In Part 1 of Landon Driedger's story, I introduced you to a young rancher looking to take over the family ranch in La Crete, Alberta. Now, I'd like to introduce you to Landon's off-farm job, which allows him to bring home some extra money, as well as to keep learning and working in his local agriculture industry.
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Overview
Earlier this year, Landon started an off-farm job working for the county as assistant agricultural fieldman and weed inspector. Although the county is the biggest in terms of land area, there are only two members of the local ag department: the ag fieldman, and Landon. Because this county is in the northern part of Alberta, it is what might be a called a newer agricultural area. A lot of land in the county has been cleared for cropping in the past decade or two, so the ag department is looking to prevent problems that have come up in older farming communities, especially in terms of weeds and other pests. It's a challenging job, but Landon certainly seems to enjoy it.
Landon's favourite part of the job is getting to talking with farmers, although he notes it's not always fun to talk with farmers: "We often get a lot of complaints, but a lot of them have real concerns and are looking to work with you and it's not often about your job that you're talking about. You're talking about the farming community as a whole, and other issues and what's going on in the farming world. So I would say just interacting with farmers and getting their perspective. It's a lot of different opinions and you can learn a lot that way."
Assistant Agricultural Fieldman
As the assistant ag fieldman, Landon wears more hats than I can count. When I asked him for a job description, he began listing more jobs than I thought could fit into a summer. It was quite the overwhelming list. Allow me to share some of it with you.
As assistant ag fieldman, Landon helps oversee the following jobs:
And that's just what he came up with off the top of his head from working at the job for a few months!
Weed Inspector
During the summers, Landon is also the county weed inspector. As weed inspector, Landon drives the county roads, searching the ditches and farmers' fields for weed problems. If the problem is in the ditch, he can simply spray the weed with the appropriate chemical. However, if the weed is on a farmer's land, or in a "do not spray" zone (which would be beside an organic farm), then Landon needs to discuss control options with the farmer: "we discuss how we can control it within the fields and I have to talk with the farmer to come to an agreement."
One of the biggest challenges Landon faces as weed inspector is dealing with weed problems on organic farms. Landon tells me, "in the last five years there's been a really sharp incline in organic farmers." Due to the recent opening of a lot of crop land, "organic farming has worked because there's not necessarily weeds coming into these new fields and on the margins, just natural [referring to native plants] weeds that you had to plow down." A few years later, though, weed problems are beginning to show up. Due to dry conditions, thistles have begun to come in and take over, as well as other weeds that generally would not be a problem with conventional farming. And the problems are not just on new land, either. Some organic farmers are renting land that was cleared several decades ago, and now those fields are getting new weeds, many of them noxious (like scentless chamomile).
I would like to note that this blog does not intend to disparage organic farming. I am simply acknowledging the challenges that come with organic farming, particularly in regard to weed control. Please look for future posts to hear from the organic farmers.
I asked Landon to explain a bit about why certain weeds (those on the noxious and prohibited noxious weed lists as legislated by the provincial government) are so bad. Some are rather pretty. What's wrong with having one or two in a little flower bed?
Landon's response was too good to summarize: "Noxious weeds are on the list for a reason. They are definitely a bigger nuisance than your annual weeds. Annual weeds are the ones that pop up during the summer and you can easily kill them with spraying. Noxious weeds, we can learn from the U.S., or earlier farming communities where these weeds have come in and taken over. One weed, for instance, scentless chamomile can produce up to 300,000 seeds, just in one summer, and if they're all blown out, that's a lot of weeds that can be spread if you miss that one plant. And let's say you're plowing your field and you drag it all over your field, that's a lot of weeds that are coming up in the next years and that's just from one plant. And then those plants all make hundreds of thousands more seeds."
Landon went on to explain that some plants like thistle can grow underground, so just cutting them off above ground won't kill the plant. In comparison to relatively benign weeds like foxtail barley, which can be easily controlled, plants on the noxious or prohibited noxious weeds list come back each year with a vengeance. Weed problems can "decrease crop yield and increase chemical costs or labour, as a whole, just to control the weeds. And that's just noxious weeds. Once you get into prohibited noxious, their legislation is to kill all of them on sight, wherever it is - exterminate - and those weeds are usually really hard to kill without very strong chemicals. Those types of weeds can destroy a whole habitat or ... destroy a whole field. You can't do anything."
Balancing Ranch Life and Work Life
Of course, I had to ask Landon how he balances his off-farm job and his work on the ranch. He told me that he would like to be able to help more on the ranch, but the job does allow him to be close to home to have input and help out as he can. He is able to help with calving for two months in the spring, and he works on the ranch on weekends. Landon also gets to help with the big events, like vaccinating, branding and mustering. The job also allows him to continue learning: "it's been a good experience this summer working more on the crop side. But there's multiple other jobs that are included in just working with farmers, mostly crop farmers, and seeing how they run things. I grew up beef, so this has been a good summer of learning."
When Landon goes home from work, he is able to take what he has learned and apply it on the ranch. In particular, he told me about implementing information he gained on seeding rates and weed control. He is also able to take his perspective as a producer to his work with the county, which is especially beneficial when he needs to discuss a weed problem with a farmer. Rather than going into the conversation saying, "you have to clean up your weeds today," Landon is able to see where the farmer is coming from and help the farmer to find the best way to control the problem in a reasonable amount of time.
Earlier this year, Landon started an off-farm job working for the county as assistant agricultural fieldman and weed inspector. Although the county is the biggest in terms of land area, there are only two members of the local ag department: the ag fieldman, and Landon. Because this county is in the northern part of Alberta, it is what might be a called a newer agricultural area. A lot of land in the county has been cleared for cropping in the past decade or two, so the ag department is looking to prevent problems that have come up in older farming communities, especially in terms of weeds and other pests. It's a challenging job, but Landon certainly seems to enjoy it.
