix it until we had the whole crop in the bin.”

Donna wondered why they couldn’t just use the GPS yield maps they already had (from the years when the moni-tor actually worked), and vary the rate themselves. “You’re right there in the cab,” she said. “And you know the fields better than anyone.”

“Mother Nature doesn’t work in straight rows, Mom,” Jeff told his mother. “And it’s easy to see in some places — places that are really extreme one way or the other. The real challenges are the places where we need just a little bit more or less fertilizer than average.”

That left Jeff’s wife, Elaine. “I’ve only been part of this farm for a year,” Elaine said. “And it wasn’t exactly a great year.” Jeff and Elaine had left city jobs to move back to Hanson Acres just in time for the 2011 spring flood. They’d only managed to seed 500 of their 6,000 acres.

“But the method seems sensible,” Elaine went on. “And lots of people are using it. I don’t see what it could hurt to just meet with the guy.”

Variable risk

By Leeann Minogue

Dale remembers when he was the young one, trying to get his own father to accept change. Now he's the father and it’s his son Jeff who

is talking fertilizer strategy. Can it turn out different this time?

A C R E S

Ed complained. “Now I suppose we have talk to everybody who sends us a flyer in the mail. Good thing that guy who wanted everybody to breed pigeons has gone out of business, or we’d be giving him coffee and muffins too.”

Dale’s final comment had surprised Jeff. “Let’s go ahead and meet with these guys,” he’d said. “At least we’ll know what we’re not doing.”

So Jeff had phoned Echelon, and the president, Tom Staples, had come out to talk to the Hanson family. He’d given a good presentation. Ed had forgotten to be sarcastic, and even inter-rupted to ask a few helpful questions. Now Tom was gone, and the Hanson’s were sitting around the table, swirling the dregs of their coffee around in their cups.

Jeff had been butting heads with his father all spring and summer, trying to become part of the decision-making process on the farm. Now he finally had his chance. And he didn’t know what to say.

Compared to the potential profit, the $7.50 per acre cost seemed like a small price to pay. But when Jeff got out his cal-culator and multiplied $7.50 by their 6,000-acre farm, he kept getting $45,000. Jeff and Elaine had friends who didn’t earn that much money in an entire year. Could he really spend that much on something that wasn’t a sure thing? What if it didn’t work? Did he want to be responsible for that kind of loss? Tom had said they could wade in slowly, only try part of the farm in the first year. But still… And of course, the Hanson family knew that too much snow melt and spring rain might bring the second year running with almost no crop. Maybe this wasn’t the time to take a big risk. And Jeff and Elaine had a two-year old at home. Would this spending decision put his son’s future at risk?

Dale could see his son starting to panic. Dale remembered what it had been like for him, 20 years earlier, trying to con-vince Ed to use more fertilizer on the farm. Ed hadn’t made it easy. He’d mocked Dale’s arguments that fertilizer was an investment, not an expense. Dale had run test strips for three years straight to convince his father that the fertilizer would more than pay for itself. Ed had been a bit touchy about the subject ever since. Dale had vowed he’d treat his son differently. Respect his opinions. Make him a real partner in decision-mak-ing when the time came. But, boy, this was hard.

Then Dale remembered the year he’d wanted to seed cori-ander. Ed had tried to talk him out of that too. “Don’t know why we’d want to grow strange foreign spices, when we’re doing just fine with durum,” Ed had complained. Dale’s risk had failed spectacularly. An early frost wiped out the whole crop. The smell of rotting coriander lingered over the farm for weeks, giving Ed a reason to make smart remarks every time he stepped outside.

Not every risk will work out, but every farmer has to learn to take responsibility for his own.

Finally Jeff spoke. “Let’s try it. On those two sections over by the lake. That spot has the most variation on the farm. If it’s going to make a difference anywhere, it’s going to be there.”

“Alright,” said Dale, trying not to show his relief spending less than $10,000 on this venture, instead of $45,000. “Sounds like a good choice.”

