PADDOCKWOOD, Sask. – John Dinius could put out fires, parachute from
planes and shoot a gun to fend off enemies, but modern farming
practices eluded him.
He and his wife Marge began farming in the 1970s “with a great
ignorance” despite their upbringing and numerous odd jobs in rural
Saskatchewan.
“I had never seen hydraulics,” said John, a 28-year veteran of the
Canadian army who got a quarter-section of farmland through the
Veteran’s Land Act. He served in the Korean war with the Princess
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Patricia’s Light Infantry, and also worked in army intelligence and
with the Airborne Forest Fire Fighters.
The heavily treed Paddockwood farm was chosen because John had grown up
nearby on a mixed farm. The Diniuses were stationed throughout the
world but the family regularly brought their two sons, Danny and Doug,
back home to their Saskatchewan roots. The sons and their families, now
in Edmonton, return each summer to their retreat in the Dinius
bunkhouse, which is full of mementos from army days in places like
Cyprus, Pakistan and Arizona, U.S.A.
The Diniuses started out growing grain, first buying good used
machinery and a demonstrator tractor – “I was not a mechanic and didn’t
want an old clunker,” John said.
Cattle were added because they had plenty of feed, but dropped when the
Diniuses’ income tax became too high.
In recent years, farm life has slowed for John and Marge, now 68 and
72. Some close calls operating an air seeder and a mountaineering
accident suffered in India that keeps John on painkillers led them to
switch to custom farming.
John still handles much of the work, like grain drying and stone
picking, but hires a neighbour to plant and harvest the grain, oilseed
and pea crops on their 320 acres.
Barley is doing well and the farm’s recent try at peas yielded as much
as 55 bushels an acre on grey-wooded soils. John said the payback is
good, and often better than it was when he did all the physical work.
He prefers custom farming to cash renting because he has more control
over the land.
“I’m fussy about weed control,” he said, expressing concern that
anhydrous ammonia could destroy valuable micro-nutrients in the soil.
Less physical work means more free time, they both agree.
“I have more time for other things,” said Marge, a horse enthusiast and
snowmobiler who remains active in local service clubs.
She regularly rides into Paddockwood on her horse and has introduced
many local children to riding. The couple also takes horses to the
nearby national park for rides.
John, like his wife, has always embraced the outdoors. They are members
of natural history and environmental societies, keeping on hand many
copies of nature magazines.
Their yard features dozens of winter bird feeders, a long line of
bluebird houses and a flourish of flowers in the summer.
People often bring strays and injured birds to the Diniuses, who have
been rewarded for their conservation and volunteer efforts in their
community.
They are known for their work teaching local youth about carpentry, gun
safety and horsemanship.
The Diniuses are relentless in their promotion of ethical hunting
practices and both are active in the Saskatchewan Fair Chase League. It
favours tracking and hunting in the wild, instead of baiting animals
and game farms.
“We are not the only ones doing this,” said Marge, who cited the amount
of garbage left along woodland trails by baiting outfitters.
“We don’t know why anyone doesn’t do something about this.”
John said baiting congregates animals and could lead to the spread of
disease to domestic livestock herds.
“I do not pretend to be a scientist, but just an old bugger that
cares,” he said.
John is an avid hunter and angler, and this day, sits down to eat meat
taken from two deer he recently shot. A bedroom wall shows off the bear
and deer from past hunts.
“I take no pleasure in killing, it’s harvesting,” he said. “I like to
eat.”
It’s their passion about maintaining their community and the species
that inhabit it that got them involved with promoting fairer hunting
practices more than 10 years ago. He was equally passionate about an
11-year fight to save the local elevator, which eventually closed.
“I live here because this is where I want to be,” said John.
“I got a lot of enjoyment and privileges out of this world. Somehow I
have to put a little back into the kitty.”
