hello,
an update
We are excited to be sharing more on our socials with you all. After a gap in posting, we have lots to share. Follow along for all of our updates.
-Gatez Farms
Spring 2024
That's a wrap on Harvest '22!
At Gatez Farms, our incredible team is the heart of our operation. We have the best crew around and are so grateful for the hard work that supported a successful harvest. This season, our team took on new responsibilities including fighting fires in neighbouring fields. Everyone did a fantastic job working tirelessly to ensure we were able to operate with minimal interruptions.
A huge thanks is owed to the amazing team who feeds the crew every night - Laura, Emily, and Madison! They made a total of 33 meals this harvest! Laura's home cooking is unparalleled and the effort she puts in allows us to do our part in feeding the world.
Click on the image to read more about it!
October 12, 2022
Combining Continues
We have been blessed with beautiful weather this season! We are now finished cereals and onto the canola. After a weekend of rest we are ready to tackle the second half of harvest.
September 12, 2022
PELTA SEED TRIALS
Väderstad Planter in Action
Through the 2021-2022 growing years, we have been fortunate to partner with Syngenta as a trial farm for their canola Pelta seed technology in cooperation with Väderstad and Canterra Seeds.
Pelta, the new seed pelleting technology, aids in management decisons by removing the guesswork of seeding rates. This allows for even plant rates, maturity, and water distribution. This supports sustainable farming by allowing us to maximize yield potential while keeping costs at a minimum. To learn more about Pelta technology, visit Syngenta's website!
2019
Harvest. Snow. Repeat.
To say this harvest has been tough is an understatement. We officially began #harvest19 with the peas on September 3rd, bright eyed and bushy tailed. That excitement did not last long once we realized that the crop so flat we could only pick it up properly headed one direction. With a ton of patience, we harvested one way, drove back down the field empty only to turn around and do it all again until we finished the field. Never the less, we harvested all of the peas and were ready to keep on with the season. Our amazing team powered through, and we were able to complete the barley and begin the wheat when we were hit with a whopping 7 inches of snow!
Fast forward to a melt, two days of harvest and another 4 inch snowfall...our spirits are feeling pretty crushed! With the forecast not showing much for warm weather ahead, farmers all over Alberta are feeling the pressure. This is officially day 42 of #harvest19 but our team is doing a wonderful job staying positive, and is eager to get back in the field.
We are still proud to announce that we have grown some extremely strong crops this year, especially with the low rainfall that we received in the early growing stages! We have approximately half of our acres remaining unharvested on both wheat and canola and are eager to get back in the field. As for now, we are all crossing our fingers for warm weather and will be ready to finish this harvest as quickly as we can!
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October 15, 2019
Curlers, Combines and the Cup!
We recently had the privilege of hosting 2019 Brier Champions, Alberta's Kevin Koe and Team for a photo shoot at our farm with the Tankard!
Kevin, BJ, Colton and Ben arrived at our farm for a photo shoot with their newly claimed Tankard won at the 2019 Brier Championship. Nancy, of Nancy Critchley Photography, staged the team around some grain bins, combines, and a beautiful wheat field for some amazing photos immersed in Agriculture. The photoshoot was a promotion for Nufarm, spearheaded by Holly Nicoll.
Our team was lucky enough to be able to share the excitement with the guys, and even pose for a few pictures with them! We were so shocked at how heavy the Tankard really was! We had a ton of fun getting to know Canada's Champions, and were so humbled that they chose our farm as a site to take some amazing photos!
October 1, 2019
gatez Girl No More!
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On August 10, we watched our Emily marry the man of her dreams and it could not have been more perfect! Austin has been a part of our family for 6 years now, but it is so great to finally make it official. The threat of heavy rain on the big day was not going to stop this outdoor ceremony, so we did what we do best...improvise! This John Deere tent made the perfect shelter, and added a bit of farm flare to the
day. Austin and Em tied the knot on their farm site which is right down the road from us. We pride ourselves on having such a tight-knit family, and love the time we get to spend together. From all of us on the farm, congratulations Austin and Emily, we are so happy for you!
August 10, 2019
G o i n g t o S c h o o l !
Herons Crossing Elementary School (Airdrie, Alberta) grade two class invited us to their second grade agriculture focus group to answer their questions on how a grain farm works. We were greeted into their classroom as the "Ag Experts", which made our day! They were so intrigued by the presentation on what and how we grow, and a brief outlook of a year in the life of a farmer. Surprisingly, their questions were not the basic "where does our food come from", rather, they wanted to know all about technology and how we integrate it into our daily use on the farm! Their favourite part was when we opened up pails of wheat, canola and peas for them to touch and see. This sensory experience was exciting,
There is always an open invitation to anyone who would like to learn more about agriculture, or has any questions to either send us a message, give us a call or stop by, we are happy to chat!
therapeutic, and really messy!! We apologize to the staff for all the grain that was on the floor! We had a fantastic time sharing our livelihood with this curious and energetic group of children.