Landon's favourite part of the job is getting to talking with farmers, although he notes it's not always fun to talk with farmers: "We often get a lot of complaints, but a lot of them have real concerns and are looking to work with you and it's not often about your job that you're talking about. You're talking about the farming community as a whole, and other issues and what's going on in the farming world. So I would say just interacting with farmers and getting their perspective. It's a lot of different opinions and you can learn a lot that way."
Assistant Agricultural Fieldman
As the assistant ag fieldman, Landon wears more hats than I can count. When I asked him for a job description, he began listing more jobs than I thought could fit into a summer. It was quite the overwhelming list. Allow me to share some of it with you.
As assistant ag fieldman, Landon helps oversee the following jobs:
- flood control
- putting in new ditches where there is new land
- seeding grass into new ditches
- coordinating mowing and spraying contractors to complete work in the county ditches
- checking for and controlling weeds (more about that in the next section)
- getting professionals in to remove problematic beaver dams
- removing trees along roadways
- coordinating the local ag fair and trade show
- coordinating events like crop plot tours and special speakers
- delivering and maintaining the irrigation pump and mile of pipe that farmers rent to fill dugouts, etc.
- performing crop disease checks (ex. fusarium and clubroot)
- performing pest checks (ex. grasshopper and wheat midge)
And that's just what he came up with off the top of his head from working at the job for a few months!
Weed Inspector
During the summers, Landon is also the county weed inspector. As weed inspector, Landon drives the county roads, searching the ditches and farmers' fields for weed problems. If the problem is in the ditch, he can simply spray the weed with the appropriate chemical. However, if the weed is on a farmer's land, or in a "do not spray" zone (which would be beside an organic farm), then Landon needs to discuss control options with the farmer: "we discuss how we can control it within the fields and I have to talk with the farmer to come to an agreement."
One of the biggest challenges Landon faces as weed inspector is dealing with weed problems on organic farms. Landon tells me, "in the last five years there's been a really sharp incline in organic farmers." Due to the recent opening of a lot of crop land, "organic farming has worked because there's not necessarily weeds coming into these new fields and on the margins, just natural [referring to native plants] weeds that you had to plow down." A few years later, though, weed problems are beginning to show up. Due to dry conditions, thistles have begun to come in and take over, as well as other weeds that generally would not be a problem with conventional farming. And the problems are not just on new land, either. Some organic farmers are renting land that was cleared several decades ago, and now those fields are getting new weeds, many of them noxious (like scentless chamomile).
I would like to note that this blog does not intend to disparage organic farming. I am simply acknowledging the challenges that come with organic farming, particularly in regard to weed control. Please look for future posts to hear from the organic farmers.
I asked Landon to explain a bit about why certain weeds (those on the noxious and prohibited noxious weed lists as legislated by the provincial government) are so bad. Some are rather pretty. What's wrong with having one or two in a little flower bed?
Landon's response was too good to summarize: "Noxious weeds are on the list for a reason. They are definitely a bigger nuisance than your annual weeds. Annual weeds are the ones that pop up during the summer and you can easily kill them with spraying. Noxious weeds, we can learn from the U.S., or earlier farming communities where these weeds have come in and taken over. One weed, for instance, scentless chamomile can produce up to 300,000 seeds, just in one summer, and if they're all blown out, that's a lot of weeds that can be spread if you miss that one plant. And let's say you're plowing your field and you drag it all over your field, that's a lot of weeds that are coming up in the next years and that's just from one plant. And then those plants all make hundreds of thousands more seeds."
Landon went on to explain that some plants like thistle can grow underground, so just cutting them off above ground won't kill the plant. In comparison to relatively benign weeds like foxtail barley, which can be easily controlled, plants on the noxious or prohibited noxious weeds list come back each year with a vengeance. Weed problems can "decrease crop yield and increase chemical costs or labour, as a whole, just to control the weeds. And that's just noxious weeds. Once you get into prohibited noxious, their legislation is to kill all of them on sight, wherever it is - exterminate - and those weeds are usually really hard to kill without very strong chemicals. Those types of weeds can destroy a whole habitat or ... destroy a whole field. You can't do anything."
Balancing Ranch Life and Work Life
Of course, I had to ask Landon how he balances his off-farm job and his work on the ranch. He told me that he would like to be able to help more on the ranch, but the job does allow him to be close to home to have input and help out as he can. He is able to help with calving for two months in the spring, and he works on the ranch on weekends. Landon also gets to help with the big events, like vaccinating, branding and mustering. The job also allows him to continue learning: "it's been a good experience this summer working more on the crop side. But there's multiple other jobs that are included in just working with farmers, mostly crop farmers, and seeing how they run things. I grew up beef, so this has been a good summer of learning."
When Landon goes home from work, he is able to take what he has learned and apply it on the ranch. In particular, he told me about implementing information he gained on seeding rates and weed control. He is also able to take his perspective as a producer to his work with the county, which is especially beneficial when he needs to discuss a weed problem with a farmer. Rather than going into the conversation saying, "you have to clean up your weeds today," Landon is able to see where the farmer is coming from and help the farmer to find the best way to control the problem in a reasonable amount of time.
Although he enjoys his job with the county, Landon notes that he really would like to be a full-time rancher: "The perfect thing would be just to work on the ranch full time and have a steady cash flow, but that's not going to happen, unless I would be full owner of the farm. Yeah, it's kind of tough, but we'll get there, where hopefully I can be full time on the farm."
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I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Landon with me. Check back again soon to read about more awesome people in the agriculture industry!
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