In a hotel ballroom in Saskatoon, farmers and farm advisors are listening to the speakers at a conference called Balancing the Bottom Line.
The conference has been organized by the Farm Leadership Council, a wing of Viterra, Canada’s largest ag corporation. It’s also organized by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, a farm policy group that got its start with the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities and which advocates not just for farmers, but for healthy rural communities too.
Plus the conference is organized too by the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors, whose members include bankers, accountants, succession advisors and many others, each of them with an interest in getting more business into their offices.
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It’s a tangle of potential conflicts. But there is a lot of relevant information too. These speakers are good, talking about real issues, both local and global, affecting all producers on their farms.
Many of the speakers are at the top of their professions too, people most farmers would never otherwise have access to. But that means they’re also leaders of their own businesses or departments, with potential agendas that this audience could never guess at.
Is the whole experience tainted?
Leadership in agriculture is a challenge. Asked to define it, most of us start by listing all the various forms of leadership required in an industry that demands a ridiculous breadth of skills and knowledge. But an outright definition of leadership eludes us.
Sometimes, what also eludes us is where leadership comes from. Maybe it’s genetic. Some people seem to be born leaders. Or maybe it’s something we can learn, apprentice-like by watching our parents or maybe in a more school-like way, with courses and seminars.
The Farm Leadership Council (FLC) knows where it stands. Leadership is a function of education, it believes. This is definitely an organization that subscribes to the “leaders are not born, they are made” theory.
“We bring leadership, education and business skills to the farm at the producer level,” says Linda Pipke, executive director of the council, a western Canadian producer organization founded in 2005 and funded by Viterra, and which today boasts an impressive 50,000 active members.
Pipke too hesitates to define leadership, instead recognizing “it means different things to different people and for different reasons.”
But Pipke does believe there is a blend of educational tools that FLC can use to help its producers develop their leadership capabilities.
As a result, FLC is on a mission to make practical, everyday, bottom line kinds of training available
“ When they (Viterra) hand out money, it isn’t just a feel-good thing. They will expect value in return.” — Derek Trinke
to its farm members through marketing programs, succession planning workshops, crop diagnostic schools and the like.
With 16 membership areas across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and five to six delegates in each, the FLC has a large representative base. According to the FLC website, “a key component of Viterra’s recapitalization last spring (2005) was to create a meaningful role for its grassroots membership.” Producers “who had strong sentimental ties to Viterra as a co-operative,” would have a new home, including all Sask Wheat Pool and Agricore members who were grandfathered into FLC.
Today, FLC delegates hold teleconference meetings, inviting producers from their area to join in discussion on particular topics. “As many as 275 to 300 producers have been on at one time,” Pipke says. The focus might be on a commodity specific to a region where a crop or marketing specialist could be brought in. Or, in the case of an insect problem, an agrologist might be asked to go over concerns and questions. “We find the needs and put together the right resources to help deliver education in that area,” Pipke says.
These types of training are valuable to producers on their farms and show up in the profitability of their operations. They are tangible.
At Willow Bluff Farm near Winkler, Man., FLC delegate Derek Trinke and wife Shanna along with their two young children grow wheat, canola and edible beans. “And we keep two cows for meat,” Trinke says with a laugh. “It will be really expensive meat.”
Trinke sees the FLC as providing a “quiet leadership” directed specifically at farmers and their operations. “We are filling a niche,” Trinke says. “There are lots of courses out there offered by other organizations and government, but we have a bit of an advantage in being aligned with Viterra. There are some synergies we can work on because we have the membership base and because the dollars tie us together.”
“Personally I see value (from FLC) at my level on the farm and in the community. We are able to bring educational opportunities into the community that we otherwise likely wouldn’t have,” Trinke says, referring to a recent succession course offered at a reasonable cost.
Trinke appreciates that FLC provides opportunities to learn the practical application of ideas. “It really feels good that we can give producers something they would take home and talk about that night at the dinner table… information that will directly affect their business.”
