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SHESAID, THREESAID
BY SARAH WEIGUM
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Kendall Bevans
Cardston, AB
This year, we tried hiring a foreign worker.
One of our hang-ups in starting this
process was the fear of not knowing the
person. We cautiously proceeded when we
found someone whom others in the area
knew and gave good recommendations for.
We started the process last February
and by October, we were still waiting for
the government to finalize the paperwork.
The individual is still ready to come, but
in the meantime, he’s been left hanging
for employment and our whole sta has
been overloaded. If we are to try this
again, we had better plan on it being a
year-long process.
The job position that is to be filled is
manager of our hog feeder barns and feed
mill. We advertised this position through-
out Canada without success. Management
positions of intensive livestock enterprises
can be tough to fill as they require some-
one who is educated and well trained.
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The beauty of agriculture is the ability to experiment on the farm. Whether it’s rais-
ing new animals, planting a special crop, spraying at different rates or trying out new
equipment, the farm is o en a place where innovation meets opportunity.
Three Hills-area farmer and writer SarahWeigum asked three Alberta farmers:
What did you try on your farm this past year and what were the results?
Trevor Bell
Keoma, AB
We tried a new drill for our farm this year:
a John Deere Conserva Pak. With the hail
we had, it’s hard to make a good judgment
on the performance, but where the crops
were left alone by nature it seemed to work
better than our old drill.
With our old drill, we felt that we were
getting lots of compaction issues. This
drill actually rips into the ground with the
fertilizer knife and places the seed in the
side of that ridge, so the seed is put into
relatively soft ground. The theory is that
you get more consistency with seed depth.
Whether the ground is hard or soft, the
seeding depth is uniform. It allows you to
put the fertilizer two to four inches below
the seed, which allows the seed to access
the fertilizer fairly quickly.
We learned that, with this particular
tool, you want to make sure everything is
set properly before you head to the field.
Once you get there, things don’t move a lot.
Delores DeRudder
Alcomdale, AB
I started raising miniature horses this year.
I have two mares and a stud, and we sold
the first foal when it was two days old. The
neighbours thought they were cute and
wanted to buy one for their grandchildren.
I have quarter horses, but my granddaugh-
ter really likes the miniatures—they’re
very friendly.
We’re also increasing our meat goat
herd and I’m increasing the Boer goat (a
meat variety) population of our herd. I
market the goats through a friend. We
sell them live and the buyer takes them
home. I’ve had meat goats for 20 years,
but demand is going up with more people
coming to Canada from countries where
they eat goat meat.
Working with animals is very intriguing.
There is always one animal that is boss of
the herd and when you bring other ani-
mals in they’re quite aggressive until they
figure out where they are in the herd.
Winter
2015
grainswest.com
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