by Leeann Minogue
Ninety-seven-year-old Keith Colborn still visits the same farmyard where he was born, near Delisle, Saskatchewan almost every day. Keith is a third-generation farmer and part of a family farm that received a Century Family Farm Award in 2010. They expect the sixth generation to take over next. You might assume that the Colborn family farm is a place where time has stopped and nothing changes too quickly. You would be wrong. The Colborns’ long-term success is rooted in continuous change.
The Colborns have always made investments in new technology a key part of their farm business plan. This applies to their egg production and cattle herds, and also to their grain production operation, where there have been dramatic changes since the first Colborns started planting wheat in 1910. As Shawn Colborn, part of the family’s fifth farming generation, says, his grandfather saw the farm progress “from horses and hay to diesel fuel and the internal combustion engine,” a huge change in Keith’s time. Since then, the farm has witnessed so many more changes, like electricity, direct seeding, new crop varieties, the internet, autosteer and GPS technology, variable rate application and precision placement of seed and other inputs.
The first major advancement on the Colborn farm took place in the second generation. Keith has vivid memories of his father buying the farm’s first tractor. During harvest that Massey Harris tractor, small by today’s standards, allowed one man with a tractor and combine to replace the work of 12 horses and an entire thrashing crew.
In the 1990s, the Colborns were early investors in newly developed direct seeding technology. Direct seeding allows farmers to plant seed without disturbing the seed bed. This conserves moisture, a big benefit for farmers with no access to irrigation. The family’s long history on the same land helped them understand the benefits of this new development. Keith’s son Ken had heard stories of dust clouds rising up behind plows in the 1930s and was happy to invest in a better method. Direct seeding equipment, combined with herbicides for weed control, allowed the Colborns to minimize plowing. This conserves moisture and also leads to healthier soils.
With reduced plowing, it can be more difficult to control weeds. The Colborns overcame this by becoming early adopters of new herbicide-tolerant canola. With this canola, glyphosate could be used to control weeds efficiently, decreasing the total amount of herbicide they needed to apply. This weed control technology, Ken says, was “the biggest thing I’ve seen in my time.” Better weed control combined with increased soil moisture resulted in higher yields.
Advancements on the Colborn farm continued in the 2000s, when the family invested in new GPS technology. Automated steering is more than just a nice benefit for the tractor driver. When sprayers and seeding equipment can be steered with satellite precision, there is very little overlap between field passes. This lowers total fertilizer and herbicide use and lowers costs while being more environmentally friendly. It makes sure that nutrients and fungicides are place exactly—and only—where there are needed for the most long-term impact.
In making these changes, the Colborns have focused on sustainability: both in terms of soil and water conservation as well as financial sustainability in order to support more of the family through the farm. They analyze risks and engage in strategic farm planning to make sure their family business will be profitable for the long run. Shawn Colborn believes continuous investment in technology will be a part of the Colborns’ plans into the sixth generation. Shawn says, “if we’re not advancing, we’re going behind.”
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