38 Ate Today? Thank a Farmer. Better Farming | January 2025 UP CLOSE ployees, but during our busy season – spring until the end of harvest in November – we have a hard time finding seasonal employees. It’s hard to find people who want to put in the work – and during that time we put a lot of hours into field work, and there might be time away from their families. It’s also harder to get an AZ licence these days, and that makes it difficult to find truck drivers. What is your most memorable year of farming? Steph: In 2014, we weren’t able to take the crop off, and that was a tough year. Basically, that year we got a bit of winter wheat off and then it started raining and that was it. What do the next 10 years look like? Dave: There’s a lot of uncertainty with the current geopolitical sphere globally. I think we need to be amiable to change and able to pivot our focus as society wants and consumer demands change. Steph: Over the next 10 years, I think it looks like all of us making this work. The family coming together is the path we are going down. Emma: Succession planning is still on the drawing board, but I see us starting to take the load off Mom and Dad near the end of the next 10 years. Abby is still in school, but Claire and I are starting our own families, and Abby will be in the next 10 years. So, the future will look like not only including us in succession planning, but also our families and our kids. What’s your biggest farm success? Steph: We have raised our children to know that every job needs to be done. We don’t have jobs for men or women. We have five women on staff. It’s been really good to be able to include everybody. Abby: We are grateful for an excellent team of employees who keep the operation running smoothly. We have found a good group of employees, and they are more like friends than co-workers. They are people with the same goals, and they want to see the farm succeed as much as the owners do. How do you stay organized? Abby: Our manager plays a really big role in keeping our employees organized, and our crop organization is attributed to our dad. If we didn’t have our mom, we’d be a mess. She has everything filed perfectly on her desk. Emma: There are different people in charge of keeping things organized in different areas. As long as we keep our employees organized, they can be responsible. What do you do in your free time? Abby: We spend a lot of time camping during the summer. We are farming in The family celebrates Claire’s graduation from University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus. Schill Family photo 30% of readers never throw away their magazines. And an average of six adults will pass along and read a single copy. (MPA Factbook 2021) FARMERS LOVE MAGAZINES
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