Greig shares farm knowledge with producers in South America

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/12/2018 (1964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Reston farmer spent nearly all of last month in South America, speaking with customers halfway across the world about his experiences farming in Canada.

Fred Greig travelled to Mexico City, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Chile with the Canadian Wheat New Crop missions, giving presentations about the management practices he uses at his farm.

“Part of what we’ve done in Western Canada is we’ve reduced a lot of tillage or no till, (that) is one of the bigger ways we’ve reduced soil erosion, we’ve reduced through water and wind,” Greig said. “And, we’ve increased the organic matter in our soils, which has improved the quality of our soils so we’re producing more grain on less input.”

Greig was given the opportunity to go as a member of the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association through Cereals Canada.

“They’re always looking for producers to participate in the new crop mission,” he said. “So it kind of worked out that I had some time available to go.”

Their audience was made up of millers who imported Canadian wheat, he said, as well as some bakers who wanted to get a feel for the supply and the quality.

Around 60 to 70 per cent of the millers and bakers they met already used Canadian wheat exclusively, but they wanted to learn more about their farming practices.

“They were interested in what I had to say about how we produce the wheat sustainably, and what we do to make sure that the quality is as good as we can for them with how we store it (and) how we produce it,” he said.

Throughout their presentations, audience members would take photos of the slides for useful information later on, he said, and all the presentations were well attended.

It was an eye opening experience for him.

“We always have heard how good a quality Canadian wheat was and how the world was certainly interested in it, and it was nice to actually hear the end users say that,” he said. “That we are on the right track, (and) still trying to produce the high gluten strength, high-protein, high-functionality wheat for them.”

Greig said he also learned that millers and bakers were using their quality wheat as a marketing strategy, and they want to start using the sustainable way that wheat and barley are produced in Western Canada with their customers too.

Other farmers should get involved with different associations, so they can have an opportunity to travel and see the larger picture, he said.

“It’s quite an amazing educational process to for us all to understand it’s a little bigger than just us on our farm,” he said. “If you want to be on wheat and barley (association) or sunflower growers, anything, you just never know what you might be asked to do.”

» mverge@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @Melverge5