Fieldberg farms (CHAT NEWS)

By Tiffany Goodwein

labour challenge

Farmers not immune to the impacts of COVID-19

Jul 13, 2020 | 6:15 PM

As the cultivator goes, it’s another busy day at Fieldberg Farms, a family owned operation, spanning five generations.

Fieldberg Farms is widely known for producing organics, predominantly hemp which they started to grow in 2015. Their hemp seed products sell as far away as South Korea and Japan. They also sprout peas and mustard on their 1000 acre farm

“ We don’t use any chemicals at all because our whole family motto has always been, always leave the land in better shape than you found it for the people behind you,” Harold Fieldberg said.

But with COVID-19, farmers like the Fieldbergs aren’t immune to its share of challenges.

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“Hemp is a challenge of course but I’m finding a market for it. We’ve had a little bit of a slowdown because of COVID-19 but the organic market is quite good.” Harold Fieldberg said

A challenge more recently has been labour.

“It’s difficult because we are a specialty farm. We had some excellent help. We had to let go of two of the people that we had early because we weren’t sure how everything was going to work out because of COVID-19 or anything,” Fieldberg said.

The farm has always relied on local people for work, and help wanted ads have gone out, but Fieldberg said he hasn’t been able to secure anyone just yet.

“We’ve had three or four people ask what kind of a job it is. We need some kind of qualifications to run on the farm. First we need, we are looking for a family man, someone that’s a family man and has to have housing facilities close by. The main thing that we look for is to hire someone that’s stable, that shows up when we need them and you have to handle machinery so careful now,” he said.

While hiring labour remains tough Harold has had to rely on those he is closest with.

“The family has really come together to help us. Family always comes together in the Fieldberg farm, family always come together to help with it,” Fieldberg said.

Harold’s son Danny is one family member that has been pitching in to help. He normally handles the farm’s international operation, but he has been lending a hand while international business has slowed.

“Alot of the projects and programs that we are working with internationally and people coming into the country those things aren’t happening and we really don’t see them starting up again probably for another two months, may be another 30 days for the U.S , and so for me that’s why I’m back on the farm driving a tractor,” Danny Fieldberg said.

Fieldberg, who also works as a consultant, said The COVID-19 pandemic, also had a notable impact on the cattle industry.

“The feedlots not being able to sell cattle to the packing houses because of the COVID-19 outbreaks at High River and Brooks. The cattle can’t go out of the feedlots into the packing house, so they have no room to buy new cattle, and so there was no room to move cattle, so no one was buying,” he said,

The closures of the auction markets, further impacting those in the cattle industry.

“The price of cattle dropped about 50 per cent of normal price, and so it really impacted a lot of people and us especially because we were selling cows this spring, so it has just been recently that we finally got to sell the cattle that we had planned to sell this spring,” Fieldberg said.

Still, the Fieldberg family remains confident that despite the challenges, there is still opportunity out there for farmers both locally and internationally as long as farmers move quickly and adapt to the new situations that arise.