Mix modern technology with knowledge from generations past and you've got a recipe for farming success
There are many jobs that we as farmers have to do on a daily basis. We wear many hats – the accountant, the mechanic, the grower, the seller, the chef who cooks dinner after a long hard day working the land, and we also sell our wares. Each one of these jobs is important and necessary for farms from coast to coast to stay afloat, each of these job plays into the delicate balance of making a very complicated and delicate business run and they each require far more thought and tools than one could ever even begin to imagine.
Sure, we use tools to fix the broken tractor, the busted water pipe or computer that’s on its last legs…but there are many tools we have in our various tool kits to do the million and one other jobs on the farm.
Dealing with the unpredictable nature of agriculture
When you grow fruits and vegetables like we do, it takes many tools to make the farm a successful business. As farmers, we face a lot of pressures on the job daily. Some of them we can control, some of them we plan for and some of them (like the weather) are sprung on us unpredictably every year.
Because so much of what we do is dependent on variables that we cannot control, we do our best to control whatever we can, whenever we can, and as farmers in the 21st century, we’re so lucky to have some of the greatest farming technologies ever available mixed in with knowledge from generations past to deal with the challenges and problems we face.
Fending off pest pressures
One of the biggest problems that we face on a regular basis with our crops is different pests. From bugs to weeds and everything in between we always seem to be battling these issues. Our farm is a conventional farm, so when we need to, we’re able to use pesticides and herbicides to help us produce the things we grow. Like most farmers, we use these things carefully and with a lot of consideration. We do a lot of research, take courses and manage these things very seriously.
We use different tools for different issues, and the tools are always changing to address the latest challenges, to keep the soil healthy and to keep problems minimized for the future. We make sure we’re using the tools that are the safest and most effective they can possibly be and we use them when we have to because we’re facing a problem that can’t be solved in any other way. These technologies are expensive and time consuming, but they’re there as an aid to help us when we need them and we’re so grateful because in addition to a lot of other farming techniques, they help us grow the best possible product we can.
Adopting modern technologies
Thanks to other new technologies in agriculture we’ve been able to improve a lot of the things we grow and the way we grow them. In recent years we’ve been using a lot more trickle irrigation, which allows for more accurate irrigation placement and better plant health. We’ve also introduced row cover in some crops like our ever bearing strawberries, which helps to keep weeds (and the pests that often habitat on those weeds) down in numbers and water content in the soil higher because it doesn’t evaporate as quickly.
We now have what’s called a high tunnel, which we use a lot for growing tomatoes. Not only does this allow us to get our plants in the ground earlier without the fear of frost damaging the plants, but it keeps rain off of the plants throughout the season, which helps prevent mould and rot. These along with other technologies mean we’re always exploring and introducing things to help our farm. We’re better able to keep pests down, whether they be weeds, bugs or fungus, and that makes our farm better for everyone.
Like most farmers though…a lot of what we do to avoid pests goes back to the basics. It is the things our parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. We still weed and hoe a lot of our crops by hand whenever possible. We do things like rotate our crops to ensure that any of the nutrients that may have been decreased by growing one crop can be increased and reintroduced into the soil by growing another.
We expanded and bought a second farm a few years ago, which helped tremendously with making sure that our crop rotations were the best they could possibly be to keep our land in the best shape it can be. Crop rotation helps plants grow by keeping the soil healthy, but it also helps minimize pests. Certain pests prefer certain crops and by moving the crops around we keep the bugs on their toes.
Pesticides vital part of farmers’ toolbox
When a pest problem escalates to the point where it could potentially destroy our entire crop and really hurt the future of our farm, we have tools like pesticides at our disposal. We’re able to learn from the generations that came before us and use what worked for them (and avoid what didn’t) and combine those with the latest technologies to make our farm the best it can possibly be…for now as well as for in the future.
Farming isn’t easy, in fact, it’s one of the hardest jobs I can imagine doing. We’re faced with long days, unpredictable income, ever rising costs and sometimes challenges that can feel overwhelming. We have to use many different tools, every one available to us…in varying degrees depending on the year, the crop, the farm and the farmer, to do what’s right for our farm.
Farming for now and for the future
Despite all of these challenges, the long days and the tough stuff that comes along with farming, every farmer I know, every one I’ve met at the farmers markets, at conferences and meetings, or while driving down a long winding country road does it for the same reason…because they love it. Farmers farm because we love doing it and we want to continue for years and years.
We want the next generation and the generation after to be able to farm for years to come. We want the land and the crops we’ve poured our hearts and souls into to continue and prosper. So we work….hard. And we use the technologies we have available, along with the experiences we’ve gained from the past. We make smart choices and interchange the methods and the technologies we have available along with the wisdom of the past to grow and produce the best possible food we can. We do it because we want to grow the best food for our family and for yours, and we want to continue to do it for all the years to come.
Erin McLean is a farmer who grows and sells fruits and vegetables in Buckhorn, Ontario.