18 Story Idea? Contact Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Pork | February 2024 UP CLOSE What’s your favourite thing about working with pigs? After doing it as long as I have, I’ve come to really appreciate the animals. At the end of the day, seeing them well-fed, content, happy and healthy is a really good feeling. They are interesting to care for, because just when you think you’ve learned everything about them, they throw you a curve. Any novel ways you protect your herd’s health? I don’t know if it’s novel, but we place a lot of emphasis on maintaining the highest possible levels of sanitation in our barns. Every part of every barn is as clean as possible at all times, which is a solid foundation for maintaining pig health. We do vaccinate our sows, and vaccinate the weaned piglets with Circumvent CML, but our cleaning regimen means we don’t have to give shots for scours and other conditions like that. Our main health challenge is Streptococcus suis in nursery pigs during spring and fall when the temperature variations can be dramatic. How do you keep your records? We use PigCHAMP for our production records. All washing and disinfecting of emptied rooms, placement of mouse bait, vaccinations and treatments are recorded and signed off on, as well as all other activity required by CPE. There are also some spreadsheets we’ve developed over the years to organize additional information the way we want it. The best thing about farming? As a family farm, we appreciate and enjoy each other’s company. I like the autonomy to arrange workloads in a way that reflects each person’s strengths, weaknesses and interests. It is also nice to have a good mix of working alone and with other people. Perhaps most importantly, we get to grow healthy food for tables around the globe. In a country where only two per cent of people are farmers, I am humbled by that responsibility and passionate about my role. What do you like least? I sometimes feel stressed because of our vulnerability to the weather on the crop side, and to pork’s global market swings that we sometimes can’t anticipate. What’s your current farm machinery lineup? Given the size of our operation, it doesn’t make sense to buy new, so we operate with used equipment and do a lot of maintenance ourselves. Our machinery includes a John Deere 16-row planter, an air drill, five tractors, an Apache self-propelled sprayer, and a New Holland CR9080 combine, to mention a few. What sort of livestock technology do you use in your barn? We have a computerized liquid-feeding system, an alarm system connected to our phones, temperature and ventilation controls and cameras in a number of locations. There is also a remote control boar cart that moves the boar through the breeding barn for heat detection among the sows. Most important lesson you’ve learned? It’s necessary to be patient, or, at least, as patient as possible. We always stress safety first on our farm, even if it takes longer that way. Another learning for me is that just because you work hard and expect a reward appropriate to your effort, the payoff doesn’t always come right away. There are ups and downs in this business and things you can’t control, so it’s best to take a long view. When we first started in farming and met with an accountant, he said he would only take us on as clients if we prepared five-year and 10-year budgets in addition to the annual one. At the time, we thought that was extreme, but we soon realized that it helped keep us on track and deal with the unexpected. It’s a good tool for organizing priorities. Guiding management principle? I try to be flexible on the management side. If someone prefers doing a specific task, it’s usually best to accommodate them. Being open and honest with our employees is critical. What are the biggest farming challenges you face? In this business, input costs can spiral out of control in a hurry if you’re not careful. We must always pay close The Rempel Family: Kristy, Jason, Marg, Avery, Kian, and Evan. Rempel Family photo
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc0MDI3