Grainswest - Spring 2025

Spring 2025 grainswest.com 33 30 per cent of the purchase price and maintenance costs. As the ratio of acres changes, we will revisit the shared costs. In the fall of 2023, Bennett and Kendra and my parents and I had lunch in our office. “This is probably a good time to talk to you guys about something we’ve been thinking about,” said Bennett. The look on his face was serious—the kind you give someone if you’re about to initiate a breakup or take the next step in a relationship. Things were going too well for a breakup, so without much thought I asked, “Are you moving here?” They looked surprised and said, “Maybe.” They proposed subdividing our home quarter and building a house. They wanted to involve their four young children in day-to-day life on the farm, but the 15-minute drive from our yard to their existing house made this difficult. We also discussed building a shared machine shop someday. To have our operations centrally located would facilitate this. Last November, during a blizzard, Bennett, Kendra and family moved into their new home. It’s a big change to have new neighbours, but our business relationship remains consistent. We track the monetary value of our exchanges using pre-established custom equipment and labour rates. We operate our own farms but assist each other with tasks, the lending of equipment or problem solving. The partnership helps manage our labour needs. Neither farm needs another full-time employee, just an occasional extra set of hands. We organize our days around the tasks each farm needs to accomplish. Sometimes it feels like we are parallel farming, each focused on our own priorities and checking in occasionally. Seeding is more like a relay race as Bennett and I pass the decision-making baton back and forth depending on whose crop we’re sowing. This winter, we worked as a team to re-insulate and tin the ceiling of our existing shop. I appreciate having another person on the farm who is at the same stage in his career as me. We work hard to maintain open dialogue about our goals and impediments. No partnership is perfect, but for me, it has surpassed the allure of going solo.