Gaylord and Lois Mierau needed no more incentive than family to sell the farm and move to Winnipeg.
“The grandchildren and children are there. That is the draw,” said Gaylord, as he and his wife prepared to leave the farm where Gaylord has lived for almost 70 years.
“We think we’ll be able to help out with child care, picking kids up from school. They’re a delight and it is fun to be around them, said Gaylord of his grandchildren, 7 and 2.
Their transition from active farming to renting out land and now selling the land and retirement to another province was not made in haste. With neither of their two children wanting to return to the farm, the decision was inevitable.
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“We thought it was time to move on. It was a choice,” said Gaylord, who said their plan was to retire when he reached 68 and not stay on the farm forever.
“I know farmers like that. Sometimes that becomes a problem for the farm when they say they’re only leaving in a box. We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to leave while we were still healthy and could hopefully make wise decisions.”
For years Mierau raised traditional crops of wheat, canola, barley and oats on about 2,300 acres with alfalfa leafcutter bees as a specialty on the farm near Saskatoon. Lois worked as a secretary in Saskatoon and was available to help out on the farm.
“I enjoyed it. It was a great life. I was never a large farmer. With leaf cutter and alfalfa that was enough to keep me busy. It was a good life and an adequate income. It was a career that was enjoyable and fulfilling,” Gaylord said.
For nine years he and Lois grew a crop for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank on one of their quarter sections and donated the proceeds to the agency, which helps reduce world hunger.
“It was my thing. Initially I thought it might be a community thing and it seemed simpler to do it myself. It was our own project.”
Mierau last farmed with his own equipment in 2019. A few years earlier he rented some land, but by 2020 he sold all his equipment and rented the rest of the farmland as part of his retirement transition.
“The first time you see someone else’s equipment on your land it is a strange feeling. By the time I sold the equipment, it wasn’t difficult at all. I felt comfortable and happy to do so.”
A neighbour renting the land bought Mierau’s combine and later that year Mierau helped the neighbour at harvest and even got to drive his own combine.
“Of all the operations on the farm, harvest is the one I thought I would miss the most. I got to run my own combine and not have to worry about repairing it.”
Two years ago, the couple bought a cottage in Manitoba so they could spend more time with their children and grandchildren and have a place that was an escape from the city.
Once they buy a house in Winnipeg near their children and are settled in their new home, the couple plans to do some volunteering and make connections in their new community.
“For us we wanted to move when we were still young enough to establish relationships in a new place and still be active. It is a personal choice and it’s where we feel we’ll be happiest. It is a big move. There might be some surprises that we’re not anticipating, but we’re planning on making it work.”