“I’m not setting foot in that tractor if there’s going to be another computer to run,” Ed said, shaking his head. CG

20112011FARM FORUM EVENTFARM FORUM EVENT

www.TheFarmForumEvent.com1(877) 276-7526 | [email protected]

11111VENTVENVENVENVENTTTT

JOIN US

NOV 29 - DEC 1

TCU PLACE , SASKATOON, SK

NETWORK with industry leaders and many of the

nation’s best farmers

60 SPEAKERS & 50 INDUSTRY PARTNERS revealing what’s new and

what’s working best

Dynamic thoughts and inspirations from a wide range of the

INDUSTRIES BEST SPEAKERS


It’s weather – whereverWhether you’re in the field or out on business – WeatherFarm’s mobile Web site can connect you to the weather on your farm. Take your current conditions, forecasts and radar imagery with you wherever you go.

Bookmark http://m.weatherfarm.com on your mobile device today!

Setup instructions at www.cwb.ca/wfmobile .

Powered by Earth Networks

liff Suntjens enjoys telling the story. “One swelteringly hot day, I was out soil testing with Valery, a Russian agrologist, and our driver,” Suntjens tells me. “We’d been out for hours and were all tired and

sweaty when Valery suggested a swim. He directed our driver to cut across country to a large reservoir that sat in the middle of nowhere. We all jumped out of the truck, shed our clothes, and leapt into the water for one of the most refreshing swims of my life.

“Then Valery led us to a berry patch nearby where we gorged on juicy blackberries,” continues Suntjen, a 64-year-old retired farmer born and raised on his parents’ Coronation, Alta. ranch. “It was a wonder-ful, spontaneous time that brought back memories of my childhood during the Prairie summers.”

If we're technical, swimming and blackberry eat-ing aren’t really the reasons why Winnipeg-based pre-cision ag company Farmers Edge had sent Suntjens to Russia. But then, they weren’t exactly “not” why they sent him there either.

Farmers Edge has hit on a strategy of hiring retired Canadian farmers to help Russian farmers bring both their management skills and their technol-ogy up to cutting-edge standards.

It’s an adventure for the Canadians, but it’s also a chance for them to make a difference for farm fami-lies half way around the world. And it turns out it’s a very effective way of helping farmers there make management changes that can help them rapidly climb the technology ladder.

Back in 2005, co-founders Wade Barnes and Curtis Mackinnon launched Farmers Edge in Pilot Mound, Man. with a mission that revolved around The Four R’s of precision agriculture — “the right product, at the right amount, in the right place, at the right time.”

Barnes and Mackinnon had both been working on the retail side of agriculture and shared an interest in precision agriculture and variable-rate technol-ogy. Their venture rapidly grew, and today Farmers Edge is ranked 11th by PROFIT magazine in its list of

Canada’s 200 fastest-growing companies, aided by a customer base of tech-savvy Canadian farmers eager to boost their yields while managing costs.

Now, the company is looking to expand its model overseas. “Farmers Edge has grown domestically and across all three Prairie Provinces,” says Kolby Nichol, Farmers Edge international business manager. “Today, there are about 50 reps in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta focusing on precision agriculture.”

Nichol and his team deliver a unique range of professional farm-management services to farms around the world, including Eastern Europe, the United States, South America, and Australia.

The challenge in Russia is to foster the uptake of cutting-edge technology in an agriculture that by international standards has languished for decades.

From a Canadian perspective, it’s a whole career’s worth of innovation that the Russians need to inte-grate in the space of just a few growing seasons. So, who better to show them how to do it than the Canadian farmers who lived through and embraced all those changes?

Even better is when you put experienced Cana-dian farmers in front of eager-to-learn Russians who have years of farming ahead of them. “We’ve found what works best is matching up younger guys with retirement-aged (Canadian) farmers looking for a transition from the farm,” says Nichol.

“There are lots of farmers in that demographic here looking for a transition into something differ-ent,” Nichol says. “There aren’t a lot of younger guys with families looking to go overseas for the growing season or six months at a time. Retired farmers have fewer ties here and are able to do this sort of thing.”

