31 Follow us on @PrairieFarming Better Farming | November/December 2024 UP CLOSE Her mother Sharon used to help with trucking and combining. Sarah also has a full list of commitments with her local community and agriculture groups. She is a councillor and deputy reeve for her rural municipality, a representative for her RM with the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), on a crops and transportation committee for APAS, and is a captain of Fillmore, Sask.’s volunteer fire department. Recently, she became involved with Saskatchewan’s Outstanding Young Farmers after receiving the award with Jake and Erik in 2023. “When we won the Saskatchewan’s Outstanding Young Farmers award last year and went to Laval, Que. for finals, we automatically got appointed to the Saskatchewan’s Outstanding Young Farmers board, and it’s a neat group to be a part of,” says Sarah. She also enjoys volunteering locally and creates a yearly calendar for charity since she already spends much time taking farm photos. “I make a calendar every fall, sell it, and give the money to Ag in the Classroom.” Even with a full schedule, Sarah still enjoys making time for sports and finding new ways to grow and improve their farm. What is your favourite part of being a farmer? The variety of jobs and learning how to do so many things, as well as the flexibility of not working set hours. There are lots of long days throughout the year, but we still have time to do the things we need and want to do. Also, can anyone ever see too many Prairie sunsets? And as challenging as it can be working with family, it can be nice to spend that time together – and we still enjoy seeing each other outside of the farm. What’s your crop rotation? We grow pulses, cereals, and oilseeds. We are trying to spread our pulse rotations out to limit the pressure from root rot and Aphanomyces problems. We also grow flax, even though around here we have a saying – “friends don’t let friends grow flax.” It always seems to be a bit of a fight. We can grow many different crops in our area, so we take advantage of that without overcomplicating it. Some advice for other farmers? Surround yourself with people who encourage you to be the best you can be. We joined a peer group a few years ago, and even though we have different operations and goals, we still face the same challenges. If you go to meetings and talk to peers, you often come back refreshed and ready to face those challenges. It’s super helpful not just for farm things but also for personal matters. We bounce a lot of ideas off each other, so it’s been really beneficial to have that outside network. The other piece of advice would be that you always want perfect conditions, but sometimes logistics trumps perfection. Doing it as well as possible is better than not doing it because it’s not perfect. We got some advice a few years ago: “If the crop fails, don’t let it be your fault.” That was something we really took to heart. What do the next 10 years look like? Just continuing to build our operation, working capital, and infrastructure. We want to expand where necessary and continue to farm according to our core values and operating principles. In 10 years, if my nieces and nephews decide they want to farm, our goal is that there’s a place for them to come home to. What’s your most memorable year of farming? Two years come to mind: 2011 and 2019. They were the two wettest years I can remember in my lifetime. 'We are doing our best to be stewards of the land and produce a safe crop every year.' Sarah Leguee photo
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