| Paul Beingessner is a third-generation
grain and livestock farmer near Truax, Saskatchewan. His farm is
60 miles north of the Montana border and about 200 miles west of
the border with the province of Manitoba.
He writes:
“With my wife and 10 year old son, (we have four adult
children) I run a small cow/calf (35 cows), sheep (50 ewes) and
grain
operation. We grow hard red spring wheat, durum, and feed grains
on 1000
acres and we have 600 acres of tame hay and pasture.
“We are converting a further 600 acres to tame grass and
plan to increase
our cattle herd to 100 cows and the sheep to 200 ewes over the next
few
years. Our area has a mix of straight grain farms, often 3,000 to
6,000
acres, and mixed farms – mainly cow/calf and grain. Farmers
grow a lot
of dry peas, lentils, chickpeas, canola and flax, in addition to
wheat and
barley.
“I have written a column about agriculture and transportation
for 12
years. It is carried in about two dozen community weekly papers
across
Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, as well as a few that cover
the
larger area. I write about the issues that interest me most at the
time: a mix of biotechnology, transportation, intellectual property
rights, and farm
politics.
“If there is any time left over from farming and trying to
keep up with
the news, we try to spend it with the most important people in our
lives
– our children and extended family. (With a little hunting
thrown in.)
“We are active in our church, school and community, love
our animals, and
are grateful to have the opportunity to farm.”
Paul Beingessner
P.O. Box 74
Truax, Saskatchewan, Canada S0H 4A0
Ph: 306.868.4734 fax 306.868.2009
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