The vast majority of businesses throughout Canada have felt the impact of Covid-19 over the last two months.
Some businesses have had to close, some have had to adjust with employees working from home or switching to an online service system, but essential services have remained open.
The agricultural industry is one of the most important essential services still operating, providing food for Canadians during an unknown and stressful time.
Farmers aren鈥檛 the only ones who must continue operating during this crisis, other businesses in the agriculture industry need to continue providing services to keep the industry churning.
Mack Auction embracing change
For the Mack Auction Company the ban on large gatherings changed the fundamental method of how they operate.
鈥淭he Mack Auction Company and its farm customers decided to postpone April sales,鈥� said Mack Auction Company owner Norm Mack. 鈥淛ust for the fact that this came about pretty fast and crowd restrictions came down so quick from to 250 to 10 people.鈥�
鈥淭herefore we just decided to postpone those April sales until later.鈥�
Due to the need to physical distance Mack Auction鈥檚 shifted from in-person auctions to an online format to continue business during the pandemic.
鈥淣ow what we鈥檙e doing is, we鈥檙e going with timed online auctions,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淚t鈥檚 usually a five day option on the internet only so there鈥檚 no crowds and people can go inspect the equipment they鈥檙e interested in at the farmers location.鈥�
鈥淭hen they can come back after inspecting the equipment and have a week to place bids on the equipment.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e done the same with land sales,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淲e鈥檝e made them timed online auction only and they鈥檝e proven to work really well.鈥�
With the unknown timeline of Covid-19, Mack Auction has adjusted so that they can continue online for as long as they need.
鈥淥ur June sales will be timed online as will some of our July ones,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just waiting for government announcements.鈥�
鈥淢aybe we can go back live later in July, but we鈥檙e prepared to do all of our sales this year time online only.鈥�
Since Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe鈥檚 announcement on plans to re-open the province in phases, Mack says they鈥檒l be doing online auctions only for the foreseeable future.
鈥淲e made some adjustments and it鈥檚 working out really well,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淵ou know agriculture through all this still has to go on and for the most part most farmers are isolated anyway with their equipment.鈥�
鈥淭he agriculture industry is essential business and it must move on and with that farmers are still going to need updated or new equipment, and they still have to sell.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檒l see what the impact is for pricing, but so far everything looks strong,鈥� said Mack.
The adjustments to move the operation completely online has been smooth and using a predominantly online format could be the something they continue once Covid-19 has passed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that hard adjusting for us,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淲e were setup with timed online auctions anyhow.鈥�
鈥淲e were prepared all along over the last couple years with the software so for us it wasn鈥檛 a big adjustment.鈥�
鈥淭rying to convince some farmers that this is probably the way it鈥檚 going to be this year, they understood totally and for some of them it may have been tougher to understand. This is the future in the auction industry,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure we鈥檒l still see some live auctions, I鈥檓 not sure when, but it鈥檚 business as usual for us after doing some juggling.鈥�
At the end of the day, Covid-19 has impacted everybody and Mack is just pleased it wasn鈥檛 detrimental for their service.
鈥淲as it an inconvenience for us? Sure it was, just like it was for every other business,鈥� said Mack. 鈥淲e had to do some quick jumping and phoning and rearranging, but I鈥檓 sure it will all work out in the end.鈥�
With the live auction business revolving around large gatherings and travel, Mack says, continuing their online auctions just seems like smart business.
鈥淚 think for the most part, gatherings of any sort whether it be auctions or sporting events, it鈥檚 going to take awhile for the general public to gather shoulder to shoulder in large numbers again,鈥� said Mack.
鈥淎s far as the auction industry, even our live auctions we broadcast live over the internet, so farmers are bidding on their phones while they鈥檙e working or so they don鈥檛 have to travel.鈥�
鈥淵ou may see at our live auctions smaller crowds, but as you see smaller crowds our numbers on the internet are increasing every year,鈥� said Mack.
Farmers still need to purchase equipment and need to repair it if it breaks down during the pandemic and Rocky Mountain Equipment has been operating with changes to provide the agriculture industry with that option.
Adjustments at RME
鈥淚t鈥檚 day-to-day adjustments,鈥� said Rocky Mountain Equipment Branch Sales Manager Jason Miller. 鈥淪tore traffic has been the biggest change.鈥�
鈥淟ong-term for the agriculture industry there are so many unknowns out there, but short-term I don鈥檛 see it having a huge impact locally or on us,鈥� said Miller.
鈥淕uys still have to get their stuff fixed and have to get the crop in the ground. It鈥檚 business as usual for the most part.鈥�
The changes are constant and many essential businesses have had to opt for remote options to continue working.
鈥淚t started out on the fly with changes as restrictions got more and more and the other part of it is we鈥檝e got customers who expected it so everybody has realistic expectations and they鈥檙e quite accommodating,鈥� said Miller.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got limitations when guys enter the store and distance is kept and we鈥檙e encouraging orders ahead of time so we can send stuff out.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 lots of phone transactions and phoning and texting people on the sales side,鈥� said Miller.
Despite the lack of physical interactions and the different adjustments being made, the amount of work to be done in agriculture industry has not changed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 drastic for us in sales,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淚t goes against everything we鈥檝e been taught in the sales world, but for the most part it鈥檚 kind of status quo for agriculture.鈥�
鈥淭he crops got to go in, guys are going to seed, and people have got to eat.鈥�
鈥淭he service guys still travel for field fixes and stuff like that,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all been coached and told what to do as far as distancing.鈥�
鈥淔armers are well aware on the importance of distancing and nobody is really skirting around the rules, it鈥檚 something everybody is taking seriously.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to be in an industry during this time where you get up and get to go to work everyday still,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淥ne benefit of living in small town Saskatchewan is we鈥檝e sort of come through this relatively unscathed.鈥�
PH keeping safe
For Parrish and Heimbecker, they provide services from crop input products to grain contracting options and that can鈥檛 stop during Covid-19 leading to them making adjustments.
鈥淲e鈥檝e locked our front doors so no producers are allowed in, we started mailing our cheques out, in the driveway we鈥檝e made it so they can鈥檛 come into the office either,鈥� said Parrish and Heimbecker Manager Cory Woywada.
鈥淲e鈥檝e also spent more time cleaning everything.鈥�
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be like this for awhile and we鈥檒l adopt more of the practices and try to continue to physical distance.鈥�
Ultimately, everybody involved in the agriculture industry understands the adjustments are necessary and their work must go on.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just different, change is always different,鈥� said Woywada. 鈥淚 think everybody seems to get it, there鈥檚 been no backlash.鈥�
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 too difficult to implement the changes. We have an HR staff keeping us up to date. It鈥檚 just hard to get supplies that we need.鈥�
鈥淪ome of our sales reps are working from home and we鈥檝e only got half the administrative staff here to help physically distance,鈥� said Woywada.
As Covid-19 continues, Woywada thinks tougher adjustments could have to be made as seasons change.
鈥淚 think it鈥檒l get harder as we get into the spring season here,鈥� said Woywada.
鈥淯sually we have chem reps stopping by all the time updating the new programs and chemicals and they can鈥檛 do that physically, they have to do that over the phone.鈥�
Overall, the agriculture industry has adapted to the changes being made to operate during Covid-19 and will continue to do so as an essential service.
鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 really impacted the amount of traffic we鈥檙e seeing because the producers are still working too,鈥� said Woywada.
鈥淵ou just don鈥檛 have the producers coming in for coffee and visiting anymore, it鈥檚 more of just business.鈥�
