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BY IAN DOIG
HEADOF
THE CLASS
Learningopportunities far afield
AGRICULTURALWORK EXCHANGE PROVIDES VALUABLE PERSPECTIVE
GrainsWest
: Why did you apply to work
abroad?
Karsten Nielsen
: We wanted to travel
and experience a different culture while
gaining experience in agriculture.
GW
: What did the placement process
entail?
KN:
We filled out an IRE application and
provided them with resumés. They were
fantastic to work with. They sent our
information to families they work with in
Denmark who were interested in hiring
us at a wage that covered our flights and
some spending money. IRE walked us
through the visa application process and
other important paperwork.
GW:
What was your first impression of
your placement farm?
KN:
It was very tidy and well run. Large by
Danish standards, it’s a mixed farm with
9,000 feeder pigs on 250 hectares of barley,
wheat, rye and rapeseed. The field equip-
ment was very small compared to Western
Canada, and so were the fields, but they
had modern, high-end equipment.
GW:
What was your host family like?
KN:
The farmer who hired me had a wife
and three children. They were fantastic.
One of his kids was on a placement in the
States when I was there. My room was in
the house next to the farmer’s house, where
I ate meals and spent time with the family.
GW:
Can you describe your work duties?
KN:
I spent one or two hours every morn-
ing checking the pigs, making sure they
were fed, and doing repairs. During the
field season, I did fieldwork for the rest
of the day. I was there for harvest as well
as seeding fall cover crops and the winter
crops. I also hauled grain and did a lot of
plowing.
GW:
How familiar were you with those
tasks?
KN:
I was familiar with equipment, but
not theirs. They have a lot of three-point
hitch equipment that’s a lot smaller and
a little more complex than in Western
Canada. I’d never plowed before.
GW:
How are Danish farms different
from Canadian Prairie farms?
KN:
Danish Crown is a corporation
owned by farmers and it buys most of the
pigs and lots of the crops, and farmers buy
most of their feed from it. The farmers are
really proud of it.
On the crop side, everything was much
smaller but usually more productive
because they have a longer growing season
and a lot more moisture. They don’t have
pickup trucks and don’t tend to own heavy
trucks. They haul everything with the trac-
tor or contract it out. Some things they pull
with a Volkswagen Passat and a trailer.
GW:
W
hat farm practices surprised you?
KN:
They plow every field every single
year with a mouldboard plow, whereas
in Western Canada we’re trying not to
plow at all. They just have no other way
of dealing with all the moisture as well as
disease and weeds. It’s very hard to use
pesticides—their use is tightly controlled
by the government. They also can’t grow
GMO [genetically modified organism]
crops, so Roundup is of limited use.
GW:
How has the experience affected
your perspective on agriculture?
KN:
It made me realize how common
the struggles are that all farmers face in
feeding the world.
GW:
Would you recommend other
students participate in international
farm exchanges?
KN:
Absolutely. I’ll remember it my
whole life. It gave me an experience no
resort vacation ever could. I was able to
interact with a Danish family and really
got to understand the culture and agri-
cultural practices. This helps you think
outside the box.
KARSTEN NIELSEN GREW UP ON AN ACREAGE NEAR CAMROSE WHERE HIS
family raised sheep and horses and tended to rented hay crops. Now completing a
master’s degree in agronomy, Nielsen, along with his girlfriend and schoolmate Kait-
lyn Klutz, took leave from his studies at the University of Saskatchewan to participate
in an agricultural work-abroad program overseen by International Rural Exchange
(IRE). From August 1 through December 1, 2016, the two worked on Danish farms an
hour apart, with Nielsen taking a paid position that included room and board near the
town of Silkeborg.
Spring
2018
Grains
West
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