30 Follow us on Twitter: @PrairieFarming Better Farming | April 2024 me. I’ve had my fill of that and don’t have aspirations of doing it again. “And that was a big part of the draw of coming back to the farm. I was treated very well in the software industry, but the idea of being able to come back and work with family and see the hard work you put in directly benefit the family farm – that was very appealing and a big part of the reason I moved back.” With lots of communication, Heath and his brother have continued to grow the farm as a partnership and as a family, and they hope to see it gain Century Family Farm status. What’s your crop rotation? Every third year, we grow canola. We were previously on a four-year rotation that included field peas, but we’ve started to get Aphanomyces so bad that we got out of field peas and tightened the rotation up with canola and hard red spring wheat. We have tried faba beans, but the bean size is so big that we have trouble getting them through the planter at the rate we need to seed it at. What is your favourite thing about being a farmer? Just all the diversity in the jobs I’ll do in a day, from tearing machines apart to operating equipment. I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing each day. It evolves all the time and never gets old. What is a goal you have? I would love for us to get the little century farm sign at the end of the laneway. That would be a goal – for our family-owned operation to get to the 100-year mark. Grandpa bought the home quarter in 1931 so we are getting there. We have a few more years to go, and it might require the next generation, but I hope we can hit that. What has your biggest challenge been in farming? There’s so much to learn. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. There’s so much information from UP CLOSE Grain bins on the family farm. Heath’s parents Jim and Lucille are still involved in day-to-day operations. Heath Fairley photo Heath Fairley photo
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