OLDS, Alta. — A grain farmer from Gibbons, Alta., is the region’s outstanding young farmer for 2013.
Michael Kalisvaart, a partner in the family owned Kalco Farms north of Edmonton, will compete in the national competition in Regina in November.
He and his wife, Karen Jansen, and their three children farm with his father, Jack Kalisvaart, as well as a brother and sister. Jack Kalisvaart came to Canada in 1969 and started the farm in 1979, beginning with a small hog operation.
The farm expanded on the grain side to 8,000 acres when Michael took over, and the hog facility was phased out five years ago.
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“We were a smaller operation and we saw the writing on the wall,” said Michael.
He has enrolled in advanced business management programs, including the Canadian Total Excellence in Agricultural Management program from the George Morris Centre, and is a joint co-ordinator for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank’s Share the Harvest project.
He said he sees the outstanding young farmer program as a way to spread a positive story about agriculture.
“We need to tell the story and combat some of the negative media,” he said after receiving the award in Olds March 22.
He and Jansen have three children: Anna, 16, Marijke, 13 and Tim, 11.
