BRODERICK, Sask. – B.J. Boot traded his life at Fort Macleod, Alta., for the irrigated lands around Outlook, Sask., five years ago, seeing much potential for a young entrepreneur in Saskatchewan.
“I see a country here that needs to just get going,” said the 32-year-old father of five.
High land prices, lack of room to expand in southern Alberta and a large base of Boots already farming with the family’s Boot Farms in Fort Macleod, were among reasons B.J. and his wife, Christy, chose to build their own farm near Broderick.
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A farm accident and resulting back injury also led B.J. to a less physically demanding job promoting hay around Outlook with Green Prairie, a company that exports the feed to Japan.
That led to the creation of Boot Hay Producers Ltd., which completed a plant last fall to compress timothy hay bound for export markets.
“I thought I might as well be on both ends of it,” said B.J., who also grows timothy, oats and alfalfa.
The family remains an important part of his operation, with brothers supplying 75 percent of the hay.
One of 13 children born to Dutch immigrants, B.J. said the farming brothers work together and share equipment but operate their own farms and businesses. Brothers B.J., Mark and Eric run Boot Hay and other brothers are involved.
John has become B.J.’s irrigation manager, while Ralph helped build the half-million dollar hay shed required for the operation, which also needed new specialized equipment.
The exodus from Alberta continues, with brother Jake recently moving into the area to start a dairy.
B.J. has 3,500 privately irrigated acres, half of which he developed. About 2,000 of those are on rented land.
He hopes one day to put cattle on his 1,000 dryland acres to use up the excess hay.
The future also looks bright for making inroads into American timothy markets, said Eric, a self-taught financial manager and marketer.
He said Saskatchewan can grow high quality timothy more cheaply than can the Americans. The Boots now sell their compressed hay to Japan, mainly into dairy operations and feedlots.
“We have the opportunity to take over world markets from the Americans,” said Eric, citing the advantages of growing hay on irrigated land just an hour’s drive from shipping containers in Saskatoon.
Boot Hay handled 5,000 tons of timothy last year and expects that to increase to 20,000 tons this year.
Also critical to the company’s success is its 81 by 93 metre hay shed. Behind the shed, B.J. is experimenting with tarpaulins, a short-term, less expensive storage solution.
Irrigation is ideally suited for timothy and lowers the risk for growers, say Bart and Willy Boot, the founders of Boot Farms and now grandparents to 30 Boots.
Both prefer irrigation to dryland farming.
“You cannot depend on dryland farming,” Bart said.
The brothers’ reasons for moving east were similar to their parents’ reasons for leaving behind a small Dutch island farm and boarding a plane for Canada with their children in the 1970s. Land had become dear and there was little or no room to expand, Bart said.
Unlike Alberta, where they established an irrigated farm, Saskatchewan’s irrigation systems are underused or incorrectly used, he said.
Bart and Willy say a grain mentality persists and many are afraid to invest in the province.
Willy said the family’s success comes from hard work, working together as a family, a strong faith in God, researching and “thinking.”
B.J. chose to invest in jumbo compressed products to distinguish his product from the cubes made by the other local processor, Elcan Forage.
“We are targeting a different market,” he said of his hay that is bound for higher-end producers such as dairies that use total mix rations.
He maintains good business relations with Elcan, believing the two plants can chase prices up for farmers. Local production still needs to be increased to supply the two plants, he added.
He employs six to 15 staff and would like to heat the shed to create more full-time employment and serve year-round hay markets.
“We don’t stand still here very much,” said B.J., who maintains there is untapped potential in Saskatchewan for those with vision.
“You just need to travel and look at what others are doing and be entrepreneurial.”
