Grainswest - Fall 2026

Fall 2026 grainswest.com 21 The Wiests DaveWiest’s grandparents established the family’s farm near Enchant in the early 1950s. Dave’s parents Ted and Cindy began farming full time in themid-1980s. Dave took to the land straight out of high school in the late 1990s. He later married Karey, who grew up on a grain farm in the Foremost area, and the couple raised three children. The rotation Canola, malting barley and wheat. Divisionof labour While Davemanages crop operations, Karey tends to a range of household, fieldmeal, binyard and transport duties with daughter Shelby who is in Grade 12. At school to earn his weld- ing ticket, eldest son Tanner returns to the farm for seeding and harvest. Middle child Colton is especially interested in live- stock and works with the family’s 225 head of cattle. Though he has been retired for 15 years, Ted continues to assist with harvest and additional duties. Recent success “It’s very tough country in our neck of the woods for dryland,” said Dave. “Our success has been gettingmore irrigation developed.” In 2026, the farmwent fromabout 70 per cent irrigable to 100. Thismove included giving up rented dryland acres and adding sugar beets to the rotation. This latest new- to-themcrop had filled out nicely as of late September. To re- alize return on investment in irrigation, the family works hard tomaximize the potential of all the farm’s crops. Cereals choices in2026 Barley, durumand spring wheat acreage vary year to year. Dave’smain CWRS choice in 2026 was AAC Brandon but he also likes Clearfield. Providing another rotation, it allows him to spray out a previous barley crop. Barley acres were split be- tween Brahma and KWS Kellie. The 2026harvest Barley bushel weight under irrigation was down somewhat this year. Dave noted this appears to be the case in his area. How- ever, cereal bushels per acre were satisfactory. Cereal plans The farmhas always done well with spring wheat and Dave plans to increase acreage next year. “It combines nicely, stands well and always grades well,” he said. Hemay also try additional newer barley varieties with an eye to balancing bushel weight and yield. Photo: Holly Nicoll