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If you were born and raised in Saskatchewan, or even the Prairie provinces, odds are you have a close connection to agriculture.

Perhaps you lived on a farm when you were growing up, and you can attest, first-hand, to what it takes to have a successful farming operation from watching your parents. Maybe you live on a farm now.

Or maybe you have family members involved with farming, be it cousins, uncles, aunts or grandparents.

For many in this province, it’s almost a rite of passage to ride a tractor or a combine, giving them that up-close look at how farm machinery operates, and how technology has changed over the years.

The Estevan Farmers’ Appreciation Evening was held on Tuesday night at the Beefeater Plaza. It was a chance to honour the past and the present of farming with the presentation of the Farm Family of the Year Award to the Fornwald family.

While Blake Fornwald did much of the speaking, it was his father, 91-year-old Henry Fornwald, who drew the biggest reactions.

Canadian Western Agribition CEO Chris Lane offered his thoughts on how farmers can succeed.

It was also a chance to celebrate the future of farming with the always popular 4-H speakers and their entertaining topics.

The Farmers’ Appreciation Evening is an opportunity for the community to come together and thank local producers, not just for the food they grow, but for their contributions to the local economy and the community as a whole.

Henry Fornwald and his wife Marguerite, for example, have been active in their church and were involved with sports in the Lampman area. Previous Farm Family of the Year recipients have been involved with rural municipality councils, cultural agencies, community groups and agriculture organizations.

Like other entrepreneurs, farmers facing long hours to get the job done, but they still find the time to better their communities.

Agriculture is susceptible to the cycles seen in other sectors, thanks to the swings in commodity and livestock prices. But farmers have such a small margin of error. If the weather doesn’t co-operate, then they won’t have a good crop. And a great crop can be decimated by a large hail storm, or by frost at the worst possible time.

If they don’t get enough precipitation (a problem many farmers encountered last year), then yields will be minimal. If they get too much rain, then harvest will be delayed and quality will suffer. 

They also have to deal with the rising cost of business, and they have to keep up with constantly evolving technology. Failure to keep pace with technological innovations ultimately hurts the bottom line.

These are the changes facing farmers in the 21st century.

It’s why it’s nice to have an event to say thank you to our producers. But that gratitude towards farmers needs to extend throughout the year.