For this farm profile, Braden Hursh spoke with Manitoba grain farmer Robert Misko and his daughter Courtney.

Where is your farm operation located?

A: We are located between Roblin and Grandview in the Parkland Region of Manitoba.

How long has your family been farming in the area?

A: Mom and Dad moved to the farm from Brandon, Man., in 1976 and the family has farmed the area ever since.

How much land do you farm?

A: We seed 6,500 acres and then we do another 2,500 acres of seeding and custom work for our neighbour.

What is the soil type found on the majority of your land?

A: We are in a black soil zone, so mostly a clay loam.

Who is involved in the farm operation?

A: We are about as “family farm” as you can get. There’s myself (Robert) and my wife, Leifa. My parents still live on the farm, but they are basically retired now. Three of my kids are actively involved in our day-to-day operation: Courtney (31), Robbie (26) and Brittany (33). We also have a part-time hired hand to help with seeding, harvest and driving truck.

Leifa and Brittany basically do all of the seeding, while Robbie and I do whatever else needs doing like spraying and hauling seed and fertilizer. Courtney is an agrologist and does rolling, hauling grain and whatever else needs to be done.

Education and skills are essential in running a farming operation. Do any of the people involved in your operation have additional training or knowledge?

A: Courtney received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in agronomy from the University of Saskatchewan and is an agrologist. Brittany is a CPA (chartered professional accountant) and handles our finances. There is also another Misko daughter who is a medical doctor and not involved in the farming operation.

For Courtney, how has being an agrologist changed your perspective of working on the family farm?

A: I now have a better understanding of chemicals, how crops grow and what different diseases look like and how we can help things to get better.

What are the main crops grown at your farm?

A: Our major inputs are spring wheat, canola and peas.

What has been your best crop historically?

A: It’s really a toss-up. Lately peas have been pretty good, but for straight dollars to acres, canola is probably our No. 1 in regard to potential. Each of our three crops have been pretty close over the long term.

How do you plan your crop rotation?

A: We try to keep our peas on a four-year rotation and then our wheat and canola will be a two-year or a three-year (rotation) depending on the situation. But we have everything planned out for the next five years just to ensure everything is how we want it to be.

What are some techniques and strategies you use on the farm?

A: We have been minimum till for a long time now. We had tried zero till but found that our land was just a bit too heavy for that and ran into too many issues. Our land is typically too wet, not too dry, so springs could become challenging. We knife in anhydrous ammonia in the fall, which gives us just enough soil disturbance, a little black on top, to help the ground warm up and dry in the spring. We seed with a 3720 Bourgault drill and we really aim for a bare minimum of disturbance and have been doing it this way for 12-14 years.

We have been doing soil tests on each of our fields for years and we do all of our fertilizing in the fall, so we know exactly what we need to put down for every single acre we farm. We also do a lot of pre-emergence chemicals, and we are committed to it.

What are some strategies you have tried but weren’t happy with?

A: We have tried variable rate and prescription fertilizers, but we haven’t really seen additional value from it. There’s a lot of hype around it and a lot of people who will charge you a lot of money for it, but it hasn’t been a sustainable practice for us.

Mother Nature has more to do with it than we do. Look at this year, we could have done variable rate for every single field but if it doesn’t rain then it won’t make any difference anyway.

What do you seed and harvest with?

A: We run two Bourgault 3720 drills and for combines we have two 8.90 New Hollands. Our neighbour also has a similar combine to ours and we often team up during harvest.

What is a key trait of your farming operation?

A: I have always been a firm believer in knowing the market on an ongoing basis. I know my total cost of production, and I know what I need to be doing to make money on each piece of land. I also believe that you have to sell grain when you are above breaking even. Through effective financial management and keeping an eye on prices on an ongoing basis, we have been able to do very well.

What is your best recent purchase?

A: We bought a grain dryer a few years ago and it has allowed us to get onto a field and combine sooner — we do not have to wait for the grain to be completely dry. This allows us to move the grain soon after combining and gives us peace of mind storing grain during a wet fall, as we can always ensure it is dry for the winter.

