Grainswest - Winter 2024

Winter 2024 grainswest.com 29 good ones based on what we’re seeing elsewhere,” he said. “It’s an exchange of ideas with people who know you rather than just randomly on social media or the coffee shop.” About one year after he joined, Krahn was pouring over spreadsheets in his office, trying to calculate whether he should upgrade his air drill and tack on sectional control. It felt right and the numbers looked accurate, but because he had completed his capital spending for the year, Krahn wanted certainty. He laid out the proposition to the group. They pressed him with a host of questions and challenged his math. By the end, the farmers around the table acknowledged it made sense and encouraged the buy. Krahn made the upgrade. “I needed a push to say even though you had decided not to spend more, this makes sense because the numbers say so. And so, you should do it anyways,” he explained. “You get that unbiased take on a situation.” Krahn admitted he has become much more relaxed sharing details about his operation than he would have expected when he first joined. He noted that with any personal or professional relationship it takes time to get comfortable. The vulnerability has paid off as he stuck with the group. What began as a collection of strangers has developed into strong bonds with a high degree of trust and respect. “Whether you farm by yourself or with a group of partners, it’s easy to have blinders on or get groupthink because you’re making decisions with those people every day,” he said. “To be able to ask a group outside of your farm, but that still knows your farm well enough they can give you a good answer, it is just invaluable. “The time spent at a peer group is some of the best farm management time I spend in a year. The time and effort put in, you get back in multiples. Every farmer should be part of a peer group.” Krahn also participated in The Executive Program for Agriculture Producers (TEPAP), over the winters of 2020 and 2023. Although a more formal program, Krahn described it as similar to his regular group in that participants shared openly about their farm from a business perspective. It “had a significant impact” on how he looks at his farm, he said. KEEP IT REAL For different reasons, 29-year-old Steve Reimer enjoyed his peer group experience as much as Krahn. A first-generation farmer in the Carrot River, SK, area, Reimer works with his wife Jen and brother Dale. Keen to work in smart and efficient ways, he steadily absorbs the wisdom of friends, neighbours and, mostly recently, a peer group. In 2021, when a Farm Credit Canada (FCC) rep pitched him on the idea to link up with farmers in a formal setting, he remembers being excited and keen to hear more. “I didn’t even really know what a peer group was,” he said. “I was like, ‘OK, fill me in here, what are we talking about?’ When she started describing it, I was all on board with that. To me, it sounded really good.” At their first meeting in November 2021, members talked about pertinent management topics with a professional facilitator present. There were six online sessions per season, and everyone was given a topic ahead of time to ponder prior to each meeting. This allowed them to contribute questions and discussion points. Each meeting opened with the latest developments at everyone’s farm. This was followed by open discussion. “Everybody got a chance [to speak],” said Reimer, appreciative of the facilitator. “That helps everything and everybody be on the same level.” Reimer lives about three hours northeast of Saskatoon, SK, and was grateful sessions were held online. He said he would have found it difficult to attend them in person. “When you’re in your own office, you can make your own notes and everything’s right in front of you,” he said. “I do think there’s a time to leave the farm, but I really liked it. It was two hours I scheduled and set aside, and I’d be in my office knowing that I was going to be chatting with these people.” Similar to Krahn’s group, Reimer found himself chatting with farmers outside his immediate area. Group members were spread across Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario. He rolled up his verbal sleeves and engaged in real talk. “You drive by a farm and the shop is nice, the lawn is mowed and the house is neat. It looks pretty good, but you don’t know what’s happening behind closed doors. That’s really where we were going with our peer group, is going behind those closed doors. In a way, it got me a chance to sit in on five different farm business meetings, and that helped me a lot with furthering my business principles for my own farm.” “ The time spent at a peer group is some of the best farm management time I spend in a year. The time and effort put in, you get back in multiples. Every farmer should be part of a peer group.” – Ron Krahn