It’s hard to say whether coincidences have meaning, but given the case of Bryan and Reta Kirk, it’s difficult to be skeptical about the power of serendipity.
Back in the early 2000s, the Kirks decided it was time to sell their farm near Neudorf, Sask. They had spent several decades growing crops and operating a grain cleaning business, but Bryan decided it was time for him to slow down.
“We had to put it up for sale because we don’t have a family to turn it over to,” Kirk said.
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The farm had been in the family for more than 100 years, since Bryan’s grandfather immigrated to Canada from Yorkshire, England, in the late 1800s. The land and farmhouse remained on the market for a couple of years until Paul and Ruth Mitchell decided to buy the Kirks’ farm. By coincidence, Paul was born and raised in Yorkshire, England.
“It’s remarkable. Of all the people that came to look at the farm, the people that bought it came from my grandfather’s homelands,” Kirk said.
The Yorkshire link is a unique twist to this story, but the story of modern farm immigration is less rare. Dozens of foreign farmers, most from Britain and elsewhere in Europe, have moved to the Prairies in the last decade to buy farms and become citizens.
All three prairie provinces have immigrant nominee programs to attract the interest of foreign farmers.
Kirk has noticed that a number of British and European farmers have recently moved into the Yorkton-Melville region, mirroring events from a few generations ago.
“It’s sort of a repeat of what it was back in the late 1800s. Just a different group of people but the same objectives in mind.”
Since the sale, the Kirks moved to nearby Melville and have developed a strong relationship with the Mitchells. Kirk occasionally will help Paul on the farm and the Mitchells’ children are also a good reason for the Kirks to visit their old farmhouse.
“We didn’t have a family and we find the young ones quite entertaining and amusing,” Kirk said.
Added Ruth: “They’re kind of like grandparents to the kids.”
Looking beyond their new relationship, Kirk said immigration by couples such as the Mitchells is a bonus for Western Canada.
“I think it’s good for the communities because some who don’t have families … and others, the family doesn’t want to take over (the farm).”
In a Western Producer special report, Brandon bureau reporter Robert Arnason looks into the experience and expectations of new farmer immigrants and how provincial governments are searching for the next generation of prairie farmers.
