b"SEED GROWERA Career of OpportunitiesWitdouck Farms has taken every opportunity to expand and diversify.WHEN BROTHERS DALE, Brian and Calvin Witdouck tookWitdouck Farms now spans 15,000 acres of irrigated land. over the family farm from their father, Ralph, they were youngDale has mainly found himself focusing on the seed growing and ambitious. They had been working on the grain farm theirside of the farm. Over the years, he has been involved with whole lives and now as they took over from their father in thenumerous seed grower groups from SeCan, to the Alberta Seed 1980s, they knew they wanted to expand the farm. Growers, Canadian Seed Growers Association, FP Genetics and We just kind of had grown steady throughout the 80s, andhe even helped found SeedNet. then into today, we're still expanding. And then now the last(Dale) wants to support the seed industry and recognizes five years or so the next generations all been coming in, Dalethat there's some engagement that needs to happen there, Jeff says in a phone interview. Jackson, general manager of SeedNet, says in a phone interview. At the start, the brothers would work off-farm in the winter atHe wants to be involved in moving the entire industry forward.the local feedlots to help supplement the farm income. The farm is located near Iron Springs, Alta., in the heart of feedlot alley. Sweet Sweet CanolaAs the brothers looked for opportunities to expand andHybrid canola production isnt easy. You need to have access diversify, seed growing caught their attention. Calvin had beento pollination and irrigation for it to workwhich Witdouck visiting a neighbours farm who grew alfalfa seed and hadFarms has.leaf cutter bees. Around the same time, Dale was at a curlingWitdouck Farms started its seed growing operation focusing bonspiel when a local seed grower mentioned the area neededon alfalfa production using leaf cutter bees for pollination. In more seed production. In 1988, Witdouck Farms planted its firstthe late 1990s they started growing hybrid canola using the leaf pedigreed alfalfa seed crop. cutter bees for pollination. We were always very diligent and keep things clean and allUp until then we were just doing our own alfalfa seed, and that. So, the seed production was a bit of a natural fit, Dalewe were slowly increasing acres on alfalfa. And then there explains. was an opportunity to grow quite a bit with the seed company. Over the next few decades, the farm kept on expanding.So, they were always looking for pollinators. So, we got into They increased their seed production with cereals, pulses,(canola) with the leaf cutters, Dale says.alfalfa, hemp and canola. The brothers even bought into aIn the early 2000s there was a honey operation in the honey business. And in the last few years the farm added potatoarea which was up for sale. The brothers had been working production. with Landon Stronks, and the four decided to buy the honey Land values are starting to get very expensive in the area. So,operation togetherThrive Honey was born. Stronks handles we wanted to grow high value crops on our land base, Dalethe honey company operations, with the Witdoucks acting as says. (Cavendish Farms) were looking for some new growers.hands off partners in it. The bees from the honey operation help In the potato industry, it has been always very tough to get in.with canola pollination. Usually, any new acres that came up were absorbed by existingThat's why it was a nice fit, too. Right away, we can do custom growers. But there was that opportunity because they werepollination with it. So, it worked out well. And that one's been going through a large expansion. expanding steadily over the last 20 years, Dale explains.An aerial photo of Witdouck Farms near Iron Springs, Alta. PHOTO: WITDOUCK FARMS.24seed.ab.ca"