I was on a call with my business partner, Ryan Santschi. A Zoom call. “Hey, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a column to write this morning,” I said. “Okay. No problem. What are you going to be writing about?” asked Santschi. I gave him the elevator pitch about what I was […] Read more
Toban Dyck: This column could’ve been written by AI
Let’s understand technology rather than run from it
Toban Dyck: Ag shouldn’t play soccer when hockey is what it’s trained to play
I don’t want to write about sustainability, but I have to
There is a scene in the book The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary that is too graphic for me to write about openly. This work by Simon Winchester is one of my favourite reads and it galvanized in me a deeper appreciation for […] Read more
PHOTOS: Midsummer creatures on the farm
The growing season takes place and things happen along the way — moments, characters, oddities. Every year, our dogs play a leading role on the farm. They are excited to be among the busyness on the yard. They enjoy following the tractor when we’re close to home. And, in the middle of summer, when all […] Read more
On trucks, ag policy and pilgrimages
Are some of the gaps in Canadian ag and policy so large and left alone so long they are being forgotten?
Do you scroll through Kijiji like I do? It’s hard to say, I bet. You don’t know how often I open the app, nor the duration of each episode. Rest assured, I do this often and for varying amounts of time. But I can also rest assured knowing that you likely do this, too. Since […] Read more
Better late than never
For the 2022 seeding season that about sums things up
I am writing this on my phone while seeding our last field. It’s June 9 and this is the latest I’ve ever seeded a crop. I’m seeding barley on a 90-acre parcel in the Red River Valley. I have exactly four minutes and five seconds of writing time between turns at each end of the […] Read more
Toban Dyck: We’re not all wearing red sweaters
What I’m going to say about privilege may illicit a strong reaction
Imagine your favourite ag dealer decided to start favouring people wearing red sweaters. You, not knowing any of this, walk in wearing your favourite blue sweater. Aghast at the poor level of service you received and at the sheer silliness of the policy, you demand to speak to the manager, who is too busy helping […] Read more
Toban Dyck: Clothes do not make the man — or do they?
The essence of a farmer deserves more examination
What does a farmer look like to you? Is that person wearing a zip-up sweater or jacket with an ag company logo emblazoned on the front and back? Is that person’s face and hands clean or are they dirty or stained and wrinkled from years of tinkering on machinery and toiling in the soil? Or, […] Read more
Toban Dyck: Toss the list, break the mould
Be prepared to capture those magic moments on and off the farm
In September of 2020, I mounted a GoPro camera to the guts of our combine, putting harvest on pause for a few minutes. My dad started up the rotor and harvested a few feet of canola. The footage is interesting. I uploaded the clip to YouTube and, as of today, it has 44,236 views. There […] Read more
Toban Dyck: A mile wide and an inch thick
It’s not a negative trait but it’s not the same as expertise
I made a bedside shelf for Jamie. This event took place last year. I’m telling you about it — likely for the second time — because I was proud of it. It was a project that represented an attention to detail unprecedented for me. And it required patience. Also unprecedented. The conception of this project, […] Read more
Toban Dyck: What holds us back from adopting ag tech?
Let’s throw some ideas around to see what sticks
My wife and I are living at my parents’ house right now (and we may still be here by the time you read this). Our farmhouse is undergoing a renovation that requires the water to be shut off for up to two weeks, so we opted to leave. My parents are in Arizona, so the […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
