Once they’ve been in the biz for a few years, some farmers wish they hadn’t followed certain advice. Others wish they had. And others are happy with what they’ve accomplished based on advice they’d still follow if they had to do it all again. Here, a few farmers share what they’ve learned and offer their own bit of advice to new farmers.
– April Stewart, Associate Editor.
At Rockwood, Ont., Mike Sharman would like to send some advice to farmers at the start of their careers.
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If farming is your dream, Sharman says, don’t give up.
“I’d give the same advice to any other young farmer that I would have given to myself when I first started out — don’t give up,” says Sharman. “And when you get there, enjoy every day.”
All sorts of good things can come out of that kind of commitment, some of them quite unexpectedly.
When he took over the family farm, Sharman’s great challenge was capital. “Countless financial institutions said no, and if I had stopped after the first few that turned me away, I wouldn’t be farming today,” he explains.
After a series of rejections, he found a banker who believed in him, with the result that he operates a successful cash crop farm today with a unique field crop and horticulture business doing third-party contract research.
No one else in his family was interested in farming, but Sharman says there were still complications transitioning the farm while skipping a generation.
“My grandpa and I had plenty of chats on the front porch, and I knew we should get our plans in writing, but I didn’t want to make him feel like I was entitled or pushing him out,” says Sharman. As on many family farms navigating their farm transition, though, he experienced countless sleepless nights as a result.
When Sharman’s grandfather passed, the formalized succession plan was only three days old. “We were down to the wire, but I was able to execute all the plans we had discussed,” he says.
Sharman had been actively farming since 2014, renting farmland and borrowing his grandfather’s equipment, and formally took over the farm in 2020. Once again, accessing capital became a challenge when he set out to purchase the farm equipment from his grandmother. He says purchasing the farm and acquiring the farm equipment took serious funds at a very young age.
“I was fortunate to farm alongside my grandfather for years, and looking back, the thing I’m most proud of is being able to keep the farm going for another generation so that my kids can have an opportunity to farm too.”
If farming is your dream
Meanwhile, at Glenlea, a half hour south of Winnipeg, Will Bergmann knows what he wishes somebody had told him. And he knows that if he had listened to the advice they were ready to give, he would have put a lot more effort at the start of his farming career into building relationships, and he would have worried a lot less about expansion and buying land.
For 12 years now, Bergmann has been farming alongside his dad and uncle and he has his hands full growing field crops, finishing hogs, operating an organic vegetable CSA and raising a family.
Still, he always makes time to have a conversation with anyone who asks about farming and how food is grown on his farm.
“When I came back to the family farm, I thought we needed to grow and acquire more land. That turned out to be one of my greatest challenges,” admits Bergmann. “Six years ago, I had a massive mentality shift and realized that we don’t need to get bigger, we need to be more efficient and capitalize on niche markets.”
Bergmann says it came as a surprise when he finally realized his farm didn’t have to match other farms in terms of size or acreage, but it wasn’t too late to shift gears.
While he wishes he had come to that realization earlier in his farming career, the decision to pivot has been a game changer.
His focus shifted to finding fertilizer efficiencies and to technologies like precision planting, and he put time into researching grain marketing opportunities too. An entrepreneur at heart, he also leveraged his organic vegetable CSA to establish a seat at select Winnipeg restaurants as a business partner.
It’s also important to look back, says Bergmann. He’s the third generation of Bergmann Bros. on the farm. Continuing that family farm tradition is a priority for him, but he also sees it’s because of the investments made by previous generations that he is able to diversify and capitalize on opportunities today.
Get started
Looking back at his own start, Bergmann wishes he could have told himself to prioritize building food connections and relationships earlier in his farming career, especially talking to his urban neighbours about their questions and concerns.
He recognizes, though, that he needed to learn and understand the gap for himself to help him focus and build business opportunities. And his endeavours are making up for lost time. Using the vegetable CSA, Bergmann has been able to connect with local food enthusiasts in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.
Social media influencers and the popularity of sharing photos and real farm experiences was gaining popularity around the time Bergmann started farming.
Leveraging this opportunity with his passion for photography and connecting with consumers, he started his own social channels, taking followers behind the scenes on the family farm, explaining production practices, and doing his best to bridge the gap between producers and consumers.
Bergmann was initially inspired by old black and white photos of farm scenes taken on his farm by previous generations. His outreach efforts have led to speaking and writing opportunities and providing new ways to reach his audience, and these helped result in Bergmann and wife, Jen, being named Manitoba’s 2019 Outstanding Young Farmers.
“I saw the CSA as another facet of education and a tool to discuss agriculture and bridge the gap between organic and conventional practices,” says Bergmann, noting his farm is one of only a few fully organic and conventional farms in Canada. “There are so many pros, cons and misconceptions of both farming practices and we have the opportunity to share reliable information.”
In 2013, Bergmann started a two-acre organic market garden using a CSA model, providing fresh produce to 40 members and serving a selection of Winnipeg restaurants. The garden has provided opportunities to be part of the local food scene and has since led to investing in partnerships with three Winnipeg restaurants. “Having a farmer in the restaurant business mix helps with messaging and extending the real food story to patrons who appreciate the authenticity,” notes Bergmann.
Every farmer is at the mercy of the weather, and Bergmann experienced a significant setback in 2022 when severe flooding of the Red River meant he couldn’t plant his market garden. As a result, he was forced to cancel his CSA share subscriptions. He cancelled the program again in 2023 when his mother passed away but anticipates being back up and running next year.
It brings up another point where Bergmann and Sharman share a key learning: Don’t sweat what you can’t control.
“You can’t do anything about the weather, so there’s no sense in worrying about it,” says Sharman, who reminds himself of this practically every day, and also tells it to other young farmers too.
Bergmann agrees, noting that while it’s hard not to worry, there are so many things you can control on the farm, like your relationships with neighbours, fostering healthy communities and actively seeking business opportunities. “I recognize my life and business endeavours have come as a result of putting people first and building relationships,” says Bergmann.
“I wish more farmers, especially young farmers, would make the time to form relationships with their farming and urban neighbours. Just go have a coffee together and learn from each other.”
Sharman shares that outlook, and says he’s found great value in turning to the surrounding farming community for a helping hand and advice.
Bergmann agrees. Keeping a positive mindset and relying on family and trusted neighbours is a winner for any early-career farmer, he says.
There’s another key bit of advice too, he says. “I would also encourage young farmers and their families to make time for themselves outside of work. Make plans with family and friends, and rest.”
– This article was originally published in the Oct. 3, 2023 issue of Country Guide.
