Canadian Food Focus

Everything Grows

Farmer Clinton Monchuk’s Canadian Food Story

Clinton Monchuk - Farmer

Say hello to Clinton Monchuk. Clinton is a grain and egg farmer in Saskatchewan. He also is the Executive Director of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan and one of our #CDNFoodFocus contributors. Check out these posts from Our Instagram to learn more about Clinton and find out why he is so passionate about telling people about farming. Watch for more posts on social media and articles from Clinton in the future. You can also follow him on Instagram @cgmonch.

 

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“Hi there… my name is Clinton and I am a farmer, business person, coach and volunteer in my community, but most importantly I’m a husband to my beautiful wife, Laura, and dad to Jackson and Katelyn. I pride myself on being a family man first and try to live by it each day. To quote Randy Travis, “It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you, it’s what you leave behind when you go. 📷1: My #prouddad moment: My son told me after this baseball season that the best part about it was having his daddy as his coach!” 📷2: The Monchuk’s in Disneyland. Family fun with the people I love.” ⚾️⚾️⚾️ 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FamilyMan #GoJaysGo

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“I farm with my brother Andrew and our parents, Fred and Anne. We operate a grain farm, growing a variety of different cereal, pulse and oilseed crops and pasture on 4000 acres of land (roughly the playing area of 4000 American football fields). We also started a table egg farm in 2017 and care for 7200 laying hens. We take a lot of pride in the healthy and nutritious food (and food ingredients) that we grow for Saskatchewan, Canada and the world! Our farm has been in the family since the 1920’s and I hope that one day one of my kids or my nieces will continue in our farming footsteps. 📷1: My brother – Andrew and I work great together and both have similar goals for Monchuk Farms. 📷2: My dad took over the farm from his dad when he was only 17 years old… I’m glad that he’s here to help my brother and I!” 👨‍🌾👨‍🌾👨‍🌾 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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“Believe it or not the life line of food is… dirt! Each year our farm has a soil scientist analyze the soil to ensure we have the right mix of different nutrients for the best soil health possible. On top of this we practice zero-till farming (which minimizes soil erosion) and rotating the type of crops planted to build organic matter. This has all resulted in more fertile land and healthy soils to grow food! Since we started this practice of disturbing the soil less and less, we’ve found more earthworms (a good sign of soil health) in the soil due to the higher amounts of organic matter.” 🌱🌱🌱 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🎥Check out our Instagram IGTV channel for a video of Clinton talking about soil during seeding video. 👨‍🌾👨‍🌾👨‍🌾 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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“I grew up in a ‘meat and potatoes’ type of family, mainly because that’s how both my mom and dad were raised, so… that’s how I was raised. Peas, beans and lentils (all referred to as pulses or legumes) were foods that other folks would eat, definitely not a ‘Saskatchewan’ type of food. Fast-forward one generation and there are numerous different food choices and innovative food products made from the pulse crops I grow. Looking at my family’s current diet, pulses now make their way on to our table more and more. Love this photo of Laura and Katelyn in a field of yellow peas this past July when the peas were in full bloom!” 🌱🌱🌱 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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“I love fall and here is my daughter and I harvesting the peas and peace. I always enjoy the weekends when my kids can ride with me in the combine and we can talk one on one for hours without video games! Historically, the Western Canadian Prairies were not known for their pulse production, rather wheat consumed the majority of the landscape. This all changed with an organized effort to build newer, Canadian varieties of pulse crops. Growing pulses reduces fertilizer requirements for farmers because of their ability to generate (or ‘fix’) their own nitrogen. Plant breeding assisted in improving peas as in the past they were highly susceptible to disease, pea vines that would flatten down on the ground (making it almost impossible to harvest) and yields that seemed to be very unpredictable. We didn’t grow any peas on our farm until about 15 years ago, now it is a viable option in our cropping plans. So, raise your spoon to peas… please!” ✌️✌️✌️ 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cfmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🎥Check out our Instagram IGTV channel for a video of Clinton and his daughter harvesting peas and peace. ✌️✌️✌️ #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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“Through a Saskatchewan new entrant program (The Saskatchewan supply managed commodities offer opportunities for entrepreneurs to start new farming ventures in dairy, chicken, turkey, table eggs and hatching eggs) we expanded our farm into table eggs in 2017. Our birds are in a free-run system that requires more labour than other housing systems, but this is also a great way to involve our children periodically. Always a good day when kids are excited to work!” 🥚🥚🥚 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch. Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🎥Check out our Instagram IGTV channel to take a tour of Megg Farms aviary laying hen barn. Follow Clinton as he takes you through the barn and explains how his egg farm operates. 🥚🥚🥚 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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“My family has been farming since the 1920’s and I am always wondering how proud my grandfather would be if he saw the farm today! Due to our technology advancements my dad is leaving our soil in better condition than when he took over farming, and my plan is to do the same for my children and/or nieces. They say that when farming is in your blood the land draws you back… this passion for farming is strong and I hope you enjoyed a small piece of what I experience each year! My passion for farming spills over to my family, who also want to be a part of producing great food.” 👩‍🌾👨‍🌾👩‍🌾👨‍🌾 📷 #CDNFoodFocus contributor @cgmonch Follow his profile to see more from his farm in Saskatchewan. 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CDNFoodFocus #MeetAFarmer #FarmLife #AgProud

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More articles by Clinton:

Take a Tour of an Egg Farm

Sustainable Farming: How do Farmers Plant their Crops?

Sustainable Farming: Why Do Farmers Apply Fungicide?