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Tag Archives Toban Dyck

Columns

Toban Dyck: No lightning strike, no eureka moment — only incremental growth

Lessons learned from AAFC research scientist Robert Conner

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I asked Dr. Robert Conner to choose one eureka moment in his 38-year career as a research scientist and describe it to me. It was a simple question. His answer was unexpected. I had the distinct honour of interviewing Conner, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research scientist, for an article I was writing for Pulse […] Read more
Toban Dyck: Voting yes or no to amalgamation
Columns

Toban Dyck: Voting yes or no to amalgamation

Farmers vote to create the Manitoba Crop Alliance from five commodity groups

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I had no idea which way the vote would go. I knew there were people in favour and I also knew there were some opposed and I was pretty sure they would be vocal. This year’s CropConnect Conference in Winnipeg had a layer of complexity and drama to it. At five of the commodity group […] Read more
Toban Dyck: Expanding your knowledge to learn new things
Columns

Toban Dyck: Expanding your knowledge to learn new things

Leaning new things expand your horizons, if you can leave your comfort zone

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If you’re like me and you prefer to learn things on your own terms, Google Alerts are an eye-opening exploration into a deep well of information, the bounds of which seem only to be limited by imagination. This was my experience, anyway. This is not a new service. Google Alerts have been around for a […] Read more
'Purchasing loyalties is a common political manoeuvre and not really one worth noting, save for the principle behind it and its relevance to what’s going on in Canadian agriculture.' – Toban Dyck
Columns

Toban Dyck: Can loyalty be bought?

Loyalty is trumping common sense in today’s trade environment

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s new trade deal with China is an attempt to buy loyalty and in Canada, it’s dividing consumers and farmers. Trump recently signed a trade deal with Beijing, exciting farmers and hopefully breathing new life into a sleepy marketplace. The hope that farmers cling to — myself included — is that someone […] Read more
At the time of writing, Toban Dyck was days away from finalizing the purchase of 120 acres of cultivated land – and he has a few thoughts on it.
Columns

Toban Dyck: Taking the plunge and writing a cheque for farmland

Even for those who want to be risk averse, buying land is a test of attitudes

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My wife and I, the corporate collective registered as Burr Forest Acres Ltd., are not averse to risk. This is the adage we repeat to ourselves regularly on the hope that one day we’ll believe ourselves at a deep, foundational level. We are days away from finalizing the purchase of 120 acres of cultivated land. […] Read more
Farmers have a lot to say on a variety of issues, and right now there’s a real sense in the ag sector to be loud.
Columns

Toban Dyck: Do we have too many speakers in agriculture?

Let’s use the snow rotation to think about what we want to say, and how

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“Snow rotation” is a phrase I still hear from time to time. When I first heard it, the person explaining it laughed. The phrase is out of vogue, but there’s something to the idea that Canada’s winters have a restorative power. A few cold days, a bit of snow, a break from work and almost […] Read more
Many crops on the Prairies were waiting to be harvested at an unknown date due to unrelenting harvest weather, such as these soybeans seen here in Manitoba at the end of November.
Columns, Crops

Toban Dyck: The first worst year on the farm

For a new farmer, the un-finished 2019 harvest is frustrating and disappointing

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It’s Oct. 31, nearly 8 p.m. So far, no trick-or-treaters. We rarely get those on the farm. It’s disappointing. But, for perspective, it’s not nearly as disappointing as having crop still standing on the field. Which, you guessed it, we do. It’s a first for this farm, according to my parents. Never, in their memory, […] Read more
Toban Dyck: With golf or farming, concentration matters
Columns

Toban Dyck: With golf or farming, concentration matters

Golf lessons can correct your swing; learning new skills can improve your farm

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Number 1 is the course’s most challenging hole. It’s a long drive that, ideally, lands metres shy of a creek. Then, it’s a chip over the water hazard and over the high retaining wall on the other side onto a steeply graded green. To execute all of this properly and according to plan requires a base level of golf competency that at one […] Read more
The ag industry is driven by those who show up.
Columns

Toban Dyck: Get involved in the agricultural sector

Show up for the AGMs for the groups you’re funding. You won’t regret it


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My room was on the fifth floor. I needed to get there. I was bushed (I sometimes say zonked, but I don’t know if that’s a word my family made up or if it’s in the dictionary). The elevator I needed to take was at the end of a long hallway, then to the right […] Read more
I was writing and thinking when I looked up, saw a line of grain bins and recalled that, 
yes, right, I live on the farm. I am a farmer.
Columns

Toban Dyck: Joy comes at unexpected times

Find what brings you joy in farming, and take time to focus on those things

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I was writing. I was deep in my own thoughts, wrestling, jostling, mucking around in the recesses of my mind. It’s important to dredge once in a while. Those things that reside in the depths tend to surface unannounced if not properly addressed. Anyway, I was in this space — a space I love to […] Read more

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