A few months after I moved here, I was assigned to cover the Estevan Farmer鈥檚 Day event, with the highlight 小蓝视频 the Farmer of the Year Award presentation.
I didn鈥檛 really know much about that first event, but I was told the Farmer of the Year Award was a big deal. 聽
Leo Seipp, a long-time farmer in the Estevan area, was the deserving winner. 聽
It wasn鈥檛 long after that the award was renamed the Farm Family of the Year Award, reflecting the impact that others make in the success of a farming operation. After all, a successful farm isn鈥檛 just a one-person show; most successful farms, especially in this day and age, have the entire family involved. 聽
Kids learn about the farm from an early age. They learn how to operate the equipment and tackle chores and work with the livestock, and their knowledge of the operation grows each year.聽
They know how to run the machinery long before they can legally drive. Being on the farm teaches young people work ethic and responsibility and pride in their work they won鈥檛 find elsewhere.
And behind every successful farmer you鈥檒l find a hard-working, supportive spouse. 聽
In 2004, the event switched to the Farmers鈥� Appreciation Evening, with the highlight 小蓝视频 the Farm Family of the Year Award presentation.
Last year, of course, we didn鈥檛 get the Farmer鈥檚 Appreciation Evening or the Farm Family Award presentation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And since we鈥檙e still subject to all of the public health restrictions associated with the pandemic, we couldn鈥檛 have the Farmer鈥檚 Appreciation Evening, either.聽
But at least the organizers of the Farm Evening 鈥� the Estevan Chamber of Commerce and the Estevan Exhibition Association 鈥� were able to find a way to recognize the Farm Family of the Year Award this year.聽
They might not have had a banquet with 300 people present to salute the recipients, but it still worked having the presentation at the home of the recipients, the Emde family. If nothing else, the Emdes can say they had the most unique presentation since the award鈥檚 inception in the 1980s. 聽
And the award鈥檚 selection committee certainly found a deserving recipient in the Emdes. Even though that award has been around for decades, there鈥檚 no shortage of deserving winners.
I鈥檓 not a farmer, but I鈥檓 certainly proud of my agricultural roots.聽
As I鈥檝e documented before, my mom鈥檚 from a farming family, Leguee Farms, who have land 聽adjacent to the grid road that runs between Fillmore and Cedoux. Leguee Farms won the Golden Sheaf Award (Weyburn鈥檚 equivalent of the Farm Family of the Year Award) in 2014. I鈥檒l argue they should have won it years before, but much like the Estevan area, there鈥檚 no shortage of great farmers in the Weyburn area.聽
And, of course, my folks had a beautiful horse farm in Aldergrove, B.C., from September 1999 to January 2020. They worked hours each day on chores and other tasks associated with their property, and cared deeply for the horses.
When it was foaling season for our mares, they would wake up several times in the middle of the night to check on the expectant mother. 聽
They rarely took holidays together for 20 years because someone had to look after the horses. At a time when most of their friends were thinking of travel and other joys of retirement, my parents were thinking of the group they called The Herd.聽
With as many as 17 horses during the thoroughbred racing offseason, The Herd was pretty big for two people on 4.3 acres of land. 聽
Farming has obviously changed a lot since my grandfather Leguee purchased the land off the grid road outside of Fillmore in the 1950s. It鈥檚 changed a lot since my Uncle Russ moved into the homestead house in the 1980s. And it has changed a lot since my parents purchased their farm in 1999. 聽
Through the experiences of my family, I know that farming is a year-round operation. Granted, there are times of the year that are busier than others (seeding and harvest can be frantic) but there isn鈥檛 a real down time. Many farmers don鈥檛 get to have hobbies.
It can be stressful. There isn鈥檛 much of a margin of error. And you have to grasp so many different things.聽
I know it鈥檚 not for me. But I can still have the greatest admiration for farmers.
Our farm families deserve so much respect, not just because of the food they grow for us and the impact they have on our economy, but all it takes to do their job.
And that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to give our farm families recognition.聽
