OUTLOOK, Sask. – Arthur Pederson looked to the future through his three sons and embraced the potential that irrigation held for his dryland farm in central Saskatchewan.
It was a gamble fraught with obstacles, opposition and expense but one that’s now paying dividends for his son Grant, who now operates the family farm with his wife, Gaylene.
“It’s very difficult to take a dryland farm to irrigation. It takes at least a generation,” said Grant, who serves on the South Saskatchewan River Irrigation District board.
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The Pedersons faced years of zero income and high costs in addition to farmers opposed to this radical change in the farming landscape.
Grant described those early years of irrigation as “tripling your expenses to double your income.”
Financial spreadsheets are something he and Gaylene are familiar with through their jobs.
The couple lives with their two school-aged daughters in Outlook, where Gaylene works as a lending support manager at the Prairie Centre Credit Union. Grant left a job with Farm Credit Corp. in 2003 to begin farming full time after his brother, Garry, died. A third brother no longer farms.
The Pedersons believe their off-farm careers have made them better farm managers.
“It gives me more confidence in the decision making,” said Grant.
“I’d rather make good money over a few years than try for one big bang and risk everything,” he said.
The jobs also gave them a comfortable lifestyle.
“We couldn’t have afforded to build a home with what the farm was producing,” said Gaylene.
“It couldn’t support two families full time.”
Gaylene leaves the physical work to Grant, but both share in decisions about purchasing land and equipment.
Garry farmed full time while Grant commuted from various FCC offices around the province during those years, while Gaylene readily moved into positions at local credit unions in towns where they lived.
They relied on a hired man, friends and family, a network that continues to help the farm by sharing labour, equipment and expertise. That support has been especially important since Garry’s death.
“Education and work experience isn’t everything on a farm. Sometimes the practical is important,” said Gaylene.
The Pedersons dabbled in as many as 13 different crops, from faba beans and alfalfa to wheatgrass and flax.
A cattle herd has been dispersed but used to help carry them through the highs and lows of farming that included healthy irrigated yields, increasing salinity, infrastructure upgrades and high interest rates.
“Most of us had to go through that to get to where we are today,” said Grant.
He believes the benefits of irrigation have been realized in the last seven years and says the next generation has the most to gain as the groundwork has been laid for them.
Today the Pederson farm is stable and making money for the family. Grant grows seed potatoes, canola and wheat on three irrigated quarters with three pivots and rents out his cattle pastures.
His children are busy with school and sports in town, but hold a piece of Pederson riverside land dear. There the large family gathers for barbecues on land once owned by Gaylene’s grandfather and water that Arthur used as a private retreat.
“The kids won’t let us sell that,” he said.
Gaylene called the farm their base.
“The farm is our pivot point, from where our closest friends are drawn. There are emotional ties.”
She said it took the three combined jobs to get the farm to where it is today.
Full-time farming has given Grant more time for family, holidays, volunteer work and curling and eliminated the need to use his holiday time to farm or rush through chores to get back to the city.
He continues to do some farm finance consulting work and owns shares in True North Potato Co., an arrangement that allows good cash flow. He rents it the land, it does the farm work and he irrigates the seed potatoes.
He has installed efficient, low pressure pivots and is exploring green options for the farm like minimum till and solar power.
Citing labour and time saving devices like a larger swather and hopper bins, he said, “I’m working smarter and enjoying what we have.”