He feels the skills his neighbours learn find their way into other areas of the community as farmers take on leadership roles in clubs, organizations and on boards of directors.
He also sees value in the Saskatoon conference. “These global issues are harder to melt down into something applicable at the local level,” says Trinke.
All this might be why FLC has enjoyed a certain amount of success since its inception, with 50,000 active members out of a total 90,000. While the globe has become smaller, it is not necessarily easier to understand, leaving farmers feeling ill-equipped to make a difference. Stymied, these producers will search for different ways to express their natural leadership. Perhaps in Trinke’s case and that of FLC, they’ve found it at a level they can see, on their farms and in their communities.
Wayne Truman, chair of FLC, agrees with Trinke about the Saskatoon conference. “The globe has shrunk, especially in agriculture. It’s important to know what’s happening around the world.”
But, he contends, the main focus of FLC is and should be “education to improve the business of farming.” Farmers have adapted well to new production technology and needs, he says. So the FLC has focused its attention on people and business skills, “the two key areas where we think there is a void and where we think our organization can fill that need.”
When asked if leadership can simply stop at the farm gate, Truman is convinced that while FLC focuses on the farm, others will do the job of advocating for producers at the policy level.
“The need was for education,” Truman says. “The need was not to create another policy organization.”
Trinke agrees. “I quite honestly appreciate that they are not politically affiliated. The organization is really trying to help farmers on a grassroots level.”
Yet Trinke hesitates, understanding that what happens at the farm is invariably affected by the policies of others. “I’m glad we’re not politically aligned, but I’d still like it if we were at the table because we are more grassroots than any other organization representing us. This is field level stuff we’re doing. But,” he laughs, “I don’t know if it’s possible to be at the table and not be political.”
The Farm Leadership Council itself walks a fine political line, according to Trinke. He is quite aware of the potential conflict and credibility issues of having FLC funded by Viterra. One of the first questions he asked when approached about being a delegate was, “am I just going to be shilling for Viterra?
“I think the risk is definitely there. FLC is arm’s length from Viterra. They don’t tell us what to do as far as I understand,” he says. “But when they hand out money (to fund FLC), it isn’t just a feel-good thing. They will expect value in return.
“So far in my two years here,” Trinke says, “my impression is that Viterra sees FLC as a sounding board.”
Trinke believes the key is to be aware of that invisible line. Yet he also believes the line is worth walking because of the programming FLC is able to do
Leadership Intangibles
“I am a better husband, better father and friend, a better person in my community because of the Leaders in Growth program.”
That’s an impressive commendation. And Derek Trinke makes it without hesitation. Trinke is a Winkler, Man. wheat, canola and edible bean grower, and he’s a regional delegate for Farm Leadership Council (see main story).
The FLC has partnered with the Pacific Institute to offer the program to its members. The institute promotes itself as believing “the success of high-performance people and organizations is based on thinking skills — beliefs, habits, attitudes and expectations that can be taught and learned.”
A key concept for the institute is “all meaningful and lasting change begins first on the inside and works its way out.”
It might sound a bit New Age, but Trinke believes the benefits of taking part in the program are extraordinary if intangible.
“Will it influence my farm? Probably,” Trinke says. “Can I measure it? No. But there are things that show up in all kinds of ways that are not necessarily financial.”
The program has been slow to take off in his area, but Trinke says “it’s touchyfeely stuff. And farmers,” he laughs, “don’t have feelings.
“But it’s really changed guys’ lives,” he says. In this, Trinke is serious. By providing such a program “FLC is showing that leadership of all kinds is important.”
It’s widely recognized there are less tangible skills that define leaders at all levels and in all positions. Such skills are built by “knowing and understanding yourself personally,” says Linda Pipke, the FLC’s executive director. These are things not necessarily agricultural in nature, but they help people to achieve their potential, something fundamental to the FLC vision.
