Best presentation

“When I served on boards in the past, my eyes would often glaze over during policy discussions. I never thought too favourably about politics and lobbying. Then I heard what Dave does and it gave me a new appreciation for jobs like his.” — John Bergen

John Bergen
Carman, Manitoba

John Bergen is now more engaged in policy, thanks to Dave Carey’s presentation at Manitoba Canola Growers’ Learn to Lead event last March. Carey is vice president, government and industry relations with Canadian Canola Growers Association, and he works in Ottawa lobbying the government on behalf of canola farmers.

“When I served on boards in the past, my eyes would often glaze over during policy discussions. I never thought too favourably about politics and lobbying,” Bergen says. “Then I heard what Dave does and it gave me a new appreciation for jobs like his.”

Carey participates in hundreds of meetings per year connecting with Members of Parliament, Senators and government departments to share policy objectives of canola farmers.

After Carey’s presentation at Learn to Lead, Bergen sat with Carey at lunch. Bergen talked about a recent invite to attend a meet and greet with Branden Leslie, who was vying for the Conservative nomination for Bergen’s federal riding. Carey encouraged Bergen to attend, and tell Leslie, “I’ll give you my vote and a donation, but I want you to meet me and my neighbours in my shop once a year to talk.” So Bergen did exactly that. “I’d love to,” Leslie replied.

Leslie went on to win the nomination and the by-election.

“Now I have a personal relationship with two guys in Ottawa,” Bergen says.

This past fall, when the Senate was voting on an amendment to Bill C-234, Bergen asked Carey what he should do. Bill C-234 seeks to exempt farm uses of natural gas and propane from the carbon tax, providing economic relief for critical practices, including grain drying and irrigation, that have no viable fuel alternative. A lot of the work on C-234 is through the Agriculture Carbon Alliance, which Carey founded along with Scott Ross, executive director of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The amendment would have removed heating and cooling of barns and greenhouses from the carbon tax exemption, and the amendment, if the Senate supported it, could have delayed final approval of the bill indefinitely. Carey wanted the amendment defeated. Carey encouraged Bergen to write a few Senators explaining why they should vote against the amendment, and get the un-amended bill moving toward final reading.

Bergen wrote to five senators. In the email he included a photo of his grain dryer at work, with an explanation of how much it costs to dry grain and why the exemption for propane and natural gas would be so valuable to him. Four senators replied, thanking him for his letter. The amendment was defeated.

Bergen’s new view of policy is this: Get to know the people who make agriculture policy on your behalf, and be engaged with the decision makers.

“Think about the experiences you want to have, and deliberately plan to have those experiences at a time of life when they are most fulfilling.” — Margaret Rigetti

Margaret Rigetti
Langbank, Saskatchewan

Margaret Rigetti listened to a podcast with author Bill Perkins, who wrote Die With Zero: Getting all you can from your money and your life. She liked the conversation, so listened to the audiobook this past harvest.

“The book provides a framework for approaching personal finances and life decisions. I’m now using time buckets as a simple tool to plan my life in broad strokes,” Rigetti says. “Think about the experiences you want to have, and deliberately plan to have those experiences at a time of life when they are most fulfilling. I didn’t backpack in Europe in my 20s and it wouldn’t be the same doing that now in my 40s – so I guess can’t have that experience. I did however have a college experience, and the memories created during those years continue to pay a dividend.”

The book is not about farm succession, but that’s where Rigetti’s mind went. “If I want the next generation to be part of the farm, what choices do I need to make today to deliberately move toward that?” she says. “I was given farm assets when they could really make a difference in my life, and I want to do the same. Plus farming with the next generation is an experience I definitely want to have!”

The book premise is about optimization – how to maximize fulfillment and minimize waste. “If you farm long enough, you’ll probably die with nothing,” she jokes. For Rigetti, the main message was about deliberate steps toward self discovery and finding meaning in life. She says that the farm has helped her find meaning and she expects that to continue. “I’m entering a phase of life where mentoring will be important.”

