EDMONTON – The key to farming together as a family is working for the greater good rather than concentrating on individuals, says an Alberta farmer who works with his father and brother.
Working on a family farm is not easy, Kevin Bender told a session called Management Tips From Leading Edge Farmers held during FarmTech 2008 in Edmonton.
Mostly it takes a desire to want to work together, said Bender who farms 3,600 acres in the Bentley and Sylvan Lake area west of Red Deer.
“Selfishness has no place in that arrangement,” he said.
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Bender received a jolt when his brother announced he was going to leave the trio and farm on his own.
Until then it was a loose arrangement of ownership and decision making.
Bender owned the tandem truck and his father and brother each owned combines, the equivalent of two sets of machinery for three farms, which helped reduce costs.
The Benders would need to buy more machinery if the brother pulled out of the partnership, or they could make an effort to stay together.
The family stayed together, but rules changed. The brother was made manager.
During harvest everyone had input into what crop would be harvested next, but the brother had the final say, even during last year’s wet, difficult harvest.
“Looking back, when all the decisions were finalized with one person, and having the interests of others above your own, it made it the least stressful harvest ever,” he said.
Working together makes sense in a hot Alberta economy where good farm help is difficult to find. Bender’s brother is more mechanical and does most of the repairs. Bender concentrates on grain handling.
“We’re all in this together,” he said.
Despite having good ground rules, however, the Benders still find it challenging to keep open lines of communication and accept new ideas.
It is also key not to keep a scorecard on who is doing what work, he said.
“Think of others more highly than yourself. It’s helped our farm be successful.”
Jack Swainson, who also spoke at the management seminar, credits much of his agricultural success to adopting zero till more than 10 years ago.
He said zero till has improved his soil, reduced costs and allowed him to operate a one-person custom seeding business as well as his own farm.
One of the first stumbling blocks to adoption of zero till was to realize “black is no longer beautiful.”
With neighbours looking over the fence, it was tough to leave fields with messy, uneven stubble rather than smooth and fallow.
“When I made the switch it was quite a challenge,” said Swainson, who farms west of Red Deer.
He said he noticed positive benefits to his fields almost immediately. The soil became mellow and for the first time in years he could find earthworms with every shovelful.
Swainson told farmers at the meeting to be innovative and try different crops.
For several years now he has grown winter wheat, which wasn’t a common crop when he tried his first field. His neighbour thought it was a healthy field of quack grass.
However, Swainson believes he made the right decision. Seeding in the fall means one less field to seed in the spring and one field harvested earlier in the fall.
“Winter wheat is a great crop. If you get a rainy day you can seed a quarter section. There’s always a couple days when you can’t combine,” he said.
By working with organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and Reduced Tillage Linkages, he has gained knowledge and been introduced to new ideas.
“There are some wrecks, but that happens with conventional farming too,” he said.
Last fall he seeded winter wheat on winter wheat stubble. It wasn’t planned, but with a wet harvest it was the only field available. He’ll keep an eye out for disease in the spring.
Swainson said he straight combines everything, including canola, and usually ends up with better seed.
“There’s lots of innovation coming. Don’t be scared to give it a try.”
