Murray Froebe
Homewood, Manitoba
Canada
Farming in the bread basket of the world
W hen M u rray F ro eb e’s g ra nd father m ove d h is fa m ily
from Illinois in the 192 0 s, the y settle d w hen the y fou nd
the blac k e st , m o st fertile soil – a reg ion c a lle d the R e d
R iver Va lley, on the northern ed ge of the N orth A m erican
“bread ba sk et of the w orld ”.
T he fa rm is now a th riv in g , th ird-generation op eration ,
still lo c ate d in H om e w o o d , M a n itoba , C a n ad a . F ro eb e
fa rm s about 3 ,70 0 acres of soy bean s, ed ible bean s, w heat,
oats and canola together w ith h is father E arl and another
fa m ily m em ber Bruc e . “W e do em ploy fellow neig hbou rs
a nd a fe w p e ople from the lo c a l tow n to help u s,” say s
F ro eb e . “W e h ave som e very go o d em ploye e s a nd th at ’s
w h at help s u s w ith ou r fa rm bu sine ss a nd suc c e ss.”
T he fertile R e d R iver Va lle y reg ion of M a n itoba is hom e
to a d iverse ra n ge of c rop t y p e s, a nd one of the m ore
re c ent ad d ition s to F ro eb e’s rotation is soy b ea n s.
“W e’re in the northern tier of soy b ea n pro duc tion in
N orth A m eric a ,” e x pla in s F ro eb e . “W e’ve b e en fo c u se d
on soy b ea n s sinc e 19 95 . It ’s b e en q u ite intere stin g
a s ou r ac re s h ave e x p a nd e d . B a sic a lly biote c h a nd
g ly pho sate -tolera nt c rop s h ave help e d th is e x p a n sion .”
“I have a young son and the hope would be
that this land would be in as good or better
shape for him and his family.”
“If th is field of g ly pho sate -tolera nt soy b ea n s w a s e d ible
b ea n s or c onvention a l soy b ea n s, w e’d h ave m a ny w e e d
issue s,” say s F ro eb e , p ointin g to a lu sh g re en soy b ea n
field b eh ind h im . “It is a very h ig h ly pro duc tive pie c e of
la nd , but h a s a lot of w e e d s th at lik e the fertilit y in the
soil a nd som e of them a re c u rrently very ha rd to c ontrol
w ith c onvention a l sy stem s. B ut w ith the te c h nolog y w e
are able to g row soy beans here, and a lot of other farm ers
a re in the sa m e situ ation .”
“With crop protection products we have been
able to farm more acres, with less labour,
as well as have a clean crop which ultimately
ends up in better quality for the end consumer.”
Froebe a lso plants biotech c anola to help m anage w eed s
a nd to c on serve m oistu re a nd re duc e ero sion b e c au se
it c a n b e d ire c t se e d e d w ithout sprin g tillin g . T h a n k s
to the se biote c h c rop s, F ro eb e h a s se en y ield inc rea se s
a nd g reater effic ienc ies, notin g “it has a lso freed up a bit
of tim e for u s a s a fa m ily to sp end together.”
C rop protec tion pro duc ts have a lso brou g ht effic ienc ie s
to F ro eb e’s entire fa rm . “W ith c rop prote c tion pro duc ts
w e h ave b e en able to fa rm m ore ac re s, w ith le ss lab ou r,
a s w ell a s h ave a c lea n c rop w h ic h u ltim ately end s u p
in b etter q u a lit y for the end c on su m er,” say s F ro eb e .
“O ver the p a st ten yea rs w e h ave se en g reat pro duc tiv it y
inc rea se s in som e of the field s a nd c rop s th at w e’re
w ork in g w ith .”
d e er a nd rac o on in p a rtic u la r a re attrac te d to the
nu m erou s c orn field s in the a rea .
“W e ta k e a holistic ap pro ac h to a g ric u ltu re here on
ou r fa m ily fa rm ,” say s F ro eb e . “A nd ba sic a lly w e w ork
h a nd-in-h a nd w ith M other N atu re .”
Froebe’s v iew of ag ric u ltu re goes beyond h is fam ily farm .
“C a n ad a h a s a sm a ll p opu lation [but] w e a re very m uc h
a w orld e x p orter. By h av in g hop efu lly a su rplu s of fo o d
in the futu re a nd go o d c rop yea rs, w e c a n feed c ou ntrie s
that have a lim ited land base and ex pand ing popu lations,”
say s F ro eb e , notin g th at a p ortion of the w heat c rop
beh ind h im w ill be donated to the C anad ian Food g rain s
B a n k for fe e d in g d e velopin g c ou ntrie s. “W e a re try in g
to pro duc e a lot of fo o d here in p a rt of the bread ba sk et
of the w orld .”
A s F ro eb e’s fa rm g row s, su sta in abilit y is top of m ind .
“I have a you n g son a nd the hop e w ou ld be that th is la nd
w ou ld b e in a s go o d or b etter sh ap e for h im a nd h is
fa m ily,” say s F ro eb e . S om e su sta in able prac tic e s on
Froebe’s farm include proper fertilizer u se and placem ent,
utilisin g c rop re sidue to re duc e ero sion a nd bu ild
orga n ic m atter in the soil, a nd m in im isin g the a m ou nt
of p a sse s over the field w ith e q u ipm ent .
“We take a holistic approach to agriculture
here on our family farm. And basically we
work hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.”
01/10-11606
F ro eb e a lso p oints out se vera l b enefits of a shelter b elt
of tre e s su rrou nd in g h is w heat field – stop pin g w ind
ero sion , prov id in g som e sprin g m oistu re re serve s from
snow ba n k s, a s w ell a s prov id in g a w ild life h abitat .
“T he c ropla nd itself prov id e s a bit of h abitat for the
a n im a l sp e c ie s in ou r a rea ,” say s F ro eb e , notin g th at