Starting in 2009, Farmers Edge sent farmer con-sultants to work on a massive 500,000-acre farm. There, they found exceptional production condi-tions, including deep soils with two feet and some-times more of top soil, plus a range of rainfall and temperatures similar to Western Canada.

Still, the farmers there hadn’t begun their transi-

CANADIANS IN RUSSIA

Precision ag company Farmers Edge is hiring retired farmers to help Russian farms adopt new technology. It turns out, both sides learn a lot

By Rebeca Kuropatwa

L I F E


L I F E


tion to zero tillage. Nor did they find that Russia’s farmers gave the same priority to constantly searching out and incorporat-ing new technology that the Canadians were used to at home. And the technology they do have, such as sprayers, often isn’t managed for peak accuracy or efficiency.

“In Russian culture, risk-taking isn’t really rewarded, so it can be hard to interest the farmers there to try something different,” says Nichol. “Using these long-time farmers as consultants is a big help.”

“We look for guys who like to travel and see something different within agri-culture, as well as being able to go over-seas and really immerse themselves in another culture,” Nichol adds. “You’re more than just a tourist. You get to see the real Russia.”

In fact, not only do the Canadians get to see that Russia, they need to work closely within it because, when there are so many areas of potential improvement, it can take solid planning to prioritize which changes need to get pushed to the top of the line.

Cliff Suntjen in RussiaCliff Suntjen shares the twin passions

that drive most of Farmers Edge’s farm consultants. He loves farming, but he wants to make a difference beyond his farm too.

Suntjens is similar to other farmers too in how he looks at himself. “I now find myself humbler than in my youth,” he says. “I realize that in this ever-changing field I’m not an expert in any area, but a layman with a great deal of valuable experience.”

In 2008, Suntjens applied for a job with Farmers Edge. In April 2009, he and his wife Willa went to Russia to work with a large entrepreneurial Russian farm company encouraging no-till farming and alternative dryland crops.

“It was like coming home,” said Suntjens. “The climate, the land, and the crops were similar to those of Canada’s Prairies. However, the culture, the farm-ers’ experiences, and the infrastructure were a world apart. I was often frus-trated, but I loved it.”

Part of the reason the frustration turned to satisfaction was a change in attitude by the Russians. At first, he admits, he found them “very standoff-ish, but after they got to know me they became very friendly, accepting, and fun. Seeing and feeling this change was par-ticularly gratifying.”

And, he adds, “Knowing a bit about hockey went a long way.”

Wallace Orr’s story

With 35 years of farm management and grain trading experience, Mani-toba farmer Wallace Orr (53) also does Farmers Edge consulting, including eight months in Russia in 2010.

Like other consultants, Orr is careful to not downplay the challenges. “The Russians may not have invented bureau-cracy, but they have perfected it,” says Orr. “At times the paperwork involved in trying to get things done can be very frustrating. Something that would take 15 minutes to do in Canada can take half a day in Russia.”

Still, he also points to gratifying prog-ress. “The people there who we worked with were generally good — a bit scepti-cal at first but warmed up in time. Gen-erally, people are the same wherever you go. Everyone wants a big TV, a nice car, and a nice house. Everyone’s looking for the middle class lifetime.”

The biggest challenge Orr encountered consulting in Russia last year was the heat and drought (with temperatures of 42 degrees and 90 per cent humidity). “They don’t have a lot of irrigation in Russia,” he says. “They could probably have more.”

Another hurdle Orr experienced in Russia was the traffic, which, he says, “is just nuts. Canada has nothing on Russia. The roads are all packed with people driving like they’re in Formula One.”

On the upside, Orr said, “Explor-ing the country, the land, in Russia was definitely a highlight. The infrastructure is pretty good too. The Moscow subway system is incredible. The rivers are amaz-ing, and there are lots of trees.”

