SEVEN PERSONS, Alta. – Laurence Nicholson wasn’t planning on becoming a full-time farmer, but after working 30 years with the Alberta Wheat Pool, he felt he knew what not to do.
“The land has treated us pretty well and we’re doing our best to treat it well too,” said the producer from Seven Persons, Alta.
Nicholson and his son David farm 700 acres of irrigated land in southeastern Alberta.
He began in 1992 with 180 acres of land and some worn irrigation and farm equipment.
Having grown up on a farm and assisting his father through the years at seeding and harvest, he felt owning a small place would be good for his family and settle a long-standing desire he had to farm.
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“When I told my dad that I’d bought the land he didn’t seem too impressed with the idea. ‘If someone had a good job why would they want to farm?’ ” said Nicholson.
After his 1998 retirement from Alberta Pool, he bought more land.
Initially his daughter and son-in-law began farming alongside Nicholson, and he built two houses. His son now lives in the second home.
Beans and canola were strong in the markets and the irrigated land performed well in spite of the turn-of-the-century droughts.
Nicholson’s agricultural business background meant that he had watched many startup farms come and go due to unsustainable expansion. He knew that if his farm was to survive, it would require a good set of financial records to support his decisions and financing.
“We have relied on used equipment where we could. Good, used machinery can be a real bargain, but it keeps David and I busy with repairs and upgrades,” he said.
When the Nicholsons began producing beans, they decided they should have the specialized machinery to maximize production and reduce harvest losses.
“It pays. Even used it can be expensive, but new, much of this gear doesn’t pencil out too well,” he said.
To support their equipment overhead, the Nicholsons have added 2,000 acres of custom spraying, swathing and combining.
“It lets you amortize the equipment over more acres, without the overhead of the land or the risk of the crop,” he said.
Nicholson said having five natural gas wells producing on his property has meant he can afford to have three phase power running the irrigation system to save money and the environment. Even his three phase electrical system was assembled from used grain elevator parts to save money.
“It’s about cost and benefit,” he said.
Nicholson believes farmers should use the marketing tools they have at their disposal to manage marketing risk.
“Half of our canola crop for this year is hedged …. On wheat we use the early payment option from the (Canadian) wheat board. It gets us our cash and faster to pay the bills,” he said.
“I trust the CWB more than I do the grain companies. I used to work for one,” he said.
Nicholson said his experience with Alberta Pool taught him the value of farmers working together.
“I was elected to the Alberta Canola Producers (Commission in the 1990s). It was an interesting time for canola, and in agriculture, and I felt I brought a lot of organizational and business experience from within a grain company,” he said.
Nicholson’s experience with the farmer owned grain co-op proved valuable to the canola group and he was appointed to the member relations and extension committee.
Nicholson was later elected to the Canola Council of Canada, representing Alberta producers.
“It all reinforced my belief that farmers need to be organized to represent themselves to business and government,” he said.
“We’re a very independent group, so it isn’t always easy to come to consensus on issues. Just because it isn’t easy doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work together and just let government and industry do whatever they want to us. And they will, given the chance,” he said.
Nicholson was asked to be an adviser to the Canadian Wheat Board during World Trade Organization talks.
“Those talks broke down, but several of us that had been advising the board decided, when the government announced its plans to end the CWB’s monopoly powers and limit farmer control of the board, we decided we needed to form another group,” he said.
Nicholson and 18 others formed Real Voice for Choice, a group dedicated to the support of a farmer controlled CWB.
“I am glad we did it. But as a farmer, other things give me greater pride. Last year I reached a personal goal of a 100 bushel crop of spring wheat with a field of Superb,” he said.
“It’s 14.7 (percent protein) and 66.5 (lb. per bu.) and I would prefer farmers had more time to concentrate on growing food and less time protecting themselves from government and industry.”
