Korey Peters farms near Randolph, MB, with his family at Herbsigwil Farms. Herb is his grandpa, Sig is his uncle and Will is his dad. Korey is a third-generation farmer, and the fourth generation is already on the farm full-time. Herbsigwil Farms grows wheat, canola, soybeans, corn and sunflowers.
Korey lives on the farm with his wife and their two children, who enjoy spending lots of time in the yard.
What motivated you to get into farming?
I was always working on the farm in the summers. I came back full time in 2011 when my uncle had slowed down a little, and I just never left.
What motivated you to get involved with Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA)?
We started growing sunflowers when we were looking to add another crop in our rotation, and someone I know approached me because MCA was looking for committee members after some delegates had termed out.
We chatted about it. It’s not a huge time commitment to be on a crop committee. I had been on a few boards not related to ag, so I had an idea how they run. I thought I’d get involved, and that’s how it started.
It’s been great to meet other farmers. Most farmers love talking farming, especially with other farmers from Manitoba. There are differences depending on where you farm and the weather from east to west, so it’s interesting to talk about what varieties we’re growing, diseases and pests and how others are managing them, and the differences we can apply to our own farm.
What does your role on the sunflower crop committee involve?
We meet quarterly. MCA is a research-oriented organization, so we make decisions about whether we think research dollars should be used on certain proposals. We review proposals from graduate students and researchers related to sunflowers, whether that involves disease, genetics, insects or other issues. Projects can range from one- to five-year timelines. Before I joined, the committee had started the process of bringing a sunflower confection variety to Manitoba, which is now in trials here.
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