To do overseas consulting work, Orr says, “You need to be flexible, have a positive attitude, be patient, have a sense of adventure, enjoy trying new things (especially on the farm level), and be willing to step out of your comfort zone.

“You only live once, and to get the opportunity to see and learn a different culture is incredible — and an opportu-nity not a lot of people get.”

George Thomas WadyOf the 31 years that George Thomas

Wady (54) actively farmed, 24 of them were in no-till, so in 2009, Farmers Edge asked him to work as a consultant for them in Russia. Wady at first said no because the overlap of seasons would keep him away from his home farm at critical times.

Approached again after retiring, Wady began working for Farmers Edge in Russia in 2011.

The biggest highlight in Wady’s Rus-sian adventure was “seeing areas of Rus-sia that are very far off the beaten path and meeting Russian individuals in those areas. Contrary to the stereotype, once you’re introduced, most of the people have a great sense of humour, and are interested in your impressions of Russia, and in what farming is like in Canada.”

Like Orr and Suntjens, Wady agrees that effective consultants need “good communication skills, some computer skills, the ability to work in a team envi-ronment, curiosity about and an inter-est in experiencing a different culture, accepting the challenge and adventure of living and working in a foreign country, and a sense of humour in dealing with the challenges.

“The Russian farm staff need to be open to new ideas, have an interest in tech-nology, weigh the benefits of these ideas and technologies, and accept the limita-tions of working through a translator.”

That’s the kind of thinking that expe-rienced Canadian farmers excel at, Nich-ols says.

“We’re very flexible with time for our consultants. We can rotate guys in and out with breaks in between. All of them have brought their wives with them for at least some of the time. Together, they’ll take a week or two of holidays at a time and go travelling in Western Europe or beyond.

“We send two people there at a time, staying in the same apartment. They stay in a larger centre (not a small village) so they have amenities and the ability to have more of a social and cultural life — something to do outside of work. We cover food, accommodations, and expenses (cell phone, Internet, etc.), and travel expenses.

All Farmers Edge consultants are accompanied by interpreters. Although some Russian farmers do speak English, having interpreters aids in effective com-munication.

“In terms of growing our program, our limiting factor is getting good people over there,” said Nichol. “The demand is huge. The project will grow as fast as we can staff it.”

Suntjens sees growth ahead too. “Once infrastructure improves and credit becomes more available, Russian farmers will certainly be an international agricul-tural force.” CG

h e a lt h

Your amazing gastrointestinal tract

lmost all of us take our gastrointesti-nal tracts for granted. We shouldn’t. Starting at our mouths and continuing all the way to our nether ends, our GI tracts are amazing, essential systems,

that take the food we eat and convert it into energy that our bodies use.

The process begins in your mouth with your teeth and tongue chewing food and breaking it down into smaller pieces that are easier for the rest of the GI tract to handle. Then comes what is called the esophagus, the passageway from the mouth to the stomach.

Actual digestion begins in the stomach where stomach acids and gastric digestive enzymes begin breaking down the food. Partially digested food then moves to the small intestine, where digestion is com-pleted. The small intestine is lined with some 7,000 tiny projections called villi that absorb nutrients from the digested food.

Any remaining food material passes to the large intestine where water is absorbed and finally where the undigested remains are excreted from the body.

The whole process — including the descent through the 15 to 30 feet of GI tract, based on your size — takes anywhere from 24 to 72 hours depend-ing upon the food you eat and the health of your GI tract.

Each part of the GI tract is joined to the next part with a stretchy band of muscle called a sphinc-ter which prevents back flow, and the entire system (with the exception of chewing) is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, so everything happens automatically and you don’t need to consciously think about digestion.

When you eat something that doesn’t agree with you, or when you eat too much, indigestion can occur. Antacids reduce the stomach’s acid content and will stop your symptoms. However, they can also reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics like tetra-

cycline and ciprofloxacin. Make sure you take your antacid one to two hours before or after your antibi-otic, and if you take medication regularly check with your pharmacist for potential interactions before you take an antacid.

