ale and his son Jeff were on their way to town to fix the dishwasher in Dale s father s condo when Dale casually asked the question that brought things to a head. So, do you want to haul that canola into the terminal later this week or do you want me to look after it?
What canola? Jeff asked.
Maybe I forgot to tell you. I sold 5,000 bushels on Friday. The price is as high as it s going to get, and your mom s been nagging me about those payments that come due in early November.
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Ground rules for farm family communications
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Dale kept driving, not noticing that Jeff s face was turning every shade of red. Hey, Dale nodded toward the farm they were passing, Looks like the Marshalls bought a new SUV.
Jeff took a deep breath. Dad, I thought we were going to do this together.
Dale was confused. Fix your grandpa s dishwasher? he asked.
Not that, Jeff said, managing to stay calm. Now that I m back on the farm, I thought we d make decisions together.
Oh, Dale said. I guess I didn t think of asking you. It s just carry-over from last year. Not new crop.
Not that there would be much crop this year. After the spring flooding in southeast Saskatchewan, the Hansons had only managed to seed 500 acres, and that hadn t yielded well.
Look Dad. Either I m part of this business or I m not.
So you don t think I should ve sold the canola? Dale asked. We ve already burned through most of our Unseeded Acreage payment. If we don t sell something, we ll be well into an operating loan.
I didn t say you shouldn t have sold it. I just wanted to be part of the decision, Jeff was starting to feel like a teenager all over again.
Then they were distracted when Rick Wilson passed them on the highway, waving, and they didn t speak again until they were inside Ed s condo, trading opinions about his dishwasher.
Not that I needed the help, Ed insisted, sitting on a stool 30 minutes later when Jeff and Dale finally declared victory over the Maytag and got up from the floor. I could ve fixed it myself, if I d just had the tools here. Or got a hand from some of the guys that have coffee at Wongs.
Right Dad, Dale said.
Jim would ve come, Ed went on. He s got lots of experience fixing dishwashers.
Yeah. That s why his caught fire last year, Jeff laughed. Sometimes it s good to call an expert.
I m not sure you two are exactly experts, Ed said.
Yeah, I know, Jeff said, drying the wrench on his jeans before he put it back in the tool box. I was thinking of something else.
You think something else needs fixing around here? Ed said. I may be getting old, but I can manage a condo. Then he looked at Dale, who was using a rag to dry the floor under the dishwasher. Well, most of the time.
I was thinking about the farm, Grandpa, Jeff said. Remember my friend Eric from university? With the farm over by Oxbow?
Yup, Dale said, wringing the rag out into the sink.
He s trying to farm with his brother. They can never agree about the markets. So they started using a consultant. He kind of works as a tie-breaker when the brothers don t agree.
You think we need a consultant? Dale asked.
You know why they call them consultants, don t you? Ed said. It s because all they do is con and insult. Why would you want to pay for that?
It might be good to work with a professional, Jeff said. Someone who could help us put together a marketing plan. So we re not just figuring things out on the fly.
It won t take much of a plan to market this year s crop, Ed said.
I know, Jeff went on. But it might be good to talk to someone about our seeding plans for next spring. Someone who could help us get a better handle on our per acre costs. Eric said he and his brother feel like they have more control of their farm since they ve been working with their guy.
I thought we sent you off to ag college so you could do this yourself, Ed said.
One thing I learned at university is that it never hurts to ask a professional, Jeff said. And another thing I learned is that we have a lot of money at risk here. We can t afford mistakes.
So you think your dad and I made a lot of mistakes? Ed asked, incredulous. When we built the farm up from nothing?
Of course not, Jeff said. But this business gets more complicated every year. And with changes in the wheat market, there s going to be even more to worry about. We don t want to leave money on the table. And what about Trina? Jeff was talking about his sister. She s not living here, but she has shares in the farm. We get along great now, but someday she might have questions about the way we manage things. If we had an outside opinion, we could be a bit more accountable.
So you want to hire a consultant to please someone who s not even here? Ed said.
Grandpa&
And how much would this cost? Ed demanded. They ll work something out with us, Jeff said, since we don t have much crop to sell this winter. And then they d charge by the acre next year. They would sit down and help us figure out what to seed, and then put together a sales plan.
Ed just shook his head, so Jeff kept talking. And there s a couple of government programs that might pay for part of it.
Government money to make a plan, Ed snorted. But Jeff noticed that, although Dale hadn t said anything, he was nodding.
This might not be your worst idea, Dale told his son.
Jeff exhaled, relieved that his dad finally seemed to understand the changes he wanted to make on the farm. But then Dale kept talking. Do you have a number for this guy? I could call him in the morning. See what it would cost, anyway.
But before Jeff could say anything, Ed came to his rescue. Dale, I m not wild about this. And I don t want the guys down at Wongs Caf finding out we can t sell our wheat without someone holding our hand. But if you re serious about letting that kid of yours get involved in this business, you d better let Jeff make the call. CG