Here are some of the questions they asked:
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When do you decide to grow your crop?
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What kind of pests are on your farm?
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How much water do you need to farm?
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Do you use drones?
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What kinds of machines do you use?
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Do you eat what you produce?
March 22, 2019
February 12th, 2019
Happy New Year!
We are back and stronger than ever! In case you did not know, we decided to take a little hiatus from social media for awhile in order to give ourselves a mental health break. #Harvest18 was a tough time for all of the farmers in the area due to the severely dry summer, followed by some untimely rains/snow in the fall. Our team thrived on pushing strong for the limited window we had to harvest and helped raise each other up on the days where we could not get in the field. Once we had harvested our last acre and parked the equipment, it was time to start working on our mental health and over all well being. Fast forward to a few months later and here we are, more excited than ever to share our passion of agriculture with you!
Stay tuned for updates on what we have been up to and some new adventures we will embark on for 2019!
January 4th, 2019
#Plant18
It's that time of year again...you've got it, SEEDING! The time where endless hours are spent in our machines to plant the fields we will spend months caring for.
If you are not familiar with with the crops side of agriculture, there is much more that goes into the sowing season than just planting the seeds in the ground. There is pro-tilling, harrowing, spraying, planting and rolling!
Tis The Season!
It’s the Christmas season again and it’s that time of the year when we are all set to party. The full-time team, along with all of our seasonal team gathered this December to celebrate another year over, and another one yet to start! One surprise that we were thrilled for, is our full-time team showing up in their festive suits! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and are enjoying the New Year!
December 12th, 2017
Harvest 2017 is Officially Complete!
Well, that's a wrap! Our team never ceases to amaze us with their dedicated hard work and time. Finishing harvest is always an exciting feeling, but can seem bitter-sweet at times. We spend 6+ months nurturing and monitoring these crops, and it does not take long until they're all gone! The work does not stop here, it is time to market this grain, and help prepare for next years crop.
Cheers to a fantastic growing season and an exceptional harvest!
Our Seed Quality Matters!
It is important to always try to further the breed of a seed. This year, our team walked our Synergy Barley fields to hand-rogue the impurities out. By doing this, we were able to pick out any foreign grains, weeds, or weak barley shoots we did not wish to see in the seed. This was a great bonding experience for the team, as we enjoyed some of the last sunny-warm weather for this year.
As of August 9, our harvest season has officially kicked off! WhaHoo! Harvest is always a rush around here. Thankfully, we have a wonderful team who put in tireless hours to ensure our machines were in tip-top shape and ready to take down the crops. We have started with the peas, and will be moving to our malt barley next!
Harvest 2017 Has Officially Begun!
We would like to wish all of the other farmers in the area a safe and smooth harvest. With this dry weather it is very important to be cautious of fires. We will be sure to always have a water truck nearby just to be safe!
Desiccation Leading To Harvest
Desiccation is a process where the crops are sprayed with herbicides to provide a more eve ripening, and the allowance of harvest to be conducted earlier. By reducing the green material in the field, there is less strain on the harvesting machinery.
Reglone is applied on the peas at dusk or early nightfall to allow the overnight dew carry the chemical over the plants surface. The day-time sun will then activate the Reglone.
Thank goodness for great lights on these machines to help us see in the dark!
See Through Our Eyes!
Stage 1: Wow, look at these crops! What a beautiful day it is outside, I can't wait to start my day!
Stage 2: It's a little quiet in here, time for some radio.
Stage 3: *starts singing* I bet Blake Shelton would turn his chair on The Voice for me. Where's my record deal at?!
Stage 4: Wait, they just played this song 2 passes ago! Oh well, Despacito never gets old...does it?
Stage 5: It must be lunch time, my tummy is talking to me. *checks clock* Oh, It's only 10 a.m. I guess I will just have a small snack.
Stage 6: HOW DID I JUST EAT MY WHOLE LUNCH FOR A SNACK!?
Stage 7: It's kind of nice to have this time to myself, don't you think? ...Umm...Did I just talk to myself? I think the "Cab Crazies" are setting in!
Stage 8: Holy cow, how am I almost finished this field?!
Stage 9: Yes! That's one more field down. I feel so accomplished!
Stage 10: Go to bed. Wake up. Do it all over again.
The Cab Crazies are real, but we wouldn't trade them for anything!