One group of stomach remedies contains bismuth subsalicylate and you may not realize that this ingre-dient is a type of salicylate. If you are taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for conditions like arthritis, or if you are taking a daily ASA tablet for heart health, the addition of salicylate from the stom-ach remedy may lead to adverse effects. As well, if you are have a sensitive stomach, a salicylate allergy, or even a blood coagulation problem, the added sali-cylate can complicate your health.

Proton pump inhibitors or PPIs reduce acid pro-duction in the stomach and are often used for indi-gestion and conditions like reflux disease. However, in reducing the stomach’s acid level, they can reduce the absorption of minerals like calcium and magne-sium. With long-term use, your risk for conditions like osteoporosis can actually increase.

It is a myth that you need a bowel movement each and every day. However you should be regular, whatever your “regular” may be. Unfortunately, some people over-use laxatives, especially stimu-lant ones, in order to achieve what they perceive as regular bowel habits. Fluid and mineral imbalances, dehydration, and even dependency on the laxative can result. A better approach is to eat a diet high in fibre and fluids, and if you need a laxative choose a bulk-forming or stool-softening one.

Your GI tract is indeed amazing and you want to keep it that way. You may feel uncomfortable talking about symptoms that you may experience. An odd case of diarrhea or constipation is usually normal, but if your bowel habits have changed, or if you experience pain, blood in your stool, or an unexplained weight loss, get it checked. And, if you are asked to do a fecal occult blood test or FOBT, get it done. These tests are usually recom-mended after age 50 and they are able to spot min-ute amounts of blood that may indicate polyps or colon cancer. After all you want to take care of your GI tract, not take it for granted.

Marie Berry is a lawyer/pharmacist interested in health care and education.

A headache can be severe enough to stop your normal activity or minor enough to just be annoying. It can also be a symptom of an underlying condition. While you will see many headache remedies for sale everywhere, choosing the right one is important. Next month, we’ll talk about matching the remedy to the type of headache.

By Marie Berry


Country GuideSomething Special for the

Order your gift subscriptionsby December 24, 2011 and

Save up to 26%!

Lovers on your Christmas List...

❍ 1 Year $32.00 $27.00 ❍ 2 Years $49.00 $36.00❍ New Subscription ❍ Renewal

Gift Name:___________________________________________

Address:_____________________________________________

City/Town: ________________________Prov.: _____________

Postal Code:___________________ Ph: ___________________

Sign Gift Card : _______________________________________

❍ 1 Year $32.00 $27.00 ❍ 2 Years $49.00 $36.00❍ New Subscription ❍ Renewal

Gift Name:___________________________________________

Address:_____________________________________________

City/Town: ________________________Prov.: _____________

Postal Code:___________________ Ph: ___________________

Sign Gift Card : _______________________________________

Gift #1

Gift #2

❍ Cheque enclosed ❍ Charge My: ❍ Visa ❍ Mastercard Credit Card #: _______________________________________________Expiry Date: ________________________________________________Are you currently: ❑ Farming ❑ Ranching

New gift subscriptions start with the January 2012 issue.

Please attach a sheet with additional gifts.

Mail this ad with payment to:Country Guide 1666 Dublin Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3H OH1Or call toll-free: 1-800-665-1362E-mail: [email protected]

My Name: ___________________________________________

Address:_____________________________________________

City/Town: __________________________________________

Prov:______________ Postal Code: ______________________

Phone:_____________________ Fax: ____________________

My 1st subscription: 1 year ($27.00) or 2 years ($36)

Additional Gifts:1 year ($27.00) or 2 years ($36)

Manitoba Residents add 7% PST (we’ll pay the GST)

US 1 year $37 Outside Canada & US 1 yr. $55

Total

$

$

$

$$

Gifts Are From:

✃✃

✃

✃✃

✃

Tax Deduction: Farm-related subscriptions qualify as a deductible business expense. Order today and save on your 2011 return!

