The Sterling family of Shady Lane Farm was presented with the 2015 Golden Sheaf Award by the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening, at the Farmer Appreciation Banquet held at McKenna Hall.
The evening included a talk by guest speaker Greg Johnson, known as the “Tornado Hunter” with his TV show on CMT and his book, “Blown Away”. He shared photos and some stories from his experiences in chasing storms across Canada and the U.S.
Darren and Carmen Sterling, and their daughters Shastidy and Brooke, were on hand to accept the award, and spoke about their love of the lifestyle as they celebrated agriculture and their part in the life of the industry.
The award, which has been presented by the Chamber every year since 1994, has five areas in their award criteria, including innovation and technology, longevity, professional involvement, community involvement and stewardship, along with recognition from their peers.
“It’s certainly a real honour,” said Darren, and Carmen added, “When you’re just doing what your day-to-day job is it’s nice to be recognized.”
Carmen, who also serves as the Reeve for the RM of Weyburn, noted she is a transplant to the Weyburn area, having moved here in 1993-94, and pointed out she grew up with horses, 4-H involvement and gymkhana.
She noted their daughters “have always been a big part of our farm”, as have their extended family who, while not living on a farm, love coming out to their farm to help with seeding or harvest.
Carmen told of how Shastidy, in her fourth year at the University of Regina, calls or texts often to find out what’s going on at home on the farm; their youngest, Brooke, who’s 17 and attending Grade 12 at the Weyburn Comp, cooks for the family. Carmen quipped, “The way that girl cooks, we eat very well; when she moves away, I’m afraid we’re going to starve.”
Both girls said later they would love to continue having a part of the farm life, although at this point they don’t know how much involvement that will be.
Shastidy said if she has the opportunity at all, she would love to continue being involved with the farm, even on a part-time basis, while Brooke noted she is trying to figure out what she’ll be doing after graduation.
“I love the way of life; it’s a great opportunity for young people, and it’s always going to be a big part of me,” said Shastidy.
Carmen noted that for Darren, his greatest joy is to have everyone there, all working together on the farming operation.
Brooke said this award is a nice recognition for the hard work her father does on the farm, knowing how early he gets up to work, whether it’s for spraying or whatever is needed.
“It’s nice to the see the community support and understanding of what he does,” she added.
Besides the work Carmen does with the RM and on the board for SARM provincially, she said the family volunteers to help their daughters with their sports involvement, and they help with fundraising, such as for the STARS air ambulance service.
Through her involvement with other groups, Carmen noted she has had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa, where she always seeks opportunities to speak about agriculture and its importance, and said for them, agriculture is “something to get passionate about.”
For Darren’s part, he likes to keep current with new technology that will help on the farm, including recently when he had a drone fly over his fields.
He said it is really great “seeing a drone fly over the fields and all the infomraion you can get from that.”
Earlier in the evening, bringing greetings as the Reeve for the RM of Weyburn, Carmen referred to a video that was shown at the start of the evening, with comments from various farmers across Canada about why they love farming.
“Any one of the producers in this room could’ve been in that video. We’re just blessed to know people who have the same feeling about agriculture here,” she said.
She noted that innovation and technology can inspire today’s young people and help them see agriculture can be very rewarding and fulfilling, including nieces and nephews who don’t live on a farm but love coming out to help work on their farm.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be involved in a great industry that we’re proud of,” said Carmen, adding she also saw many business owners at the banquet, and said many of them are very supportive of producers.
“Farmers and ranchers really do put bread and butter and meat on the table,” she said.
Tyler Metheral of the Weyburn Ag Society also spoke about their role in promoting agriculture through the 4-H regional show at the Fair, including “the best 4-H cattle show” with local winners going on to win at such venues as the Calgary Stampede.
