By Angela Lovell
The Ector family has been successfully navigating change on their family farm for five generations.
Some of those changes have come as a surprise, such as moving the original Ector homestead to allow the creation of Lake Diefenbaker in the early ’60s. This resulted in a relocation to a different site, and eventually Lionel and Melody Ector (the fourth generation) moved the farmyard once again to its current location about 10 kilometres north of Elbow, Saskatchewan.
For the most part, changes have been well planned out, including the focus of the last two generations to grow the farm through land ownership, rather than renting, to its current 13,000 acres. Instinctively, the Ectors know that in order to find the best solutions to make their farm adaptable and sustainable for the long-term, they need to put in a lot of thought, effort and planning.
A new direction
A prime example is the latest – and arguably one of the biggest – changes: bringing irrigation to the farm.
After successive years of drought (2024 could be the fifth), the Ectors began to seriously look at irrigation as a way to make their farm more resilient, while also giving them an opportunity to add value by growing new, specialty crops such as black beans and pinto beans.
“Irrigation is huge for our farm,” says Stephanie Boyle (nee Ector), one of the three, fifth-generation siblings taking over the farm. “It creates new opportunities and stability, it helps us better manage risk. We’re not as reliant on crop insurance. It’s a game-changer.”
Boyle came back to farm full time about four years ago after completing a bachelor of commerce degree at the University of Alberta and working with MNP to obtain her chartered professional accountant designation. With her accounting experience and interest, it was a natural fit for her to assume the main financial role on the farm, but she has also been heavily involved in bringing the irrigation project to fruition.
It’s been a complex process requiring multiple approvals and applications with various provincial ministries, including an irrigation certificate for each quarter of land that is to be irrigated, a water rights licence, as well as easements to cross neighbours’ lands and other land control permits for things like municipal road crossings. As private irrigators, they also had to draw up construction plans for an inlet site on Lake Diefenbaker, hire a general contractor and put in a lot of sweat equity to build the system.
“This has all been about timing and opportunity, with the right people in place,” Boyle says. “When we started planning this, commodity prices were at record highs, interest rates were at record lows. So, that timing worked in our favour but we were prepared for it as well. We had the equipment, we had enough storage, so it’s not like we just decided to irrigate, and now we have to put up a bunch more bins. We worked into it to make sure we had the infrastructure in place to support our vision.”
Once all the approvals and licences were in place, there was the next learning curve for how to actually run the system. Boyle’s brothers, Michael and Stuart, and their father, Lionel, have spent countless hours setting up the system and handling the ongoing maintenance.
“Irrigation farming is different than dryland farming so it’s getting to know the little tips and tricks, and how to use the system to its full capabilities,” Boyle says. “Irrigation has changed a lot, too. It’s way more efficient than it used to be. You can run a lot of the equipment on your phone through apps, but there’s still lots of work that you need to do just to make sure the farm is set up correctly.”
At the moment, about one-third of the 13,000-acre farm is irrigated, but the plan is to eventually irrigate the entire farm and continue to expand into more specialty crops such as potatoes and vegetables.
“In our drought last year, we had fields that were growing over 100 bushels an acre and the dryland corners that didn’t get water from the pivots were about 10 bushels,” Boyle says. “That shows how poor our crops could have been. It’s helping to create stability, and it’s something that we can bring to the bank, and we can bank on it now too because we have the ability to grow a crop and hit our targets as to what we like to plan for every year.”
Planning for succession
The family’s transition plan is complex, but it’s been well orchestrated, and Boyle has been instrumental in helping to formalize and implement it. The entire process really started when grandparents Stuart and Lorraine set up the company, Stulor Farms, which their son, Lionel, eventually purchased and still owns today.
Each of the three farming siblings (they also have a sister who does not farm), have their own independent companies that hold their individual assets such as land and equipment.
Wild Lily Farms Ltd. is owned by older brother, Michael (34), and Looking Glass Farm Ltd. belongs to 28-year-old Stuart, who is also a Red Seal journeyman ag mechanic. Boyle and her husband, Jason, own E16 Farms Ltd., where they are raising their two children, Farrah, 3, and Felix, 18 months, who will welcome a new baby sibling this August.
“We worked with our accountants and lawyers to structure our farm for succession planning and transition to the next generation. With each of us having our own company, we all have the flexibility to do our own thing, but we can work together and be stronger than we would be as individual businesses,” Boyle says. “My siblings and I bring different aspects to the table, which is nice because then we can complement each other.”
Lionel and Melody also started a pulse and spice export company on the home farm called Diefenbaker Spice and Pulse (DSP) that is now solely owned by Melody, as Lionel has concentrated on the farm operation over the past decade. Boyle is also CFO for that company and it’s likely she will take over operation when Melody retires, in addition to continuing to run E16 Farms.
All three of the Ector siblings have brought their various skills and expertise to the farm and although they each have the freedom to run their own show, they share the same goals and talk through major decisions. What’s key, Boyle says, is that they are all committed to the fundamentals: knowing their numbers, believing in themselves and building relationships.
“You want to find bankers, accountants, lawyers that believe and trust in you, and you want to be able to prove to them that you have a plan and you’ve been able to fulfil it,” she says. “Show the banker your ideas, come up with a business plan, show them your budget, your projections. And if you are trying something new, don’t be afraid to try it. Get out there, there are people who have done it before.”
When it comes to building relationships, look beyond your local network, Boyle says.
“You’ll get ahead much further by going out and meeting people, working and attending different farmer events, even peer groups,” she says. “That’s where you’re going to learn and grow the most because if you only look in your area, and only see what’s been done there, it’s harder to open up your horizons.”
