ROBLIN, Man. – Robert Misko is considered a young farmer, but after 34 years on the land, the 41-year-old is not new to the business.
In 1976, seven-year-old Misko moved with his parents, Walter and Ethel Misko, from the bright lights of Brandon to a section of rocky and rolling land near Roblin, Man.
It was a new beginning.
The young Misko was soon working with his father and recognized his calling.
“The first summer, Dad had me baling for him because he had no help. The guy he bought the land from had an old 720 and 630 John Deere two banger with a hand clutch, so it didn’t matter if you were short.
Read Also
Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels
Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
“You sit on the thing and follow the swath and put out square bales. Dad was making piles,” Misko said.
“So I started from then and I always liked farming. I always stuck with it. I graduated from Grade 12 and went straight to farming.… This was my only career choice. I never even looked at anything else. I like farming and all the stuff about it.”
“I wanted to farm. Going to university was just going to postpone that,” he said.
Misko is a partner with his parents and credits his father with good financial management.
“No one gave it to him and it was basically started, interest went up and it was buy a little more land to get a little more machinery to get a little more land. We are where we are,” he said.
“We were never scared to go into debt, to take a risk to farm, to buy land or to buy equipment.”
Misko and his wife of 21 years, Leifa, were one of four couples nominated in 1999 for Manitoba’s outstanding young farmer award.
They have four children and a son-in-law and have become grandparents.
Oldest daughter Brittany is studying to become a certified accountant, while her husband, Andrew Stephanow, works with his father-in-law on the farm. They have an eight-month-old daughter, Peyten.
Courtney, 18, is studying engineering in Kelowna, B.C., and Jenilee, 16, wants to work in the medical field in future.
Robbie, 13, thinks he wants to farm full-time with his father.
Leifa said she is grateful for the country life in which they were able to raise their children.
“You don’t have to worry about the crime, and kids living in the rural, you know where they are. They’re usually home.”
Misko Farms has grown to 6,000 acres and produces wheat and canola.
With harvest underway, family members are clear on their responsibilities.
Most are adept at multiple tasks and can operate several pieces of equipment.
The daughters have to swath 3,000 acres of canola and prepare meals.
Robert and Leifa do all the combining, Andrew hauls grain from the field to the yard and Walter helps wherever he’s needed.
Ethel can also drive the grain truck and helps with meals, while Robert looks after the yard, drives the tractor and unloads grain into the bins.
Misko Farms’s slogan, “Helping to Feed the World,” is written on the side of the grain bins and the cab of the truck.
“That’s what we feel we’re doing. We’re doing our small part,” Misko said.
Misko said his parents always treated him as a partner in the farming operation and by age 20 he was making decisions on equipment purchases.
“It just evolved like that. From that point, he (Walter) just kept doing less and I just kept doing more.
“When you see all the succession planning and all the issues involved with that, we haven’t really done that. It’s just kind of moved over from one to the other.
“I personally would like the same thing to happen with my kids, but I don’t know how that’s going to work. I’ve got a few years yet.”
