Brent Dunnigan is not afraid to take a few chances when it comes to farming on his Alameda area land, especially with the support of his wife Peggy and daughters Shelby, Taylor and Kaylee. The active participants in the family operation extends beyond them, as was evidenced by a large team of family members who climbed on the acceptance stage last Thursday evening. 听
The farm, which has been in the family for 134 years, is now going to grow keenwah (quinoa), which is a crop never even dreamt of by his predecessors.听
Brent鈥檚 even done some seeding in March, which is something those family predecessors did, with success.听
鈥淲ith the frost out and a dry spring, I鈥檓 going to seed in March,鈥� Dunnigan told an audience of over 300 people attending the annual Farmers鈥� Appreciation Day dinner in the Days Inn Plaza on March 10 after he and his family had been honoured as the Farm Family of the Year in southeast Saskatchewan.听
Admittedly, he鈥檚 not a patient man, he said, which made the growing of lentils a real challenge in the past. But now having heard of that crop being used to brew beer, he might give it another shot.听
鈥淢y grandfather beat the drought and grasshoppers by seeding early, so I guess what I鈥檓 saying is that this family has always thought outside the box,鈥� Dunnigan said in his acceptance speech. He was later joined by daughters Taylor and Shelby who added their own thoughts on producing crops to feed others.听
鈥淚鈥檓 an entrepreneur, and a farmer is an entrepreneur every day,鈥� he said. Dunnigan is also a part owner of a seed company.听
The family has always focused not only on crop production but also crop sciences, veterinarian needs and administration duties.听
Dunnigan said he鈥檚 learned to compromise over the years, although he鈥檚 followed the same trail as his forefathers who emphasized ownership and independence.听
鈥淭he best you can do for yourself and others, is to give your time. That means to get out into the community and lead by example.鈥澨�
Dunnigan said his family was one of the first to plant canola in Saskatchewan, as well as soybeans and now keenwah.听
鈥淚n today鈥檚 world, we鈥檙e marketing every day, tracking crops is inevitable, and we鈥檙e dealing with more dynamic weather patterns, but our job is still to feed the world with two billion more people expected within the next 20 years.听
Daughters Taylor and Shelby focused on the next generation of the family farm who will spread their wings to show what they can become while retaining roots to show others where they came from.听
They also said they hoped their father wasn鈥檛 thinking about retiring any time soon.听
鈥淔or those who work in acres, not hours, we salute you,鈥� the women said.听
There were also two brief announcements made during the evening鈥檚 program, one coming from Enbridge Pipelines stating they would be providing two $1,000 scholarships for deserving candidates absorbed in the agriculture industry, and the second coming from Rebellion, a craft beer maker, noting how they were using lentils as part of their new brewery processing that appeared to be working well, with samples of the new lentil-based beer being available for consumers.听
A tribute to the Dunnigan Farm history that dates back to the early 1880s will be found in this weekend鈥檚 edition of 麻豆视频east Lifestyles.听
