agriCULTURE: Growing up on a Canadian Family Farm

Agriculture is a uniquely personal industry. Farmers and ranchers cherish and nurture their animals, crops, and land as if it is a part of their family, while simultaneously maintaining strong and mutually beneficial relationships with other farmers and their community. Unfortunately, this aspect of the industry is something the public is not exposed to very often. Growing up immersed in agriculture allowed me to experience firsthand farmers’ dedication and develop a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of how our food is produced and the people who produce it. I hope to give you some insight into the amazing culture that defines agriculture in this blog.

I spent the first 18 years of my life living on my family farm in central Saskatchewan. Throughout my childhood, my family grain farmed, hayed, and raised beef cattle. In addition to growing up on a farm, I also grew up in a farming community. Many of my peer’s parents farmed the same land their parents had farmed, with some of these operations going back over 100 years.

The farm I grew up on has special sentimental value to my family. My grandparents began farming in the 1950s. They bought the section I grew up on in 1972, the year, my dad was born. On this farm, my grandparents raised seven amazing kids, ran a successful farming operation, and led successful careers of their own. The section I grew up on is known as the Tallon Farm because my grandparents purchased it form Tom Tallon. This is how many fields and farmyards are referred to, by the last name of its original owner. My family own a field commonly referred to as Charlie’s, which was across from Howards.

My family’s entire schedule, like many others that are involved in agriculture, revolves around farming. My parents wedding had to be in June, after spraying finished, before haying begins. Or alternatively, sometime in the winter, which if you’ve experienced a Saskatchewan winter, you understand why my mom wasn’t keen on that idea. These were the only two possible time frames because during spraying, haying, and harvest my dad, his entire family, and most of our community were in the field. March to May was out because that was calving, when my dad and other ranchers in the community were going to check on the cows every hour or two. So, my parents agreed on June 25 and hoped for the best.

If even celebrations like weddings had to follow the farming calendar, it is no surprise that birthdays also revolved around the needs of the farm. Both my dad and younger brother’s birthdays are in September, smack in the middle of harvest, the busiest time of year for grain farmers. So, every September, our family spent an evening during harvest having what is affectionately known as a meal in the field. We prepared supper at the house, made a cake, and drove it out to the field where my dad would take a well deserved half hour break from combining and we would sing Happy Birthday. What seems like an unconventional celebration to some was my norm growing up.

It is not only individual families that experience this. Farming communities’ entire town schedule life revolves around this industry. Things like dance recitals, and even high school graduations, had to be scheduled around the various seasonal agriculture activities. My high school’s graduation annually coincides with when seeding is ‘usually’ completed. I remember my farming friends stopping into my graduation ceremony, then bolting out the door back to the field as soon as it finished. When it became too dark to work in the field later in the evening, they rejoined the celebrations.

Community and relationships are everything in farming communities. Farmers are constantly helping one another, especially when they come on tough times. This comes in the form of hopping in your neighbour’s field to help them finish harvest, loaning them extra bales, or coming over in the dead of winter to pull a calf.

This mindset is mirrored in every other aspect of my community and reflected in the way the youth operate and run activities.

In my early years of dancing, the older girls would do my hair and makeup for me, help me practice, cheer me on at competitions, and drive me home from rehearsal. When I turned 15, it became my turn to provide the younger dancers with the same support and love I was given growing up. This give back mentality fuels my small community to continue to create opportunities for youth so they can have the same amazing opportunities I had growing up.

Yes, growing up in a farming community gave me an understanding and appreciation for the hard work and dedicationthat goes into feeding the world and being good stewards of the land. My dad is constantly quoting his parents to my brothers and I. He says “If you look after the land and you look after your livestock, they will look after you.” The truth of this statement is undeniable. I was lucky to spend my youth gaining first hand experience in and appreciation of agriculture. However, my community gave me something infinitely more valuable than that– a mindset that prioritizes giving back.