Our family farm consists of twelve quarters, of which 1750 acres are cultivated. We are located four miles east off highway 35, about midway between Tisdale and Nipawin. Our soils are fairly heavy clay-loam with rolling topography due to three river systems running through them.
I, along with my wife Marilynn (who also nurses part time), do most of the work on the farm. We do get some help from our son Gord, who is living in Nipawin and works as production manager for Newfields seeds. Unfortunately for us, he does not get much spare time! Our daughter Penny, who lives here in Regina, also manages to get home once in a while to do a tour of the fields and point out our various disease problems.
Our basic farm size has changed very little since I started farming with my father back in 1965. At that time we were one of the largest farms in the area, but now we our one of the smaller ones. This has been a deliberate choice and sometimes I think a wise one, and other times I am not so sure, I guess time will tell.
When I was asked to do this presentation on economics, I really hesitated, for two reasons. First, because talking about farm economics this year is sort of a suicide mission - somewhat akin to "Saving Private Ryan." And secondly, I doubt my qualifications for the job! Because I remember back in the sixties, when asked, " how long are you going to stay on the farm?" I would reply, "to the year 2000, or until I become a millionaire, whichever cones first". Well, here I am, in February of 2000, still farming!
In relating economics to direct seeding the first thought that comes to my mind is that it's sort of a chicken and egg scenario… what comes first? The economic side or the production side.
Probably the most important decision of my career (outside of my choice of partner), was to move completely into a direct seeding system, back in 1987. That particular decision was made mostly for reasons other then economic; largely for soil erosion control and managing labour requirements. It soon became apparent that there were many economic benefits to be had with direct seeding, but to gain the maximum benefit required much more intensive management techniques! In the nineties, I suspect that most people considering going into direct seeding were looking first at the economic side since, over the last few years, it has proven to be economically viable.
There are a lot of misconceptions around regarding costs involved in a direct seeding system and I will attempt to address these issues from my perspective as a twelve year veteran of the system.
If you are going to start with a brand new state of the art air drill it can very costly, especially if you are trying to get rid of fairly new press drill. However there are quite a few good-used air drills on the market. Remember that you will get many years of use out of a good air drill. I am still using the one that we bought in 1986 (Although we have added many modifications over the years).
Some savings here mostly in reduced tractor hours and having no major tillage equipment to maintain.
Definitely savings here, especially true if you are in a one pass seeding system.
Big savings in this category, especially if you are using a custom sprayer. This does free up a lot time, however I no longer hire this done as I found that I needed to be in the fields at spraying time. As a result my golf game has suffered considerably. (not it was that great)!
This is where we found a big increase in costs at first. Now that we are learning more about the importance of rotations in direct seeding, these costs are starting to come down. As an interesting example, dandelions used to be our worst problem, but now I don't regard them as a major problem.
Not true, we seed all our crops with the same seeder. I will admit that we have had some real wrecks in learning how to handle some of the forages and specialty crops, but it certainly can be done!
Probably get some disagreement on this one, but I am convinced that this is a real myth. The longer you are in a direct seeding system the better the water infiltration. Consequently, your soils may be wetter over all but you do have a lot less water pooling. While there are many good reasons for proper crop rotations in this system, dealing with wet seeding conditions in the spring is probably the most important.
Managing your risk is probably the most important part of the economic side of a farming operation. This topic would apply to a conventional operation as well.
The whole concept of direct seeding enhances your ability to manage risk. The control of soil erosion, whether wind or water is critical to your whole farm. It also allows you to make the best use of available moisture (Wet or dry year). Direct seeding also frees up valuable time that you can use to manage other areas of risk on the farm.
I feel that I can speak with some authority on this one. In my off farm job, I work as a consultant for Settler Farm Software. Good accounting records are essential! How can you manage risk if you do not know your actual costs? How can you keep track of all the various chemicals and their groupings, as well as HT crops? If you want good advice on tax planning from your accounting firm, they have to have accurate numbers to work with. You have to make these plans well in advance of year-end.
I have been in Nisa since day one and am a fan of this program. It certainly helped us out one year, when our 400 acres of alfalfa seed yielded a grand total of one ice cream pail full! Nisa should be maxed out every year. Crop insurance still needs a lot of improvement but it too can be a very valuable tool in risk management. Not much to say about Aida except that it looks as though it will be with us for a while. Anyone who tackled this one on their own soon saw the value of a good accounting program!
It is very important to develop a good relationship with your banker. He or She should be aware of your plans and what you are doing to manage risk, especially if you are hedging or using options in your operation. Margin calls require a cooperative banker!