BRANDON, Man. – When Gerry Friesen built his hog barn in 1983, making money was his main concern, not managing manure.
He raises 3,500 hogs and 30,000 turkeys on 70 acres near Wawanesa, in southwestern Manitoba. He asked willing neighbors to rubber stamp a form saying they’d let him spread manure on their land, to satisfy municipal rules.
“That was blatant abuse,” he told a conference here.
Today, Friesen is looking at doubling his hog operation. This time his first concern is where he’ll store and spread the manure.
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He told farmers and bureaucrats at the meeting about his experience to demonstrate how important environmental concerns are to farmers’ decisions.
Keystone Agricultural Producers and the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation brought the odd mix together to show sustainable farming in action.
Herb Goulden, a field manager with the corporation, said he wanted farmers to tell the “good news stories” about diversification to people from wildlife groups and government.
“The real wildlife managers out there are the farm producers, and that being the case, we have to work with them,” Goulden
explained.
Alan Ransom said the meeting was a good chance for farmers to tell bureaucrats what they want and need.
For Karen Wiebe, the meeting was an opportunity to describe how hard it was to get others to believe in her dream, but also how satisfying it is to successfully diversify a farm.
Change required
She and husband Richard returned to her family farm in 1974 to help her dad run it. Ten years later, they knew they had to make changes because expenses and interest rates were dragging the farm down.
Their bank called their loans, and they went through the farm debt review program. Wiebe said the experience was positive because they were able to hang on to their home quarter and other land.
When they looked at their options, a farm vacation business seemed to be a natural fit. The farm is near Manitou, in the scenic and historic Pembina Valley in the province’s south.
Today, the Wiebe’s Pembina Crossing operation is popular for snowmobilers, tours, youth groups and parties. The barn contains a banquet hall, lounge and restaurant. Wiebe also has a sewing business in the loft.
“We’re doing what we love and loving what we do,” she said. And while they’re not debt-free, they’re reaching their goals and finding other opportunities.
Don’t see wider picture
Wiebe said lending institutions and governments sometimes have tunnel vision about how to diversify agricultural land.
When she went to the bank with a business plan for her sewing centre, the manager laughed.
“Those kinds of comments just about kill a person when they’re trying to deal with the things they’re dealing with,” she said.