“Do you see the glass as half full or half empty?” It’s a familiar question. The pessimist says the glass is half empty and the optimist says the glass is half full. The illustration suggests other ques-tions about life. What if someone asks you to share whatever is in the glass? Are you blessed or needy, rich or poor? Do you choose to live gratefully and

generously, or resentfully and selfishly?“The glass is half empty” inspires one way of living. The

other perspective (it is half full) inspires a radically different way. Yet both are based on the same objective facts: the same glass, the same stuff in it. Optimism or pessimism affects our response to a situation, and our relationships with others.

Jesus told a parable — a story with a message — about a sower. I can imagine Jesus watching a farmer who has a bag slung over his shoulder. The bag holds precious seeds which the sower broadcasts by hand. He tosses the seed in every direction. “As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”

The story is about sowing seeds, but it is also about life. Imagine yourself as a sower, sharing good things with others, growing hope and helping people live meaningful lives. Sowing means, as young people say, “doing stuff.” It means action. It involves reaching out to people, serving, caring and risking.

Sometimes our efforts lead to hurt and disappointment. We offer our selves, our time, our energy, our caring, to others. Occasionally we wonder if it is worth it. Is anything of value going to come from our contribution? Perhaps our efforts to build a new community hall, a bigger and better arena, or an addition to the church are wasted like some of the sower’s seed. Once I was asked to chair a worthy project. I soon discovered that all the work was dumped on me, and I was criticized whenever things did not meet our expectations. Jesus says “Keep on sowing.”

What Jesus said about problems — thin soil, rocks, fat birds, thorns, weeds, whatever — was old news to his listen-ers. Much of what was sowed was wasted. They knew that. A farmer shows confidence that, even if some seed is wasted, the harvest will surely come.

The part of the story that shocked the first people who heard it was the yield, the “harvest beyond his wildest dreams.” To get a crop 100 times the amount of seed sown was an amazing result in a dry, rocky land. With this vision you don’t mind the rocks or birds or gravel or whatever else may get in the way. All of that doesn’t matter. It is swallowed up in the promise of the whole enterprise. The positive perspective, the promise of a vast harvest, is the heart of this story.

If our efforts have not been noticed or we feel we are not getting anywhere, we may decide to give up. But if we con-tinue trying, sometimes we will succeed. God will make more of our efforts than we can imagine.

Suggested Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Rod Andrews is a retired Anglican bishop. He lives in Saskatoon.


5 2 c o u n t r y - g u i d e . c a N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 1

Va l l e y

Dan Needles is the author of “Wingfield Farm” stage plays. His column is a regular feature in Country Guide

ur family Christmas can happen either side of the 25th by as much as 45 days. Spread out across the country as we are,

with a sister or a brother-in-law or an aged aunt in every province, we use Facebook to track the movements of relatives in space and time. Then, when we sense an alignment of the stars, we book a hall at the mid-point.

Sometimes we make do with a mini-reunion, such as the one that occurred last month in Manitoba. My wife’s brothers invited me to join them for their annual duck hunt in a remote marsh in Lake Winnipeg. They know I’m ho-hum about duck hunting but they really like my old dog, Snifferbones, who happens to be a real keener in the marsh. He was a rescue pup, a Labradoodle who lived in a city basement for two years before he was dumped off on us. There must have been quite a library in that basement, because the dog knows more about ducks than Jack London.

There is a certain irony involved here. Hughie, Dewey and Louie farm in three separate time zones, yet each of them at different times experienced such appall-ing wet weather that this trip had to be paid for by the crop insurance corpora-tion. You’d think the guys would choose someplace warm and dry for their get-together, like perhaps the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. But no, for three days we shivered in a rowboat bobbing in four feet of frigid green water on Lake Win-

nipeg, reflecting on one of the strangest crop years we had ever seen. The most cheerful one in the group was Sniffer-bones, because it’s been a good year for ducks, if no one else, and they passed over us in Biblical abundance.

