The high cost of equipment and land is too daunting at this stage in life for couple eying retirement in the near future
WAKAW, Sask. — It’s trying to snow outside as Eileen and James Yakimchuk look over some family history around their kitchen table.
Their century family farm, which is nestled less than an hour’s drive northeast of Saskatoon, is where James was born and raised and will possibly retire.
“We were looking for the milestone of 100 years and then we’ll decide if we’re going to retire or sell it,” said James.
He took over the farm full time in 1990 when his father, John, decided to semi-retire. John and his wife, Anne, moved into nearby Wakaw, but that didn’t stop John from coming out to the farm regularly.
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“They were kind of hesitant. They still kind of wanted to stay at the farm. So he still drove out, you know, for the first maybe 10 years just to see how things are going and help out while we were here too. So that was nice,” said James.
Their mixed grain farm has been fairly successful the last three years and James is hoping on a fourth. This year, the farm will be seeded and attended to by James’s son-in-law, Isy Boutin, due to health issues.
“It just wore out,” James said of his knee.
He will sit this season out because of planned surgery.
“It’s not that easy. Like people think that you just farm a little bit in the spring and a little bit in the fall and you’re done and then you’re gone to Mexico,” said James.
He has done all the work over the years and the 700 acres keeps him busy full time.
He enjoys the change in seasons and takes up bowling during the winter.
Wheat and canola have been successful crops in the past, but this year they will likely add barley and avoid wheat because prices are low.
They also no longer chem fallow because of cost and erosion risks.
The farm has been prone to flooding in the last three years.
“Just around these home quarters, I probably lost just over 100 acres,” James said.
“The taxes are going down. We finally got reassessed this year so they’re going to come down a wee bit but not a hell of a lot,” he said.
Between the Emergency Flood Damage Reduction Program and Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, farmers in the area have some protection but not enough to recover their losses.
“We lost. We’re losing some more this year. This flooding is just continuous and the water just keeps getting higher,” said James.
Eileen and James received some compensation last year from the province’s Water Security Agency program for the berm surrounding their home.
The challenges are always around but it hasn’t deterred the Yakimchuks.
In 1918, Harry Yakimchuk, James’ grandfather, passed away from the Spanish flu just three years after purchasing the land.
His wife, Teklia, and their four children, stayed despite the hardship. She later remarried.
“In the Thirties, it was dry and dusty. Then the war took a lot of young farmers from the farms. Then in the Fifties, it started getting better. There was a little bit more money, the farmers started to buy land and expand a little more,” James said.
A lot has changed since those early years.
“You can’t try to keep up … with latest technology but sometimes it’s just too expensive on a small farm,” said James.
James and Eileen rarely have access issues on their farm. They communicate via text when James is out all day in the fields.
“You definitely need an iPhone to keep up with today’s prices, technology, to run some of the equipment you got to have it, because that’s just the way they come. They’re equipped with high tech,” said James.
Eileen appreciates the ease that technology offers.
“It’s nice. Something breaks down, you can take a picture of the part, send it. Do you have this? This is what I need.”
James has stopped expanding his farm and currently works on what he has and rents two other quarters.
“I don’t want to get any bigger because everything’s so expensive now. You have to have the large acres. … I’ve been upgrading as much as I can and now I’m just thinking of retiring,” said James.
For the immediate future, Eileen and James look forward to a family reunion this summer.
