GrainsWest Fall 2020

Fall 2020 grainswest.com 17 GrainsWest: Growing up on a farm, did you imagine your life would continue to be farm-focused? Lesley Kelly: I helped out on the farm growing up, but my passions were competitive sports—softball and curling. My aspiration was to live in the city. I went to the University of Saskatchewan to get my degree in commerce and later an accel- erated accounting diploma from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. I was ready to do big things, but when I got to the city, that’s when I realized how much I missed my farming roots in my small town community. I didn’t think I would work in agriculture either. At the time, I thought if I want- ed to do agriculture I would have to be on the farm or [become an] an agronomist. I had a limited view, unfortunately. GW: What brought you back to agriculture? LK: My marketing experience has a lot to do with agriculture. After university, I worked for Cargill. After I met my husband and we moved to Alberta, he was working in the oil field and I worked in finance because we wanted to make our own way. We knew if A born communicator, Lesley Kelly put her conversational skills to work as an advocate for agriculture. Kelly maintains the High Heels and Canola Fields blog, which she supports with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. She also co-hosts the What the Farm Podcast with influential American farmer Rob Sharkey. To bridge the gap between the agriculture community and the general public she discusses the reality of Canadian farm life. Sharing information, she engages in discussion and has waded into the ongoing debates about hot topics such as GMO crops and meat consumption. Her online and social media presence has earned her the unofficial title of ag influencer, but her work to promote the inter- ests of the farm industry goes beyond the realm of digital media. She co-created the Do More Ag Foundation, a support system for farmers in need of mental health assistance and resources. In January 2020, Kelly also took on the position of director with the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SaskWheat). While she talks ag, she also lives it. Kelly farms near Watrous, SK, with her husband Mathieu and their boys Jennings, eight, and Copeland, five. BY ELLEN COTTEE • PHOTOS COURTESY OF LESLEY KELLY Lesley Kelly creates awareness of ag issues HOW TO GROW CROPS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE we wanted a family, we wanted to be in a small town and back in Saskatchewan. It worked out that my parents had space for a third family on the farm. Now we farm with my parents and my broth- er’s family, primarily grains, lentils and, of course, canola. GW: How did you become an influencer in the ag community? LK: I always get a funny feeling being called an influencer be- cause I never had aspirations of that. I think we’re all influencers in our own way. For me, though, it started when I was living in Alberta and working full time. I created a snack food company, Martin Munchies, created from barley grown on the family farm. I was selling it online and at farmers’ markets and realized a lot of people didn’t know the first thing about agriculture or farm life. It was when I was pregnant, selling the snacks, and a woman came up to me and asked if we use pesticides or chemicals on our farm. I said yes and explained why but she didn’t want to listen. She called me a bad mom and that made quite an impact on me. That was when I thought there’s something more here. People are so disconnected and they have so many questions.