The next generation to work on this dairy, mixed grain and hay operation near Kleefeld are this year’s Manitoba winners
Glacier FarmMedia – Marcus and Paige Dueck of Four Oak Farms near Kleefeld are Manitoba’s newest outstanding young farmers.
The eastern Manitoba couple was named the 2024 recipients of the award in March.
“It is a great honour. You get into a spot in life where you just focus on what you want to do and what’s coming up next,” Marcus Dueck said.
“This forces you to sit back and reflect a little bit on what you have done over the last five, 10 or 15 years, and suddenly you realize that it’s actually been quite busy for a while.”
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Four Oak Farms is an 800-acre dairy, mixed grain and hay operation. The dairy, which milks 50 cows using the only tie-stall robot in Western Canada, has won multiple milk quality, production and farm awards.
With the exception of some add-ins, feed is produced and milled on the farm. Cash crops include corn and soybeans, as well as forage and grass bound for the horse hay market.
Although they grew up in the same area, the couple earned their agricultural stripes in different ways.
Marcus is the latest link in a multi-generational family farm. Four Oaks Farms got its start with his German grandparents, who started farming the same land after the Second World War. Like other multi-generational farm kids, he grew up helping on the farm.
Paige got her start in the city but loved horses. Her mother shared that interest and the family ditched the urban jungle for rural life when Paige was a pre-teen.
“I found jobs gathering chicken eggs, vaccinating chickens, pressure washing pig barns, milking other people’s cows and riding other people’s horses so that I could pay for the horse that I got when we moved to the country,” she said.
“I knew that I wanted a career with animals, so that led me to an animal science degree at the University of Manitoba.”
Marcus was taking the same degree at the same time, just two years ahead of her.
“We met because my brother was getting married,” said Paige. “Marcus was his friend, which I didn’t actually know. When they came to “steal” him and put him in a van blindfolded for a bachelor party, I saw Marcus on my deck, and something clicked. I just kind of knew, and then we started dating.”
It wasn’t long before they realized their connection was actually a reconnection and they had spent years living just one mile apart. Paige remembered stopping by his farm during her search for agricultural odd jobs, hoping his parents needed help with milking.
“They said they didn’t need a worker. That’s why I didn’t meet him earlier.”
The two married right after Paige finished her degree.
“I wrote my last exam, and then we went off and got engaged, built our house, and got married within a year. Then, once we were married and graduated, we both committed to this property to be the next generation to take over.”
OYF potentials are first nominated by peers, followed by a lengthy review process. First, the nominees have to accept the nomination. There are forms to fill out and questions to answer about the operation. Finally, they must create a five-minute PowerPoint presentation in which they make their case for the award.
“So, in five minutes, you’re supposed to summarize your farm, which is actually really hard,” said Marcus.
The couple, 36 and 38 years old, squeezed under the age threshold for the OYF award. Both agreed that their ages gave them a slight advantage over the competition.
“We were nominated in 2016 and at that time, we were too young. We had just started to take over the farm and we didn’t win that year,” said Paige. “We were up against a cool couple that runs a potato farm out near Brandon, and they took home the Manitoba award that year.”
This year, with eight more seasons under their belts, they entered the competition as “seasoned young farmers,” she noted, and “it was a little bit easier this year to answer the interview questions and know where we’re at in life.”
Alexander Boersch and Markus Deffner from Mill Creek Organics/Abtshof Farms Ltd. in Elie were also finalists for the 2024 award.
The years between nominations helped the Duecks build their resume of community recognition. Both have abundant work experience and community involvement focused on agriculture.
Marcus holds a professional agrologists licence and worked as a sales associate for Marc Hutlet Seeds Ltd. He is a member of the local fire department and sits on the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Advisory Committee.
In addition to being an Equine Canada-certified riding instructor, Paige spent two years working for Dairy Farmers of Manitoba as a producer relations co-ordinator.
“When dairy farmers phoned in for producer relations questions, I was on the end of the phone,” she said.
She was also a validator for the ProAction food safety certification that all dairy farms require.
While a high profile in the community can help, the OFY program is not meant to be a popularity contest. The stated objective is to “recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession.”
“Part of it might be the way we manage and we split manage,” Marcus speculated. “Paige takes care of the barn and the cows on the management side, and I take care of the fields, and we both work with each other to help each other out, but there’s no one person running the whole place.”
The tie-stall milking robot is also a tally in favour of the farm’s ingenuity.
“Installing it and learning how to operate and maintain it has been something that has brought a lot of people to tour and learn about it,” said Marcus. “It’s increased our milk yields and it’s increased (the cows’) udder health.”
The hay baler is also a technological upgrade.
“We brought in a baler from Germany, specifically to make medium square bales that have small square bundles in them,” he said. “There’s nothing like that out here. It gives us access to American markets and a premium in a market that already pays a good premium.”
The Duecks credit the tendency to seek out premiums and maximize profit for their success. That mindset is critical, given the farm size and the number of people it supports.
“We have four generations on our farm right now and we’re managing to keep all four of our households running off of an 800-acre, 50-cow dairy, which is not an easy feat,” said Paige. “You have to work your specialties to get all you can out of what you have to offer.”
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024 will be chosen at the national event in Lethbridge Nov. 27-30.
