For Jill Clark, 4-H has always been a family affair. Her brothers, father, aunts and uncles were members of 4-H in Kipling, Sask. “I just tagged along,” Clark says of her decision to join.
It was a decision that paid off for the University of Saskatchewan agriculture student. She was chosen to represent the Saskatchewan 4-H program in the Garfield Weston Foundation United Kingdom exchange last summer.
“I’ve always had my eye on it,” she said. “I thought it would be really neat to see agriculture in a different area or region.”
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There were four other Canadian participants, as well as people from the U.S., Switzerland, Finland and Austria.
Among the Canadians was Wendy Kehler from Savona, B.C. who also got involved in 4-H by following someone else’s footsteps. “When I was nine, one of my best friends was in it.”
Kehler went with her friend to a couple of livestock show and then joined.
Lured by travel
Kehler became interested in the exchange program after her family hosted a participant from the U.K. “I’ve always wanted to travel,” Kehler said, and after the hosting experience she became determined to make her way to the U.K.
“My final goal for 4-H was to go on the exchange.”
Applicants are chosen on the basis of 4-H participation, intention to work in agriculture and leadership skills. Clark is an agricultural economics major and is interested in farm management, consulting and marketing. Kehler is a land resource management student at Olds College in Alberta, with a major in crop advising.
During the five-week exchange, Clark stayed in southwestern England and Wales.
“I went to many farms, saw many dairy herds, sheep operations, and tourist attractions.”
Kehler saw pig, dairy, beef and organic farms, as well as tourist attractions in central and eastern England.
Clark went to the U.K. hoping to see a different side of agriculture, and she found it in diversification projects. The bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak has led to changes in farming.
“A lot of them have gone out of the beef cattle, and for extra income they’ve diversified into opening their homes for summer cottages, or renovating a barn and making it a summer house,” she said.
From buffalo to cheese
Some farmers have chosen to diversify their livestock. Neighbors of one of Clark’s host families are raising water buffalo to milk them and make mozzarella cheese.
Clark said British farmers call the BSE scare “just a lot of media hype. When I was over there, McDonald’s and Burger King said they would now use British beef, and the price of beef rose quite dramatically.”
Kehler was surprised at how alike British and Canadian farming practices were on her host farms although direct seeding wasn’t as popular in Britain as it is in Canada, and the British use a few different soil conservation techniques.
Clark said the exchange has taught her about doing things on her own.
“I’m into a time management schedule now. Ask questions, that’s about the number one thing I’ve learned. I plan to ask more questions about our agriculture in Canada when I see my professors.”
Both Clark and Kehler plan on keeping in touch with their host families and would like to return to the U.K.
“Once you’ve seen a little bit, you want to go back,” Clark said.