Spraying can seem like one of the longest seasons. Unlike seeding and harvest, it's more of an individual job. After long days alone in the cab, it's not hard to develop the "Cab Crazies" by the end of the day! Check out our 10 stage day below!
Seeding Season is Here!
#GCGreenGearChallenge
This year, we decided to try a St. Patrick's Day Challenge called the GC Green Gear Challenge! We had a lot of fun, and many giggles as we put on our green gear. We were so proud of our team coming together and dressing up to make our challenge such a success! Needless to say, we think our Aussie James won! Did you dress up for St. Patrick's Day? If so, feel free to send your pictures to us through the website, or any of our social media handles! Be sure to the hashtag #GCGreenGearChallenge
With the weather warming, and the spring crocus flowers blooming, we know that the time to plant this years crop is quickly approaching. Our team has been working like crazy to ensure that our machines are in tip-top shape and ready to begin #Plant17!
We want to give our seed every advantage that it can have before it's put into the ground. A couple of ways we can help it succeed before being planted is to spread fertilizer on the bare ground, and using a strong disease resistance seed treatment. Since the weather has been a little drizzly, we have now floated some fertilizer to help the plants grow. As for our treatment,
we are using Syngenta's Cuiser Vibrance Quattro on our Synergy Barley seed. We had the guys from Chinook Country Treaters out to help treat this years seed. They sure do have an awesome set-up!
Syngenta's Malt Masters Event
We were fortunate enough to participate in Syngenta's Malt Masters Event on March 7, 2017. What a privilege to be surrounded by such passionate growers who are working towards bettering the plants, markets, and maltsters/brewers relationships.
The day consisted of an informative panel of speakers, and finished off with an amazing dinner and tour of the Olds College Brewery. Those college students sure do know how to make a great pint!
Blaine was interviewed on a panel of malt barley growers for the Real Agriculture Satellite Radio Channel. Click the link below to hear what he has to say about growing malt barley. (If you do not wish to listen to the whole thing, tune in at the 16 min mark). Joe Hamill of Red Shed Malting speaks right before Blaine, and is an interesting listen too!
<--- Click Here To Listen!
Thirsty? We've teamed up with Brewsters to showcase our Synergy Malt Barley in a new and exciting beer!
Your best malt barley is only as good as the seeds you use to grow it, this is why we are growing Syngenta’s “Synergy” barley.
On June 30th, Syngenta had a select group of farmers who grew Synergy Barley to Brewsters Brewing Company to talk all things craft beer. The afternoon began with a tour of their brewery to see how their beer is created. After the tour, we sat down for a taste test of their different brews. With help from the Brew Master, Rob, and the manager, Dave, we were able to identify the more prominent tastes in the beers whether they be fruitier, hopsy, and even wheat ale flavours.
Once deemed “beer experts”, we compared our favourite flavours and aspects of the different beers we had tasted to create a new brew that was catered to our requests. As a group, we chose to have a beer that incorporated a “medium body, with straw to gold colour with the use of a German hop, mandarina Bavaria, to offer a single hopped component that compliments the malt to bring a light, citrusy, fruity presentation”. (~Brewsters Newsletter)
Naming the beer was almost as fun as the tasting. As it turned out, the majority of the farmers were closely watching the weather radars on their phones due to a looming hail storm. We all shared our favourite hail stories and realized most of them resulted with a beer at the end of a devastating day seeing your crops laying on the ground from the earlier storm. It seemed fitting that we were all together drinking beer as the hail was about to hit our own homelands. That is when we came up with the thought of a “Hail Ale”. But in reality, no one wants hail, hence the “ANTI-Hail Ale”. When we drink this beer, it is a hope that we can ward off all lurking hail storms, giving the name “Beer Clouds” significant meaning. So with that, we had produced our name, BEER CLOUDS, ANTI-HAIL ALE.
The eagerness for the finished product has had us waiting with anticipation, but wait no more! Beer Clouds Anti-Hail Ale is finally here, it is delicious! What a great day, with a great group of farmers, helping to create an end product from malt barley. Brewsters has exceeded all of our expectations, and we could not be more thankful. . Their motto is “In Beer We Trust”, and ours should be “In Brewsters We Trust”!
It's Harvest!
Summer may be coming to an end, but our fun is just getting started! We were ready to go before our fields had ripened, eager to start the harvest.
Every season in agriculture seems to have some aspect we really find ourselves looking forward to. Fall arrives and with it so many of the fun people we get to enjoy working with only during certain seasons. It is a reunion of sorts and one that brings smiles, laughter and great stories of how the summer has been for everyone we last saw on the farm during seeding.
Harvest is the culmination of many months of hard work, long hours, weather watching and the thrill of seeing your crops growing and maturing. In fall we truly reap the rewards of our toil and it is always very exciting to get started.