34 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | February 2024 UP CLOSE What’s your crop rotation? Canola, wheat and soybeans. We also have some silage corn and alfalfa, but those aren’t really in the rotation. What has your biggest challenge been in farming? Finding resources. For example, one day we were trying to figure out our cattle budget. We wanted to know – when we are using silage corn – at what point do we recognize that cost as being covered? We couldn’t find anyone to help us and send us a template. Finding resources for the farm has been really difficult. How do you balance your off-farm job? I think you have to find the right company and right people to work for, who value you and also your role as a farmer. I work for Canterra Seeds. They value all their employees, but they also value the fact that you have a farm and sometimes get pulled away by it, and you aren’t told you can’t go do that. If you have farm stuff to do, you go get it done. We also try to balance it between my husband and myself. We make sure we are sitting down monthly to review where everything’s at and what needs to be done so we can determine roles and responsibilities. Our farm isn’t a job – it’s our life. We do a lot on weekends and in evenings, but it doesn’t feel like work and we enjoy doing it together. We also couldn’t do any of it without the support of my parents. What do you enjoy doing in your time off? My absolute guilty pleasure is a really good ‘bad’ reality TV show. I can relax and let my brain shut off. Other than that, I don’t really have time off. When I do have time off, it’s really special, so I make sure I spend it with the people I want to be with and doing the things I want to do. What is a new piece of technology you’d like? I would absolutely love to have cameras in our calving barn. We don’t have them now but it doesn’t seem like fancy technology anymore. With a young family, the ability to monitor calving progress from inside the house would be a huge convenience. It would save a fair bit of time trying to stand in the barn or office with the light off so the cows can’t see you. How do you measure success? I feel like I measure success by the impact that I’ve had on someone or a group of people. A lot of farmers will measure by profit, but you don’t necessarily raise beef because it’s profitable. You do it because you love it. If we can impact families who can maybe save some money because of our beef, or if our farm has a positive impact in our community because of our involvement, or if I have an impact on some farmers with my involvement in Canola Growers, that feels like success. If I have an impact, I feel like I’ve succeeded, rather than having money in the bank at the end of the day. 'Our farm isn’t a job – it’s our life.' Jackie Dudgeon-MacDonald photo
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