KIPLING, Sask. – The Vargo family farm on the edge of the Moose Mountain area in southeastern Saskatchewan is really a four-family farm.
While that can be difficult, says the youngest of the brothers who work together, it is also what makes the farm successful.
Glen Vargo and his wife Lynn spent several years living and working away from the farm, before returning nine years ago.
“I came home with a bunch of ideas and found my brothers running a pretty successful operation,” Glen said. “I thought they must be doing something right.”
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The Vargos farm between 35 and 40 quarters of land, including pasture. Each owns five quarters and the rest is held jointly. They run a 450-head cow-calf operation and also have a herd of 50 purebred polled Herefords.
They grow a traditional mix of wheat, oats and barley, and for the past two years have grown canola.
“Canola was a big step for us,” said Lynn. “With cereals, you can always cut it and you can feed it.”
Glen said the Vargo farm may be large, but it operates in a conventional way, without a computer.
“We don’t farm with a degree. We just farm,” he said. “Everybody does things differently, but we’re pretty traditional.”
The Vargos see their farm as a way of life, as well as a business. But preserving that lifestyle is becoming more difficult. Both Glen and Lynn sense a decline of the rural lifestyle and their heritage.
“There’s no time to visit like we used to on Sundays,” he said. “You have to work so much more just to survive.”
Still, Glen and Lynn hold fast to the belief that the rural way of life is best.
“It’s probably still the best place to raise your kids,” said Glen.
To help stay true to that belief, Glen supplements their income by working off the farm for nine months of the year at Arcola Livestock Sales. Despite the hard work, they say they wouldn’t trade places with anybody.
“A person knows where they want to be,” said Lynn.
