30 It’s Farming. And It’s Better. Better Farming | June/July 2024 restraints with developing infrastructure. How do you manage teamwork? I think understanding peoples’ personalities, their strengths and weaknesses, and utilizing their strengths and weaknesses, has helped us understand and work on our team. It’s also having time to build trust, manage conflict, and making the time and space for these conversations. We have meetings once a week with management staff for that. We also take time outside of the business to have more events with employees to build camaraderie. What technology would you like to add to the operation? We’ve tried a lot of different software, and because none of them really worked for us, we’ve created our own spreadsheets that give us everything we need. We have a hard time with new technology and justifying the expense that goes into it. There’s basic stuff that’s been around for 10 years, which is good, and we customize that to fit our needs and use that. Having said that, I believe the biggest revolution in ag technology will be drone spraying. Not only is it faster, but I also believe it’s more efficient and there’s fewer hiccups to deal with. In addition, you can get across fields in wetter conditions as well, which is a bonus. What keeps you up at night? I think the biggest thing would be legislation that comes out more and more aggressively about fertilizer use and the carbon tax, which definitely doesn’t make sense for farmers who are growing the crops that reduce carbon. I think there’s a growing disconnect between politicians, farmers, and the general public – and that’s a big issue. Otherwise, obviously commodity prices go up and down – however, that’s just a trend of life. What do you do in your time off? I’m always looking for opportunities to learn and grow, so often you’ll find me working on both personal and professional goals. Besides that, I like to travel, work out, listen to audiobooks, and go boating. What’s your favourite piece of equipment? Probably a sprayer. BF UNPu tCrLiOeSnEt L o s s Understanding people’s personalities, strengths, and weaknesses helps the Buurmas work as a team. Karen Kuykendall photo
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