FEATURED GROWER
Kerby Redekop
Hi, my name is Kerby Redekop and together with my wife Kathrina, we operate RedEarth Farming Co. Ltd. north of Vauxhall. After 15 years away from the farm, we came back and started farming again four years ago.
Farming has undergone a lot of changes in the last 20 years and we are still on a steep learning curve, trying to catch up. Because of our recent re-entry into the industry and the huge increase in land values, we have had to rely on rented land to grow our crops and for this reason, we are currently only growing sugar beets. We have been thankful for the opportunity to work together with Bennen Farms. They rent us land and do a lot of custom work for us and I take care of a lot of office management for them. I think it has been a win-win situation for both of us.
My family has been growing sugar beets for over 40 years; beets are an important part of what farming means to us and when we saw my parents’ retirement from the industry on the horizon, maintaining that family history and presence in the beet industry was an important part of our decision to return to the farm. As with farming in general, growing sugar beets is more than a career, it is a lifestyle. The seasonal flow of work from winter planning to seeding, irrigating and harvest is something that we really enjoy, as well as being part of the local community of beet growers. It’s a rewarding and enjoyable life.
My most memorable experiences I have growing sugar beets are intangible: the satisfaction of seeding straight rows manually (I grew up in the pre-GPS era), the relief of making it through the Spring without losing any of the young crop to wind or pests, the reward of seeing the trucks filling up fast at harvest time and visiting with fellow beet growers at meetings and on the side of the road.
I do not expect the future to be any different than the past in terms of having to adapt to quickly changing methods of production. Another change we are in the middle of is how influenced our on-farm decisions are by global politics and consumer trends. A change I am hopeful to see is modernization of our local processing and piling facilities as an expression of commitment to the industry from the processing side. I think we are all realizing that it takes an attitude of co-operation with many, many different partners to make this industry work. We cannot do it on our own.
In my spare time (in other words, in winter) I enjoy maintaining my interests from my “other” life, reading philosophy and theology. Not typical reading material for most farmers, but it’s my way of keeping perspective on the day-to-day pressures of agriculture and life in general.