Glen and Doreen Hicks stopped to ask themselves an important question a few years ago. Did they want to make their farm at Ninga, Man., bigger or were there other ways to make a comfortable living from the land without going into more debt and running themselves ragged?
A seminar in holistic management helped them sort through the question by looking more closely at their desired quality of life. They had the option of buying another 220 acres in 1998, but decided that would reduce their quality of life.
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Over time, they trimmed the amount of land they were working to 800 acres from 1,350 acres. Instead of investing more money in land and machinery, they invested time in methods to improve the production of their pastures and their cattle herd.
“If anything, we wish we’d have done it sooner,” said Doreen, noting their farm has proven more profitable and they have found more time to do other things. “Our quality of life is much better.”
Their story is one of 20 published in a report released last week at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon.
The report resulted from a study started two years ago to identify successful small farms in southwestern Manitoba.
The project, guided by the agriculture committee of the Turtle Mountain Community Development Corp., attempts to pinpoint things that make those 20 farms profitable and sustainable. It sends the message that the size of a farm should not be the only benchmark for measuring success.
The producers included in the report farm in an area that ranges from Deloraine to Killarney and as far north as Wawanesa.
David Neufeld, who chairs the agriculture committee for the community development corporation, said making decisions based on quality of life was a common theme for study participants.
“The stories in this book talk about some pretty lean years at first but ending up in a better place.”
The main goal of the agriculture committee is to find ways to repopulate the farming community.
Part of the hope is that others will draw ideas from the study, including beginning young farmers and farmers immigrating to the region, so it can help them be successful on smaller farms.
“If it is important to us to keep rural communities alive, we need to keep more people on the land,” Neufeld said.
Many farms studied were based on cattle and conventional crops. Part of the emphasis among those studied was on closely managing costs and questioning what benefits they could expect from new technology before spending money on it.
“They’re trying to cut down on their obligations to others,” Neufeld said.
Many participating farmers had help from other family members to get established.
Neufeld said one question that must be answered now is what kind of support is needed for people who want to farm but do not have family members who can help them.