The Leaders in Growth program promises results including a heightened self-confidence, self-motivation, accountability, openness to new possibilities and flexibility. By partnering with the Pacific Institute to offer the program, FLC has shown a commitment to providing leadership tools to its members that cannot necessarily be measured.
Pipke believes these intangible skills can be used on the farm and from there into the community. “What you learn is, there are other ways to see the world.”
in communities that otherwise might not have access. He’s committed to making that happen, saying he’d like to become a director in the future. And he has his own vision for FLC.
“I’d like to see us become a national organization, with membership and delegates across the country, even moving into places where Viterra has interests such as Australia,” Trinke says. “If we continue to grow, then that means they have seen value in us.”
“We are autonomous, but are funded by Viterra and work with them,” says FLC chair Wayne Truman. “Our members provide feedback on their products and services.”
It’s a form of communication and connection with the company, says Pipke, who says it’s another opportunity for Viterra to hear the voice of its customers. “It tests ideas, concepts, programs and… builds relationships with customers.”
When asked if Viterra has expressed any expected outcomes as a result of its funding of FLC, Pipke quipped, “ask them.”
When asked, Peter Ferengis, public affairs advisor with Viterra, said he didn’t understand the question and thought no one at Viterra would likely talk to me about FLC. But he did send me the 2005 press release. CG
Leadership Intangibles
“I am a better husband, better father and friend, a better person in my community because of the Leaders in Growth program.”
That’s an impressive commendation. And Derek Trinke makes it without hesitation. Trinke is a Winkler, Man. wheat, canola and edible bean grower, and he’s a regional delegate for Farm Leadership Council (see main story).
The FLC has partnered with the Pacific Institute to offer the program to its members. The institute promotes itself as believing “the success of high-performance people and organizations is based on thinking skills — beliefs, habits, attitudes and expectations that can be taught and learned.”
A key concept for the institute is “all meaningful and lasting change begins first on the inside and works its way out.”
It might sound a bit New Age, but Trinke believes the benefits of taking part in the program are extraordinary if intangible.
“Will it influence my farm? Probably,” Trinke says. “Can I measure it? No. But there are things that show up in all kinds of ways that are not necessarily financial.”
The program has been slow to take off in his area, but Trinke says “it’s touchyfeely stuff. And farmers,” he laughs, “don’t have feelings.
“But it’s really changed guys’ lives,” he says. In this, Trinke is serious. By providing such a program “FLC is showing that leadership of all kinds is important.”
It’s widely recognized there are less tangible skills that define leaders at all levels and in all positions. Such skills are built by “knowing and understanding yourself personally,” says Linda Pipke, the FLC’s executive director. These are things not necessarily agricultural in nature, but they help people to achieve their potential, something fundamental to the FLC vision.
The Leaders in Growth program promises results including a heightened self-confidence, self-motivation, accountability, openness to new possibilities and flexibility. By partnering with the Pacific Institute to offer the program, FLC has shown a commitment to providing leadership tools to its members that cannot necessarily be measured.
Pipke believes these intangible skills can be used on the farm and from there into the community. “What you learn is, there are other ways to see the world.”
in communities that otherwise might not have access. He’s committed to making that happen, saying he’d like to become a director in the future. And he has his own vision for FLC.
“I’d like to see us become a national organization, with membership and delegates across the country, even moving into places where Viterra has interests such as Australia,” Trinke says. “If we continue to grow, then that means they have seen value in us.”
“We are autonomous, but are funded by Viterra and work with them,” says FLC chair Wayne Truman. “Our members provide feedback on their products and services.”
It’s a form of communication and connection with the company, says Pipke, who says it’s another opportunity for Viterra to hear the voice of its customers. “It tests ideas, concepts, programs and… builds relationships with customers.”
When asked if Viterra has expressed any expected outcomes as a result of its funding of FLC, Pipke quipped, “ask them.”
When asked, Peter Ferengis, public affairs advisor with Viterra, said he didn’t understand the question and thought no one at Viterra would likely talk to me about FLC. But he did send me the 2005 press release. CG
