Articles by Toban Dyck

Toban Dyck: What I love about farming

It’s not all about harvesting

By Toban Dyck 16 hours ago

The small soybean field east of our yard was ready to harvest. Our combine, however, was not ready to harvest it. The conveyor hadn’t been hooked up and set up at the corresponding bin and there was other preparatory work required before we could start biting and chewing our way through our soybean acres. That […] Read more

Toban and Jamie Dyck in front of the Souris River, which runs through the town and is a feature the community is proud of and has invested in. There were walkways, a park and tourist-oriented infrastructure built around the relatively wide river.

Columns

Toban Dyck: Adventure found in the most unexpected place

Jamie and I explore the wild side of Souris, Manitoba

By Toban Dyck October 1, 2021

I joked to my dad that I don’t think we’ve ever harvested so many acres in one day. He assured me this was not something to brag about. We didn’t put our combine in road gear, but we’ve never harvested wheat at those speeds before. This column isn’t about that, though. It’s about the community […] Read more

'I remain staunchly devoted to the idea that agriculture policy in Canada could be a lot stronger.'

Columns

Toban Dyck: Some good news would be nice

I’m thankful for distractions

By Toban Dyck September 3, 2021

It’s very difficult to unpack a growing season such as this one. In spring, there was again a question mark surrounding farmer access to inputs. Fertilizer was rumoured to be hard to get. Seed as well. These whispers filter through coffee shops, into newspapers and are sensationalized to an audience of consumers and farmers, who […] Read more

The parts and tools contents of the workshop, organized by likeness, after emptying all of the shelves and drawers — and after a cursory cull.

Columns

PHOTOS: Toban Dyck: If the tractor is the picture, the workshop is the lens

A final word on shop organization

By Toban Dyck May 25, 2021

If you think you’ve heard all there is to hear about my workshop organization project, bear with me, for I have unearthed yet another parable, albeit an unintended one, from his process. “Perfection is the enemy of done,” is a quote that gets repeated in this home quite often. I don’t know who said it, […] Read more

Columns

Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

By Toban Dyck May 6, 2021

There used to be a thing called the Manitoba Pool Elevators. It was a grain company founded in the early 1900s, but its history and trajectory through the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United is not the topic of this column. There are two filing cabinets in our basement. They contain farm records from before […] Read more

Columns

Toban Dyck: The bar between “lunacy” and “worth exploring” has lowered considerably

In the wake of COVID-19, few things remain sacred. In this case, it’s tillage

By Toban Dyck April 15, 2021

The changes we’ve all been forced to endure have called my spring plans into question. The disruption that has been thrust upon us, leaving us to choose between adapting to an ever-changing political and social landscape, enduring it, stubbornly opposing it and everything in-between has seeped into my farming plans. I’m looking at this spring […] Read more

‘One of the tricks of farming and, I imagine, any discipline or vocation, is the ability to act and make decisions despite not having all the answers.’ – Toban Dyck

Columns

Toban Dyck: How much of what we do as farmers is learned or the result of habit?

How you answer this question could be quite revealing

By Toban Dyck March 30, 2021

When I began writing this column in 2012, some of its value was wrapped up in my shameless approach to admitting, as a then 32-year-old, all of the things I did not yet know about farming and all the things I’d have to relearn in order to farm. I promised to take you along for […] Read more

Columns

Toban Dyck: I may be too old to become a professional snowboarder

I’m young enough to explore opportunities and embrace change

By Toban Dyck March 18, 2021

This August, Jamie and I will have been on this farm for nine years. This is registering with me as a significant amount of time. Also, in March of this year, I will celebrate my five-year anniversary at Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers. I say celebrate, but, if any of my coworkers are reading this, […] Read more

Columns

Toban Dyck: These changes are not judgments

They are natural evolutions of a farming operation

By Toban Dyck March 8, 2021

I was nervous about the change. Change is never an easy thing, especially for me. I was raised in a Mennonite home and my last name, Dyck, is inextricably tied to the tradition. There is now a garbage dumpster on our farm, and we’ve already filled it once. The whole experience, though small, has been […] Read more

Columns

Toban Dyck: Systems for our farm

I’m taking on the workshop, farmyard and waste management

By Toban Dyck February 17, 2021

Of all things to steal my attention during this current lockdown period, conceiving of and implementing on-farm systems have begun ranking quite high. You could say I’ve become infatuated with this. Since my wife and I moved into the farm house and took over the maintenance and oversight of the farmyard and all of its […] Read more

Iqaluit confirms ‘exceedingly high levels’ of fuel in water supply

Olymel CEO dies of ‘sudden’ cancer

Prairie cash wheat: CWRS bids up with U.S. futures

GFM Network News

Iqaluit confirms ‘exceedingly high levels’ of fuel in water supply

Olymel CEO dies of ‘sudden’ cancer

Prairie cash wheat: CWRS bids up with U.S. futures

Author Archives Toban Dyck

Toban Dyck: What I love about farming

Toban Dyck: Adventure found in the most unexpected place

Toban Dyck: Some good news would be nice

PHOTOS: Toban Dyck: If the tractor is the picture, the workshop is the lens

Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

Toban Dyck: The bar between “lunacy” and “worth exploring” has lowered considerably

Toban Dyck: How much of what we do as farmers is learned or the result of habit?

Toban Dyck: I may be too old to become a professional snowboarder

Toban Dyck: These changes are not judgments

Toban Dyck: Systems for our farm

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GFM Network News

Grainews blogs

Albertans honoured with Order of Excellence

Podcasts

Special Podcast Series

AgCanadaTV

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