Also, Macdon Flex Headers. We have very rolling land, with a few hills, and these headers follow the terrain easily. Broken sickles and guards replacements have been reduced since using them.

What are the strengths of your farming operation?

A: I never went to post-secondary school after high school. After grade 12, I started farming with my dad. My kids have all gone to school and gained valuable skills. It has been all about ongoing succession planning throughout the years, about how to keep the operation running strong.

I don’t like paying someone to do something for my farm. If someone on our farm doesn’t know how to do something, we learn how to do it. There are too many consultants, specialists and market analysts who are only beneficial until the weather changes. We are self-reliant on our farm and that has made us stronger and better at all the different aspects of farming. We have our own construction equipment, good farm equipment, our own agrologist, our own accountant and our own operators. We take pride in our ability to help ourselves.

What advice would you give to other farmers?

A: Know your cost of production. If you don’t know when you are making money and you are debating when to sell, you can’t make an informed decision. I’m a pessimist, so I know that when the prices are right and I am able to make money on my grain, I sell. To make your farm profitable, you need to know your cost of production and make decisions based around that. If you are selling at a profit, then you’ll never go broke.

We think another good piece of advice for young farmers is to get involved within their communities, whether it is a local agricultural board, municipal government or a provincial agricultural group. Their voices are essential in helping their communities and the overall agricultural sector grow. Over the years, Leifa and I have made time to become involved and now the kids are continuing that trend.

What do you do for fun?

A: We travel in the winter. We typically go down to the Caribbean, Dominican Republic or Mexico. We don’t have a lot of time to travel in the summer with how busy we are on the farm. My son, Robbie, really loves scuba diving so we like to go to warm places. We are homebodies in the farm season, but we love to get away in the winter. This winter we are off to the Mayan Riviera.

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For this farm profile, Braden Hursh spoke with Saskatchewan grain farmer Chad Andrews.

Q: Where do you farm?
A: I am located in Hazlet, Sask. It is a village in the southwest corner of the province.

How much land do you farm?

A: We operate on about 4,300 seeded acres.

Q: How long have you been farming?
A: I took over the farm in 2008, but I was operating equipment when I was 12 years old. I just enjoy it. There’s nothing like it.

Q: Who is involved in your farming operation?

A: It is a family farm, so there is my wife, Britny, and I, along with my best friend, who works far too hard. My friend and I have a great partnership, and it has allowed us to grow as an operation and ensure that he has some land to his name as well. Six quarters of land recently came up for sale and I was able to buy four and he was able to buy two.

I also have three daughters, Lila (9), Kate (6) and Ruby (4). We are always busy.

Q: What kind of secondary education do you have?

A: I took two years of drama at the University of Saskatchewan, which was a lot of fun, and I met some wonderful people and expanded my view of the world. Then I went on to SIAST (Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology) and I took automotive mechanics.

Q: What are the main crops you grow?

A: Durum, wheat, Oriental mustard, red lentils and barley. But we only grow barley because the agrologist tells me to. The Oriental mustard is definitely unique for our region. We chose to grow it because a neighbour offered me some seed years back and it just became something we got used to growing.

Q: What has been your best crop historically?
A: Durum wheat. We had an 80-bushel durum crop in 2013. Everything just lined up perfectly that year. In 2020, I had several 60-bushel durum crops where we were filling a bin with every quarter. But then in 2021 it took 10 fields to fill a bin.

Q: What is your crop rotation?
A: We are on a four-year rotation plan. We go wheat, lentil, barley and, finally, mustard. Barley is supposed to clean up a field, but that hasn’t always been the case for us.

Q: What kind of soil type do you farm in?
A: The majority of the soil we farm is Fox Valley silty loam clay. It is a Brown soil. The next town over, Cabri, is a real heavy gumbo. I recently bought some land that is extremely silty and we have other land that is very sandy. It is amazing how much it can vary in such a small region.

Q: What kinds of things do you need to adjust or do differently based on soil types?
A: We definitely need to grow crops that produce a standing fibre and leave some straw behind. We try to get some organic matter to stay standing and build up on top, which helps hold the soil down.

