What's in a Name?

Many people have asked me why our farm is called Century 12?

Well, here's the story. In 1911, Joseph C Chevraux and his family settled on the SE1/4 of 14-44-14-W4 in Killam. The modern blue sign out front today says it is 14118-442 Road. Joseph's first wheat crop in Canada was taken off in September, 1912. He had the foresight to keep a sample of his first wheat crop. He stayed on the farm until his death in 1955. His two sons, Everett and James, carried on farming. Everett and Marion lived at 14427-142 Range Road and James and Jean built their home in the same yard as Joseph and Louise. In 1963, James' son, Stanley and his wife, Sharleen, bought 3 quarters of land and the house from Everett Chevraux, who retired to town. Stan and Sharleen still live there today and own Chevraux Farms Inc.

In 1995, Roger and I moved to the original farm site of Joseph and Louise. We had to burn down their home as it had sat empty for 40 years and had no water or sewer. We kept the solid wood doors though and use those in our basement. We also kept the swing from the veranda as Roger remembers many afternoons there with his grandma. We built our home in the same style and colour as the original house and even hung the swing on our veranda!

We were lucky to have Grandpa Jim next door in his home until Dec.30, 2001. Since then we have had some great renters to take care of the house. It was while cleaning out the house in 2003 for a renter that we found a box of wheat samples with anecdotal notes ranging from 1912-1957. What an interesting find!

All but one of the samples are wheat, mostly of the variety 222. Some of the samples have notes about the condition of the crop. For example in 1943, 65% of the crop was hailed out. I can't imagine putting in a crop on 320 acres (130 hectares) by hand and then losing 65% of it. In 1942 it froze on Sept.1 and the quality of the wheat was downgraded. In 1951, the snow fell in October and the crop couldn't be harvested until the spring, thus making the seeding in 1952 late, which then creates the problem of the crop not being mature enough to harvest in September. Farmers have always had to adapt for abiotic stresses.

Today Chevraux Farms Inc and Century 12 Farms Ltd. grows 1500 acres (607 hectares) of Canadian Western Red Spring wheat. This wheat is bred for its superior milling and baking qualities. Unfortunately, I cannot sample our wheat as I have Celiac's disease so I am allergic to the protein in wheat called gluten. I have had people try to tell me that I can eat the wheat in Europe because it is not GMO. There are two things wrong with that statement. 1) ALL wheat has gluten, and 2) there is NO commercially grown genetically modified wheat anywhere!!

Joseph's wheat samples also included notes about the bushels per acre. The average bushels during the 1930's was 22 per acre. (.54 tonnes per .40 hectare) Today we average around 70 bushels per acre (4.71 tonnes per hectare) depending upon rainfall and climate. The reason for this huge increase in bushels is new technologies, such as varieties, fertilizers, chemicals, and equipment.

Today we have better varieties of wheat. Wheat has been domestically grown for over 10,000 years and during this time, it has self-pollinated, been pollinated by bees, and been crossbred by humans. An example of cross-breeding would be to take the high yield trait from one variety and the strong stalk trait from another parent plant to produce an offspring that can withstand wind and have a high yield. Remember learning in high school biology about Mendell's Principles of Inheritance in peas? Those principles have led to better varieties.

We also have use of fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides. Great-grandpa Joseph would have applied whatever manure he had from his cattle at the same thin rate across the whole field. With today's technology we can use a diverse rate of nitrogen, phosphorous, potash, sulphur, and other micronutrients depending upon the needs of the soil. To control weeds, Joseph would have had to till the soil after harvest and leave one 1/4 fallow. Tilling the soil removes the stubble. Zero-till means leaving the stubble which catches & keeps the snow on the field adding moisture to the soil. The stubble breaks down slowly adding organic matter to the soil. We are able to use pesticides to kill weeds and insects that would have killed some of Joseph's crop. And if you read my last blog on "To Spray or Not to Spray?" you know the benefits of using a fungicide.

Some of Joseph's equipment is in our shelter belt and his combine is in the Strome Museum. The auger and the cultivator that sit in our trees involve a lot of physical labour and the seat is open to the elements. Today's equipment is not only bigger but smarter. Roger inputs his seed rate into the computer which then controls the seed drills. GPS imagery of our fields tell Roger the amount of fertilizer required on each area of the field and he then enters that into the tractor computer. Our seed drills are able to seed into the stubble whereas Joseph would have had to cultivate his land before seeding and would have lost precious topsoil in the process. Grandpa Jim was excited that we were going to try Zero-till but unfortunately he passed away 4 months before we bought our first zero-till drill.

Because of our modern technology & equipment our soil is in much better condition than it was in Great-grandpa Joseph's and grandpa Jim's time. It has more organic matter, more earthworms, more moisture and less stress from over fertilizing. We want our soil to continue to produce well to feed wheat to the ever-growing global population. And so that our great-grandchildren can explain why their farm name is "Bicentennial 12."

So Juliet, to answer your answer, "What's in a Name?" Well, our name signifies over a century of sustainable farming!