Alta. man started in pharmaceuticals while also putting together a farm that he will pass on to his daughter and son-in-law
CAMROSE, Alta. — Health rather than a grand retirement plan pushed Ed Gaudet away from the farm he loved.
“I got off the combine Oct. 2, 2023, and two days later I was old. I was shuffling and a little faint in the head and walking kind of funny,” said Gaudet, 84, of Camrose. “That was it and I only go out to the farm once a week now.”
Years of hard work, the repetitive motion of controlling farm equipment, dust and long hours finally took their toll.
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“I lost all my strength and my balance wasn’t the best. I have arthritis in my shoulders. I just consider myself absolutely useless. I am a little short on hobbies.”
Gaudet has served as a director on hospital boards, provincial gaming boards, elevator company and grain commission boards.
“It had to have been a hobby because they never paid me.”
For years Gaudet, who was also a pharmacist and national pharmaceutical sales representative in his earlier career, would shut down his tractor or combine to attend board meetings, even if they conflicted with harvest, because he believed attendance was his responsibility.
“I was probably one of the few farmers that had worked for international corporations. You realize what governance is. I took it that seriously, that you are ultimately responsible, so you better be there.”
As chair of many boards, Gaudet said he often pushed members to participate in discussions during the meetings rather than afterward in the parking lot.
“I wouldn’t let people sit on their hands in a meeting. Very few of them quit and they would become participants. Sometimes they were the best board members you could get.”
Gaudet said he appreciated his time on farm boards like Agricore United and the Canola Council of Canada.
“I really enjoyed that kind of stuff. I am not sure the meetings are what I enjoyed, but I enjoyed the networking.”
Pharmacist and pharmacy sales representative were early careers, but Gaudet’s heart was always at the farm where he was raised. Three of his four siblings are pharmacists, and he credits the local Daysland, Alta., pharmacist for making the career appealing to his family.
“That was the only profession we had that looked kind of fun.”
Looking back, Gaudet said commerce and marketing were the most enjoyable parts of his pharmacy career and a later benefit for his farm.
“I never really got into dispensing. That is probably why I got into sales. I enjoyed the front of the store and the marketing.”
He travelled across Canada and the United States, telling doctors about new pharmaceuticals.
“They would find out I was a farmer and they wanted to talk about farming. Most of them were first or second generation farm kids and they wanted to talk about farming and I would forget where I was in my talk.”
Throughout his time on the road, Gaudet continued to buy land, houses and businesses while continuing to farm.
“I bought farmland right since I was young. Anything that came up for sale, I would tell Dad to buy it for me. I have always been involved in real estate. If I had a hobby, it was flipping real estate and accumulating real estate.
“I always figure you can buy a business and just call it tuition. If it doesn’t work or you don’t like it, you can sell it. I am interested in buying anything that is interesting.”
Gaudet had a unique rule on the farm. Every year he wanted a new piece of machinery or land to keep things interesting, play with something new and reduce his repair time.
“Pharmacy never taught me a hell of a lot about fixing a tractor.”
Gaudet and his wife, Audrey, have two daughters and one grandchild. Gaudet now realizes how much family time he missed while travelling.
“I was away a lot of time and had two young girls who grew up and I never got to enjoy them as much as I could have. Now we have a granddaughter and it’s very enjoyable and I realize what I missed with my own.”
For the past 10 years, their daughter and son-in-law, Kim and Lee Ireland, have slowly taken over responsibility for operating the grain farm, coming each weekend and holiday to learn from Gaudet.
The farm transition isn’t complicated. Gaudet will roll his farm corporation to the farming daughter and son-in-law. To keep it as fair as possible, the other daughter and son-in-law will get land and property not held inside the farming corporation.
While not able to actively farm, Gaudet said he enjoys the 30-minute drive to the farm once a week to walk around and remember the good times.
