WHITEWOOD, Sask. – The orange shag rug and bright green walls represent a distant past, but the house and land they came with frame a bright future in agriculture for 19-year-old Mandy Mercer.
“I like open spaces, I love animals and I like everything about it,” she said of farm life.
“I see myself as the next generation on this place.”
Mandy picked up the quarter section at the same time her parents, Brooke and Joanne, relocated their farming operation and family of five girls to Whitewood from Wolseley, where they spent the last 18 years.
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Mandy is a welder at Seed Hawk Inc., an agricultural implement company in Langbank, Sask.
The job augmented skills first introduced by her father.
“I like building things and seeing the end result. It’s rewarding,” said Mandy, who is also renovating her house, one of two on her land.
Mandy plans to add beef cattle and also keeps three horses that could one day become part of a horse dairy. The idea is to supply milk to the health care market, where horse milk is used to boost the human immune system.
“I like the taste better than cow’s milk. It’s like skim milk, with a sweet taste,” she said.
The horses provide about a litre of milk at a time and tolerate milking well, she said.
Mandy is familiar with milking. Her parents once had a dairy operation and she participated in 4-H dairy projects. She also worked at a cattle dairy in Canada and more recently at a horse dairy in Norway.
Brooke, 42, and Joanne, 40, are originally from farms in Lemberg, Sask., and have worked in trucking and in a nursing home. They hope to eliminate the need for off-farm jobs by growing from three to 14 quarters. They think that cattle can be more profitable than grain.
The new farm offers more grassland, a good water supply, ample bush for protection from the weather, and pastures for their 200 head commercial cow-calf operation. The change also supports their girls’ future in farming.
“Just because we had five girls doesn’t mean they can’t farm. They’re just as good as any boy at running the machines,” said Brooke. “They should have just as much opportunity as any son.”
While they support farming careers, the Mercers also encourage their girls to experience the world beyond the farm. Their daughter, Lacey, will study medical office management this fall and Mandy worked in Norway.
All pitch in to get the work done, with Joanne and Brooke swathing and baling this day and sisters Brittany and Deanna preparing lunch.
Joanne said the sisters learned to do chores and take care of one another.
“They got used to it from the time they were born,” she said.
“We all get along really good, we are all like best friends,” said Mandy of her sisters who range in age from 11 to 17. “I never had a brother so I don’t know what that’s like.
“I’ve taken the role of the boy,” she joked, citing her acquisition of a Class 1A trucking licence, a farm and welding trade.
Mandy and her parents plan to renovate their respective houses, located within a short drive of one another.
Brooke and Joanne are also creating a holistic management plan for the land.
“If you use your cattle properly, they can improve your land,” said Brooke, who noted how cattle reduce the need for chemicals and fuel on the farm.
The family gives pastures sufficient rest time to recover between uses and establish legumes and alfalfa in the grasses. In winter, cattle feed on 20 bales at a time and move along within an electric fence to better manage the trash and manure on the pastures.
Joanne also wants to create more shelterbelts and grassland.
“I would like to see the natural bush get healthier,” she said.
Other short-term plans include moving the corrals to land with better drainage and adding a hip roof barn.
Brooke borrowed a quote from a holistic management mentor about leaving the land in good shape for future generations.
“We’re not getting it from our grandparents; we’re borrowing it from our children.”
The couple says they survived the post-BSE years by carefully managing their expenses.
“We had to be a much better manager,” said Brooke. “We had to cut out things we didn’t need.”
Despite such setbacks, Brooke and Joanne agree the farm is good for families and agriculture is important work for society. They teach their children to be proud of farming.
“We could do without a lot of stuff but we can’t go without eating,” Brooke said.
