By Alice McFarlane

Hope and the Future: grain producers have a positive outlook for 2021

Dec 30, 2020 | 12:00 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a year many may prefer to forget. While we’re not out of the woods yet, farmnewsNOW has chosen to produce our usual series of end-of-year stories with a focus on hope and the future.

It was a turn-around year for a Manitoba farmer.

Ron Krahn said looking back to 2019, the harvest was brutal with crop left out over winter. It was during this time that he found he was struggling with anxiety.

“I was coming from a pretty dark place to feeling good this year. I enjoy farming again. Even though it was a tough year, it was fun,” Krahn said. “I’m really grateful for an easy harvest this year. I’m not sure I could have handled another harvest like last year.”

Krahn said one of the positives from 2020 was achieving a better work/life balance.

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“Selfcare, going for massages, taking days off, quitting early in the evening, and going kayaking,” Krahn said. “I focused more on taking a bit more time.”

Krahn said an open fall allowed him to be better prepared for next year.

“I’m hearing that right across Manitoba. People got done what they wanted to get done,” he said

Krahn said there are lot of areas of the farm he would like to work on improving. The list is long.

“I want to focus on farm management. I was told good managers succeed no matter what happens with markets or the weather.”

Having farmworkers, which include family members, trained to handle more jobs will be a priority.

“Most workers have a very specific role on the farm. I would like to change that and get away from one drill operator and one sprayer operator,” Krahn said. “Spending the time training someone to run the drill and sprayer is high on my list for this coming year.”

Stand Operating Procedures (SOP) will also be reviewed starting with instructions on how to run a sprayer.

“A lot of that can be written down or a checklist created for every time you’re ready to fill a tank. It comes naturally to me but not to someone new. SOP’s are something I want to focus on this winter”

Krahn added another priority will be to put together checklists. He said it’s important to have farm data in one location.

“If something happens to Ron, where is everything? That information needs to put together starting with account numbers and passwords. This will be part of my plan for the next few months,” he said.

Krahn farms with his brother at Rivers which is northwest of Brandon.

He grows wheat, canola, peas, soybeans, sunflower, and corn. They recently completed the transition of the farm from his parents.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF