Better Farming - August 2016

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Better Farming August 2016 Farm News First > 29
UP CLOSE Brenda LammensUPCLOSE Max Kaiser
A sk Max Kaiser what he
doesn’t like about farming and
he draws a blank. Maybe
loading chickens from his layer and
pullet operation in Lennox and
Addington County near Napanee is
the least-favoured task because it’s
such a hard slug. Then again, the
activity is also an athletic workout
and a good test of how efficiently he
can load the birds onto a truck.
Maybe it’s applying poultry
manure to the 1,100 acres he uses to
grow corn, soybeans and wheat. “I
stink as much as any piece of equip-
ment for three or four weeks,” he
says. Yet by doing this task he can
distribute an important resource
exactly as he wants.
Even rock picking has an upside
– mechanized rock pickers.
Kaiser loves farming. His three
children, Rob, Molly-Beth and
Adeline know it. So does his wife,
Jessica. Indeed, it was Jessica’s insight
into just how deep his passion for
agriculture runs that encouraged him
to embrace farming full time.
Kaiser, 45, is the youngest of four
siblings and the only one to follow the
same path as his father, Eric, well
known in Ontario farm circles for an
innovative approach to farming. Eric
was among the first to complete an
Environmental Farm Plan and an
early adopter of no-till field manage-
ment, which he honed on the land
now owned by his son.
Initially, the younger Kaiser set his
sights on engineering. When that
didn’t work out, other jobs followed.
He was in his early 20s and living in
Kingston at the time. “Whenever
something didn’t go or didn’t evolve
or failed or whatever, I’d come back
to the farm,” he recalls. One day,
Jessica pointed out to him that every
Growing a good life
Every farm task has an upside, says this Napanee-area farmer.
by MARY BAXTER
Sunday night, her parents – who
worked in factories and restaurants –
lamented the return to work.
“‘I’ve never heard that from you
about the barn,’ she said.”
Kaiser’s family has been involved
in farming here in Canada since his
grandfather emigrated from Germa-
ny in 1929. Today, along with cash
crops, the farm annually produces
about 120,000 started pullets and
maintains 30,000 laying chickens.
Innovation is always a focus, and
Kaiser hopes Rob, who will attend
Trent University this year to study
agriculture, will “bring home some
new thinking, some new thoughts and
some new ideas about farming in the
21st century.”
Photo courtesy of Egg Farms of Ontario; photo by Farm Boy Productions
Describe your role on your farm operation.
The farm is technically a corporation
and I’m technically the president, so I
guess I’m the ultimate authority on
decision-making. I’m also the lead on
building and repairs. It’s me plus
everybody else, is how the farm is, I
guess. Having said that, Dad’s a very
close right hand, but I’m the boss.
How many people does your farm employ?
Four full-time employees (not includ-
ing himself, his father or his wife).
Hours you work per week?
We typically run an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
workday. With the chickens here
there’s weekend duties but they tend
to be lighter. I’m also on town council
and there’s other farm meetings. It’s
all work or none of it’s work – I don’t
know.
How many emails do you receive per day?
Five or 10 a week are work-related.
Because of council and other things, I
Three generations of Kaisers are involved in the family farm operation near
Napanee. From left to right: Eric, Max and Rob Kaiser.