Barley is one of the best for this, even though it is a pain to grow … too itchy and you don’t make a lot of money. But if you have an agronomist in your repertoire, they will tell you to grow barley because it is so good for our land type. It’s so good for the soil, and since soil makes us money, we better treat it right. Our ancestors mined the hell out of this land and now we are trying to make it better for the next generation of farmers.

Q: Do you have an agronomist on retainer for your farm?
A: We do. As a farmer, you are supposed to know everything but that simply isn’t the case. I don’t know everything, and I know it. So, I spent some money on a guy that knows a lot about minerals and soil testing, and it has made a huge difference for us. He lets us be more efficient on the farm and, in my opinion, efficiency is key to being a successful farmer.

Q: What do you do differently on your farm?
A: Well, elemental sulphur is one, boron is another. I put both on every square inch of the farm now and it’s good for about four to five years, as the plants use it up before it needs to be reapplied.

My agronomist also said that my nitrogen, phosphorus and potash levels need to be at a certain point in parts per million before I can start trying my luck with some micros like copper, zinc and a couple of others. I’ve been seeing some studies and I think it is definitely something that producers should look into for their own fields.

We also do variable rate nitrogen application, which has been an amazing change for me. My agronomist will do about 160 samples per quarter and with satellite imagery over the past five years he will create a map that gets fed into my system and it meters out the nitrogen based on what the soil needs.

It creates four zones and as my tractor rolls along, different amounts of nitrogen will be running through the air drill. In the low spots, where the crops grow the best, the system just pours on the nitrogen because that’s where we will have the most success.

Q: What is your seeding outfit?
A: I have John Deere equipment because my father and his father before that had John Deere. We know the parts people and we like them. A lot of my equipment is older and paid for. I’m able to fix a lot of things myself, so it is nice to know the pieces I’m working on. New equipment would be great, but it’s just too expensive.

I run a 2004 John Deere 9620 tractor with a 12.5-litre (engine) and 500 horsepower. This tractor just barks when it runs, and it reminds me of my hot rod. I love the sound of a good engine. I use a hoe drill right now. I’m hoping to move to a ParaLink soon.

Q: What do you harvest with?
A: We run one combine. In southwest Saskatchewan it is a lot drier, and we have longer working hours, so we can get away with a single combine for our acres. I have a John Deere combine. I had been trading up every five years or so, but then prices became ridiculous. I finally decided to buy out my lease and keep it running.

We try to keep our combine running as much as we can, and sometimes we really push to stay ahead of the weather. You know your hours are getting silly when you go to check the oil in the morning and the engine block is still warm from the last guy.

I’ll ask my friend, “How late did you go?”

“Late enough,” he replies.

Q: What advice would you give to other farmers?
A: Don’t be silly. Slow down. Take breaks. Don’t put yourself at risk. For me, if you break down or get stuck, just stop and take a breath.

My big motto on the farm that I’ve been trying to instill in my kids is: “If you’re going to get stuck, just stop. If you drive into a slough and you can’t back out, just stop or else you’ll make it worse.” No need to bury yourself past the axles and risk breaking something when you can just ask for help. Spend the time and save the headache.

The next thing I would say is too many farmers are far too secretive. Whether it’s yield or land purchases or even good advice, too many farmers don’t want to share their knowledge.

I always tell people my yield and what I’m using if they want to know. Maybe it’s because they don’t want others to know what their income is, but we aren’t all good at every aspect of farming, so we need to share to help improve each other. We all win that way. You having a better yield than me doesn’t affect my bottom line.

Q: What do you do for fun?
A: Well, going back to my background as a mechanic, I always loved working on cars, but I didn’t love working at a dealership or in a shop. So now I fix and modify cars in the winter. I have a drag racing car that I’ve been working on for a while, and it is so much fun. I have a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass that used to be my mom’s. I threw a new motor and a turbo into the car and now I have it doing nine seconds on the quarter mile — zero to sixty in two seconds.

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