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The Food Issue
2016
grainswest.com21
S
ome of us are lucky enough to know
what we want to be when we grow
up before we’re even in grade school. Jeff
Nielsen is one of those people. The Olds-
area farmer was still a young boy when he
appropriated five acres of his dad’s farm
to start his own small operation, which
rewarded him with a tidy 350-bushel
yield. During that expedient harvest, he
knew he would be a lifelong farmer.
It’s a story familiar to many Alberta
farmers. They are born into the
business. At 52, Nielsen has 36 years of
farming experience under his belt. His
professional foray into farming began at
16, when he obtained his first Canadian
Wheat Board permit book. “I remember
because I was underage, so you had to
get a parent to sign,” he said with a smile.
Characteristic of Nielsen’s personality,
his reason for working in a tractor is
straightforward: “It’s something I’ve
always liked doing,” he said.
Today, he farms 1,400 acres of cereal
crops, primarily wheat and barley,
in addition to canola. The wheat
Nielsen grows is Canadian Prairie
Spring Red, or CPSR. It’s quality wheat
that is predominantly used to create
flatbreads, crackers and noodles. Many
farmers are partial to Hard Red Spring
Wheat, arguably the most popular class
of wheat grown in Alberta, but not
Nielsen. “We get lots of rain and never
get the (proper) protein for Hard Red
Spring Wheat,” he said.
His malting barley, used primarily
for beer making, is directly contracted
to the maltsters at Rahr Malting Co.,
located in Alix, about an hour northeast
of Nielsen’s farm.
As a farmer, Nielsen inherently carries
a significant amount of risk each year.
Input costs vary, but this year his initial risk
will run about $190,000 even before his
crop emerges from the ground: Fertilizer
($90,000), crop insurance ($45,000),
seeds and seed treatments ($42,000),
crop protection ($7,500) and fuel
($2,500). In order to maintain cash flow,
he typically tries to pre-sell about 25 per
cent of his crops on contract by the time
seeding is complete in early to mid-May.
In order to mitigate risks, both
financial and ecological, Nielsen has
adopted new methods on his farm to
make the business as sustainable as
possible.
“Our land isn’t blowing away, because
of zero-till practices,” he said, proudly.
Zero-till, or minimum till, is the practice
of not disturbing the soil before planting.
Farmers achieve this by using an air
seeder, or air drill, to plant seeds directly
into the soil at a pre-determined depth.
“With GPS steering in almost everything
we own, when you seed you’re not
overlapping, you’re not wasting seed or
fertilizer.”
Indeed, Nielsen’s farm, and the
majority of farms in Canada, have
become much more high-tech out of
necessity, in response to the vagaries of
the market.
“I’m a business. I am here to make
money,” he said. “I can’t be here if I can’t
make money. But I can’t be here and
abuse my soil and still try to make money.”
Nielsen recalled what his teacher
at Lethbridge College told him years
ago when he studied farm finance
management and technologies: “If you
can’t handle the stress, you’re better off
pumping gas at Esso.”
“That’s a very good point,” said
Nielsen. “If you cannot handle the fact
that tomorrow weather could come in
and wipe you out … this is not the job
for you.”
Nielsen has been victim of wicked
winds, floods and droughts during his
farming career, but he wants everyone to
know he’s in it for the long haul. “My farm
is right on Highway 2, I’m on a stage. I
know that and I embrace it.”
Prairie
pride
FARMER ADJACENT TO HIGHWAY 2
LOVES WORKING “ON A STAGE”
BY TREVOR BACQUE
Photo: Trevor Bacque