What’s your name? Dustin Krahn
I have been a farmer since: 2008
I’ve been a Farm At Hand user since: I have been a Farm At Hand member since 2015. This unique app has helped me organize my day to day record keeping, so I always know where I am at at the end of the day. It is simple to use and it automatically updates my computer at home when I enter any type of information. The simplicity and user friendly app make it a great tool to use!
Where do you farm? Our main farm yard is located just a couple of miles north of Morden, MB.
What do you grow? We grow, winter wheat, spring wheat, canola, soybeans, corn, sunflowers.
How did you get into farming? I got into farming differently than most young farmers these days. I never had a family farm to start from. My parents were always very active in the farming industry, but we never had a farm. I started farming on my own.
The short story is, I was 21 yrs old when I started. Took Ag in college which lead me into a sales job with a company out of Winnipeg. A farmer just north of Morden was looking for some help at the time, and through a friend I ended up helping him on weekends and when ever I wasn’t traveling with my job. I did this for 2 years till he asked me if I wanted to start farming. I laughed at him and told him he was crazy. So we worked out a partnership to make it happen.
It’s extremely hard for a young person to start farming now a days. I went to four different banking institutions and they told me I was freakin dumb for trying to do this. Eventually I found the local Credit Union to help me get my feet started and the ball rolling. I started with 200 acres my first year, and its been growing ever since. Today between me and my partner we farm just over 5,000 acres.
What do you love about farming? I love being my own boss. I enjoy being outside all day. A huge perk is also being fortunate to grow a crop that helps feed the world, not just in our local supermarkets but all over the world. Pretty rewarding.
Tell us a little bit about why you became a farmer and who you farm with. To be honest…I don’t know why I became a farmer. It’s just what I have always dreamed about doing, ever since I was a little boy and I was “carpet farming”.
The way of life/lifestyle/the relationship are second to none and can only be found in the farming world. Who wouldn’t want to be a farmer. I farm with another farm called W5 Farms. It’s a family farm that has helped me start farming. Together we have a partnership to run the day to day operations of the farm. There is three of us that work on the farm full time, and for seeding and harvest the crew will jump to 6, just to get everything done.
What’s one of your favourite moments when you’re out in the fields? One of my favourite moments on the field is when one of our neighbours and really close friend of ours got cancer and couldn’t end up harvesting his crop that year. So roughly 8 different neighbours and ourselves got together one Saturday and combined his crop for him.
The local trucking company had 4-5 super b’s on the field and grain carts every where. We all just banded together to help him out. It was just one of those perfect moments. The weather was hot and sunny, no break downs (to a farmer that is huge) It will be something that I will never forget, prob the best day I have had on the farm.
Has technology changed the way you farm? How so? Technology has totally changed the way we farm. From having a phone with apps that can do all your data entry and documentation.
To drones being able to fly over your field and check for stressed out areas that you couldn’t normally see from where you would check by foot. Precision GPS, and the accuracy of seeding and harvesting equipment have made farming a lot easier than it used to be, saying that with the cost of production going up every year we have to stay on top of technology, to try and maximize the return off of the land. People are still being born in this world every second, but farm land is decreasing in the world, so we need technology to maximize our yields and return off of every piece of land we farm. So we will be able to feed the future.
What’s currently in your pocket? Nothing actually, lol.
What’s your most important piece of equipment and why? To me it would be the sprayer. The sprayer gives me a birds eye view of my crop as I travel over it, gives me an estimate on what I may have out there for a yield so I can cash in on some of the “off the combine” specials – which is good cause our grain storage is in short supply. We will need to make room for some of our harvesting crops later.
Can you share with us what you think our biggest challenge in Ag right now? I would say, not being heard as a farmer. City folk have their own perspective on farmers and how everything works. Sometimes they need to hear us out and let us explain why we do the things we do. Everything we do is for a reason. Ag boards such as KAP in Manitoba are good at this. Ag in the classroom is a huge example again – shows kids what actually goes on on the farm and how they can bring that information they learn back home.
If there is one thing you want the general population to know about farming, what would that be? Farming isn’t always as easy as people can make it sound. Trying to put a crop, take care of it through the summer, through whatever mother nature throws at, and to bring it to market at the end of the year. It all takes lots of time, long stressful hours, patience, and one hell of a family to help you do it. So next time you see a farmer, say thanks.
Where can we find you online? Twitter @KrahnDustin or email dustinkrahnfarms at gmail dot com.