“If you work back and identify all the major steps required to achieve that goal, you can visualize what needs to get done.” — Jeff Frost

Jeff Frost
Olds, Alberta

Jeff Frost heard futurist Bob Treadway at the Alberta Canola Leaders event in March 2023. Treadway, a popular presenter at canola leadership events, says survival in business depends on being broad-minded enough to forecast all the things that could happen.

He encourages farmers to look at the big picture, and pay attention to trends that may change markets and force new business practices.

“Do not try to predict. This is dangerous,” Treadway says. “You want to be able to see around corners and forecast the things that might profoundly affect the future of the business.”

This resonated with Frost. He particularly liked Treadway’s example of NASA’s plan to put a man on the moon. “It seemed like an astronomical goal, but if you work back and identify all the major steps required to achieve that goal, you can visualize what needs to get done,” Frost says.

Based on Treadway’s recommendations, Frost pays attention to what consumers want, and what that might mean for the farm.

“A governance board is active, it likes to provide direction to staff. That’s good. You want a board that’s engaged. Staff like to have a board that provides direction for them.” — Cheryl Westman

Cheryl Westman
Vermilion, Alberta

The Alberta Canola board of directors had governance training with Rob DeRooy, vice president of Governance Solutions. DeRooy explained director responsibilities and board duties.

DeRooy described five board types. At one end of the spectrum is a hands-off board. Management essentially runs everything, and the board is distant from what was happening. At the opposite end is a hands-on board that manages and operates the organization. Through an exercise during the training session, the Alberta Canola board discovered it is a “governance” type of board. “A governance board is active, it likes to provide direction to staff,” Westman says. “That’s good. You want a board that’s engaged. Staff like to have a board that provides direction for them.”

Governance type boards find a healthy balance. “They provide high-level direction to the organization,” DeRooy says, “and then provide sufficient oversight to gain confidence that the organization is following that direction, thriving and being a good corporate citizen.”

DeRooy told Alberta Canola directors that board members need to be accountable, and put their best self forward. “That means reading the meeting material ahead of time so I can be more engaged,” Westman says. “It means offering to help, which can improve relationships with staff.”

Andrea and Sheldon Guthrie
Reston, Manitoba

Sheldon Guthrie attends a lot of events throughout the year, especially those that offer credits to maintain his Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) designation. “Manitoba Agronomists Conference is a must do,” he says.

University of Manitoba hosts the Manitoba Agronomists Conference every December. The event is live-streamed and also recorded for later viewing. Organizers will post the 2023 conference webcast in February.

“The conference provides valuable information and a fair number of credits from a CCA standpoint,” Sheldon says. He takes advantage of the live-stream and attends virtually. The Guthries have fibre optic cable delivering farm connectivity with “speed and consistency.” “This has been a nice result from Covid. We can access a lot of valuable information without having to travel,” he says.

“There is so much to learn,” Andrea says. “Investing time in events and hearing all different speakers is valuable and important to gain knowledge or a new perspective or open your mind on an unfamiliar topic. The most important thing is getting off the farm, virtually or in person, to take them in.”

“I wanted to know how the bigger farmers are doing? Are they making a lot more money? Is it worth getting bigger?” — Evan Michel

Evan Michel
St. Gregor, Saskatchewan

Evan Michel had a one-on-one benchmarking session with an MNP farm management consultant. Michel was planning a farm expansion and wanted to go over the numbers before making the final decision. “I wanted to know how the bigger farmers are doing? Are they making a lot more money? Is it worth getting bigger?” Michel says.

The benchmarking exercise helped him answer these questions, and he went through with the expansion.

Michel provided his farm numbers and the consultant compared Michel’s cost of production and other farm performance indicators with producers in his area. “We didn’t see the farm names, but it was nice to see real numbers from local farms that were bigger and the same size as ours.”

He also wanted to see the numbers on running older equipment, which he does, compared to buying new equipment every year. “I wanted to know if my time spent fixing was profitable,” he says. “The numbers showed that for us it definitely paid to run older equipment.”

Michel won’t do benchmarking every year, but he will probably do it every three to five years, especially if he’s looking at another farm expansion.