RealAg LIVE! with Devon Walker on shaping ag policy and farming with family

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Sometimes when you find yourself waiting in line at the elevator you get grouchy. Sometimes though, you find yourself leveraging that grouchiness into a role in shaping agricultural policy.

Devon Walker runs a grain farm near Lashburn, Sask., with his wife and their three girls, and just recently transitioned to the full management of the farm from his dad. In this RealAg LIVE! host Kara Oosterhuis and Devon chat about transitioning the farm, farm policy, back yard-itis and more!

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SUMMARY

  • 11 seasons harvesting a crop under his own name
  • Transitioned the farm recently to solely his management
  • Running the farm with his dad was like a boat with two propellers going two different speeds. Definitely a process to transition
  • Involved with Agriculture Producers’ Association of Saskatchewan as a rep
  • Touring Ottawa in 2020 was cool (where he met Lyndsey, FYI)
  • Recognizing the difference between city life (and Ottawa city life) and realizing why people think the way they do when shaping policy
  • Being involved in policy has been a family thing, for sure
  • Friend Scott Owens got him hooked on learning about policy and opening up the network
  • Responsible Grain? Why isn’t a good fit, do you think?
  • Does the location where a policy is set benefit that region most? It’s an interesting thought process
  • Regional differences need to be accounted for — even differences between places in Sask are too different to be governed under one policy
  • They do seed cleaning, too
  • Carbon tax: Grain drying and barn heat not exempted. But these are needed for climate resiliency! These are tools to reduce food waste!
  • 2019 crop stayed out in the field until spring of 2020 — would have said then to his girls not to farm, but 2020 was better
  • He’s in an oil and gas area of Saskatchewan — Lashburn to be exact
  • Cold production is no longer cost effective, so steam and thermal oil production is taking over. Lease payments have been missed or reduced recently
  • Struggles are prevalent right now
  • Sustainability for Devon is being adaptable for the right reasons and means being able to adapt when necessary
  • Late winter funk! Stay focused on the spring, talk to friends

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Other Episodes

RealAg LIVE! (view all)Season 2 (2021) Episode 58
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