PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Sometimes, when the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence, it is.
Wilmer Fingas learned that during his early years of farming. He grew up on a farm near Inglis, Man., and planned to follow in his father’s footsteps.
But when Fingas ventured into farming in the 1950s, he realized the opportunities in his area were limited. Land was hard to come by, and he was forced to haul his cattle 160 kilometres to provide adequate pasture.
“I just decided there had to be better farm areas than that, and I’ve never regretted it.”
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Fingas, clean-shaven and immaculately dressed, decided to pull up stakes in 1963. His search for greener pastures took him to Portage la Prairie, an area where grains flourished in fertile soils.
At that time, wheat was the undisputed king of crops. But a new opportunity started to take root in the area, and Fingas was among the first to seize upon it.
Potatoes, a crop already common in Eastern Canada, was gaining ground in Manitoba. In the late 1970s, McCain Foods was looking for farmers to grow the crop and Fingas soon signed a contract.
The first year involved a sharp learning curve, where Fingas had to quickly understand the ins and outs of growing spuds. But equipment was more affordable then, and local growers arranged community storage for the potatoes harvested.
“We had a real good crop the first year,” said Fingas, who was by then married and the father of three children. “If the first year is a success, it’s a lot easier to carry on.”
Fingas started with 200 acres of potatoes. Twenty years later, the crop covers 550 acres. Although canola and wheat are also grown there, potatoes are the main breadwinner at the Fingas farm. The family harvests about 12 million pounds (5,443 tonnes) of potatoes each year.
The farm appears tranquil in the winter months, but the growing season brings a flurry of activity that continues through to harvest.
Cam and Kim Fingas work alongside their father, sharing his enthusiasm for farming. Wilmer recalls that his sons showed an interest in farming long before they finished school.
“They were always interested, right from the time they were 12 or 13 years old. They always wanted to be out at the farm.”
Cam, 41, now lives at the farm, located east of Portage. Kim, 39, and Wilmer live in Portage.
The farmyard is surrounded by towering stands of spruce trees. Everything at the yard appears to be carefully maintained, including a large storage shed for potatoes.
The growth of their enterprise prompted the Fingas family to build its own storage shed in 1985. And they also invested in irrigation, a form of insurance against dry years.
“Our potatoes get top priority around the farm here,” said Kim, a sturdily built man with a friendly disposition. “That’s the main crop.”
Despite the rising costs of growing potatoes, Kim estimates that it takes eight acres of wheat to match the returns from one acre of spuds.
Hard work and careful planning have paid off in other ways as well. For four consecutive years, the Fingas family has been chosen the top grower from among potato farmers delivering to the McCain processing plant at Portage.
The award is based on the quality of potatoes grown along with the consistency of that production. The grower winning the award receives $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip (spouse included) to the Caribbean for a week. Kim has travelled twice while Wilmer and Cam have each gone once.
“McCain’s has been good for us over the years,” said Kim, noting the company has stuck with them through the good years and the bad.
The three men are somewhat modest about their own achievements, however. They say Mother Nature has much to do with the outcome of their crops. The soil in their area is also favorable to potatoes.
They will soon embark on another season of growing potatoes, where insects, plant disease and the weather can all influence their fortunes. They appear content with what they have and confident of what the future will bring.
They don’t have any immediate plans for expansion. Land doesn’t come cheap in their area, and despite the potential returns, growing potatoes can be an expensive proposition.
“I think it’s better to do a proper job of what you have than to spread yourself too thin,” said Kim, echoing some of the wisdom passed down from his father.
