Sometimes a successful harvest isn't about the amount of crops that were harvested, the financial break-evens or the resulting return on investment. Success is about the lessons learned along the way, coming together in the face of adversity and forging new relationships.
If that is the measure of success, then this year's Student-Managed Farm - Powered by New Holland (SMF) crop technology unit can call Harvest 2021 a win.
It was a difficult growing season, leading to a difficult harvest.
“I think, despite the opportunities and challenges we were given this year, we did what we could and harvest was awesome,” says Logan Nahorniak, the SMF crop unit general manager. “The drought and everything definitely gave us a good opportunity to see how much variability is possible on a farm, just like back home. You learn as you go and this was a prime example. We learned that plans could change within an hour and we had to work around that. It helped that we had a really good crew on the production and marketing teams.”
The challenges this year included an uneven crop that made it difficult to know when to combine, as well as difficulties meeting contracts negotiated last year.
“The biggest thing we had to look at was break-even budgets for next year,” explains Emily Hartley, the SMF crop unit public relations representative. “Usually that wouldn't be a consideration for a few months from now, but it's a huge thing that we had to get right. It led to the biggest thing we learned about, which was teamwork.”
The SMF crop unit, made up of seven teams, started working together at the beginning of the school year, trying to decide how best to harvest and market the crop that had grown over the summer. Working together for some was a bigger challenge than the drought.
Autumn Kerr, SMF crop unit assistant manager, says, “Being part of the SMF has been a challenge when it comes to communication, definitely. As a group, we need to communicate effectively between all seven teams, which challenges us all individually. I think it's going well though. We've learned a lot about each other. We've learned how to work with each other.”
Kerr explains in previous years, the first few general meetings would last about 20 minutes. This year, those first important meetings lasted about an hour and a half.
“We were trying to work as a team and had to figure out what the best solutions were for our difficult situation,” she says.
The importance of communication and teamwork extended beyond the SMF unit, which is one of the most impactful parts of the SMF experience, according to Nahorniak.
“It's being able to communicate with grain elevators and people in the business,” he explains. This is such a good place to learn from industry. You communicate with people outside our commercial operation. You call grain elevators with the marketing team while the production team works with local producers. It's a lot of networking.”
Kerr says, despite the challenges, Harvest 2021 was a success.
“It went pretty smoothly,” she says. “We got things done in a good amount of time. It was even done earlier which was a bit of a bonus.”
The impact real-life conditions have on the curriculum each year is one of the main advantages of the SMF learning model.
“One of the huge benefits of learning on a real-life commercial ag operation like this one is that it's always a dynamic environment, with different challenges and conditions that the students are made to deal with each season," says Geoff Brown, agricultural sciences dean. "It's never the same and gives the students experience dealing with real-life conditions they'll deal with outside of the classroom as well. That's what I love most about the SMF model. It's learning you can't get from a textbook.”
Photos: Top-Members of the Student-Managed Farm - Powered by New Holland crop unit. in the bin yard. Bottom-A New Holland swather used during Harvest 2021.