NEEPAWA, Man. – Stuart and Mary-Lou Briese both have full-time jobs in
cities more than 50 kilometres from their farm.
When they’re done their busy work and commuting days, they have to take
care of 850 acres of crop and 110 beef cows.
Why don’t they downsize their farm to make their lives easier?
“That’s a good question,” said Mary-Lou, who works as a Canadian Food
Inspection Agency inspector at the Maple Leaf Foods hog slaughter plant
in Brandon.
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“That has been talked about many times,” said Stuart, who is the
president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, or AMM.
“I’m not sure we wouldn’t be better off away from the farm, but I, I
don’t know, it gets into your blood,” said Stuart.
For the Brieses, farming is a rewarding lifestyle they try to balance
with demanding off-farm careers.
The farm they live on today was established by Stuart’s grandfather,
who moved onto this land in 1918 after having farmed a couple of
kilometres to the west. Stuart’s great-grandfather farmed the
half-section right beside the present home quarter.
The Briese family arrived in North America in 1850 from west Prussia.
From New York City, the first Brieses moved to the Muskoka area north
of Toronto, then to Manitoba before the turn of the 20th century.
Stuart’s grandfather ran this farm until 1946, when his father took it
over. Stuart took over day-to-day operations from his father in 1975.
Mary-Lou grew up in Wynyard, Sask. Her father was a TV repairman and
part-time farmer.
Stuart and Mary-Lou were married in 1995. They met after she was
transferred from a beef slaughter plant in Moose Jaw to the Springhill
Farms hog slaughter plant in Neepawa. Each has two children from
previous marriages, ranging in age from 19 to 30 years old.
The older generation of Brieses is still involved in the farm.
“I have the oldest combine crew in Manitoba,” said Stuart. His
85-year-old father and 77-year-old uncle run his two combines at
harvest.
Stuart estimates he spends 180-200 days a year away from the farm on
municipal association business, but says he loves being AMM president.
“I kind of like being in charge,” said Stuart with a laugh.
He said being a farmer and having to deal with all the typical farm
headaches helps him as AMM president.
“On the farm, if something’s broke you have to fix it. I try to do that
at the AMM. If we’ve got a municipality with a problem, we try to work
with it and work through it.”
Stuart eases his farm load by getting some of his hay custom-cut and
hiring custom operators to do all his spraying. One of his sons works
at a farm equipment dealership in Neepawa and often helps out. A young
man who works at the Neepawa slaughter plant also works on the farm
when Stuart is away.
He calves out half his cows in late spring and the other half in the
fall, timing calving to avoid the worst weather and using
low-birthweight bulls to minimize problems for his cows. He tries to
reduce the chances that something will go wrong.
“When you’re away a lot, you want to make sure the fences are good.”
But careful planning isn’t always enough to avoid farm problems when
he’s away on business.
“Usually it’s when he’s away that all the cows get out,” said Mary-Lou
with a wry smile.
Stuart entertains the idea of cutting his cow herd down to 30 and
reducing his cropland by the time he’s 60 years old, three years from
now, but seems unsure whether he really wants to cut his workload.
“I enjoy all this,” said Stuart.
“I like growing things. I like harvesting. I like cattle.
“I have to have something to do, otherwise I’d just get fat.”