“It was so wet, we had ducks in the driveway in June,” recalled Dewey, who cash crops near Brandon. “So we took the advice of our accountant/therapist and just packed up and took a drive west, picked up Hughie in Weyburn and went for a holiday in Glacier Park in the campervan. First time I’ve taken that kind of time off since high school.”

Hughie nodded. “The old guys used to say that in a dry year you worry to death but in a wet year you starve to death. We planted one field twice and we watched it all float down the road-side twice.”

Louie, from Ontario, shrugged. “I’ve never planted corn as late as we did this year — June 15th. I never thought it would ripen. But I went out in October to combine and after three passes I was averaging 165 bushels… best ever where I am. Then on the fourth pass, the heav-ens opened and I haven’t been back in the field since. Looks like another spring harvest.”

What are you going to do? There was a rustle of many wings above and Snifferbones woofed at us to be quiet. The sun suddenly broke out over the rushes, turning the marsh to a bright mirror as 50 mallards and blue-wings circled, fluttered down and splashed

into the surface right in front of us. It was just like one of those paintings on an easel at a Ducks Unlimited auction. Nobody in the blind spoke for a minute.

“Pretty,” said Hughie finally.“I’ve got my limit for the day,” said

Dewey. Louie said, “Me, too,” and fum-bled in his coat for his camera.

“Sheesh!” said Snifferbones flopping his ears in frustration.

“In some ways the summer turned out okay,” said Hughie, “After the Gla-cier trip we went to Vancouver to visit my daughter for a couple of weeks and got to know her kids a lot better. ”

“Yeah,” said Dewey. “We joined a bicycle group and Sarah lost about 20 pounds. She looks great.”

“My doctor says my blood pressure is way down,” said Louie. “He asked me if I was exercising and I said nope, I just took the Weather Channel off my satellite system. And I spent a lot of time this summer straightening up the place for Kitty’s wedding next spring.”

When we parted, we agreed it had been a great “Christmas” and made plans to do it again next year. Louie and I yakked all the way home to Ontario and had a great visit. Snifferbones thought it was good, too. He was full of duck stroganoff and Advil and passed out in the back seat.

WinGfield’s World, the complete col-lection of Dan Needles’ Letters from Wingfield Farm was published this fall by Random House.

Baby, it’s damp out there

ILLU

STr

ATIo

N: r

ICK

KU

rK

oW

SKI

© 2011 Meridian Manufacturing Group. Registered Trademarks Used Under License.

Quality & Workmanship can be seen up close or from a distance, from inside or out, and is noticed over time. This is what makes the Meridian name the most preferred brand in the storage industry. Another great advantage of Meridian Built.

Advantage #5Quality & Workmanship

UNSTOPPABLE YIELD MOMENTUM

Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through StewardshipSM (ETS). Monsanto products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. This product has been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product. Excellence Through StewardshipSM is a service mark of Excellence Through Stewardship. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Individual results may vary, and performance may vary from location to location and from year to year. This result may not be an indicator of results you may obtain as local growing, soil and weather conditions may vary. Growers should evaluate data from multiple locations and years whenever possible. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® agricultural herbicides. Roundup® agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. DEKALB®, DEKALB and Design®, Roundup® and Roundup Ready® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc. licensee. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 Monsanto Canada Inc.

Our canola hybrids are delivering yieldsthat stop the competition in their tracks.

Unsurpassed research and development in genetics power a canola lineup with yield potential that just keeps growing. And our new 73 Series hybrids offer some of the highest yields

we’ve ever produced. Yield momentum that’s unstoppable—only available from DEKALB.See your preferred retailer for details or visit DEKALB.ca.

InVigorInVigor®®InVigor®InVigorInVigor®InVigor

73-75 RR 5440

101% 100%

Source

: Comb

ined 2

011 + 2

010 Mo

nsanto

FACTTM

Trials a

s of

Octobe

r 6, 20

11. N=

24. Fo

r detail

ed res

ults v

isit DE

KALB

.ca.

YIELD

(% of

5440

)

1009080706050

Documents

Country Guide West