BINSCARTH, Man. — Returning to the home farm to help his brother during busy seasons has been a seasonal odyssey for Bruce Burnett ever since his own career took him to the city nearly four decades ago.
Like many farm kids, spending a few weeks “working” on the family farm every year feels more like a vacation than work. Many use their vacation time to do it.
And the benefits were a two-way street. For farmers like his brother, Ken, access to a seasoned pair of helping hands is a godsend in a sector faced with chronic and worsening labour shortages.
Burnett, director of weather and market analysis for the Western Producer Markets Desk, uses the field experience to stay grounded with his farming roots.
Harvest was always an exciting time on the farm, starting from an early age.
Some of Burnett’s fondest harvest memories are as a child coming home from school on the bus.
“There was no such thing as doing homework,” he says.
“You just rushed out to the truck and rode along with one of the adults that were dumping grain.”
As he grew older, he was able to pitch in more, until the day came choose between a farming life and opportunities elsewhere.
“There’s the time when you leave for school or the city for employment, and so a lot of my memories are coming back to help,” he said.
“I’ve been lucky over the years to be able to participate in helping gather the harvest on this farm over the past 35 years,” he said.
“I use it as something where it gives me a farm grounding. Just to spend two or three weeks out here hauling grain, running the combine, that type of thing — you get back in touch with your agricultural roots. That’s just been very important to me throughout my life.”
This year’s harvest is especially poignant.
After farming for 40 years, Ken Burnett has decided to retire.
The farm has been farmed by this family since Ken and Bruce’s grandparents left southwestern Manitoba “to escape the grasshoppers and blowing dust,” as their grandfather described it.
It will remain under Ken’s ownership for now, but the 1,600 acres of cropland used to grow wheat and canola will be rented to another operator.
That makes this year’s harvest the end of an era for Bruce, too.
“Each field has a memory for you, what you did wrong, what you did right,” he said.
While Burnett remembers many good times he’s had on the farm, he’s not forgotten the “screw-ups” either, like the time he got a pick-up truck stuck in mud all the way up to the axles in the “Wilson” field, named after the previous owner.
But over time, the land has treated this family well.
“This land has produced some excellent crops over the years, and this year is no exception. We’ve got above average yields here. But on the other hand, it’s bittersweet because it’s the last one.”
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