Posted by on
10/09/2024
South Australia’s Ben Allen, Ryan Modra, Paul Correll, Andrea Correll and Justin Modra at G3 Grain Terminal in Vancouver.
It can be challenging getting farmers off-farm, yet South Australian Ryan Modra happily took time away from his own paddocks to explore, learn and network in Canada as part of the Rabobank Grains Knowledge Tour.
Joining 37 fellow Australian producers, Ryan enjoyed a unique behind-the-scenes two-week trip through Canada’s cropping region, visiting farms from Alberta to Saskatchewan.
“Comparing our own operation to other regions is always insightful”, Ryan reflects, and his take-away from the tour is that our Australian grain growers are up there with the best of them.
“It’s always good to get out of your patch and see different regions, and in this case, countries, and see how they compare, and what we can learn from them.”
“Although as farmers, we usually have to make ourselves get out and about, and it’s always worthwhile,” he added.
Ryan, who runs a family cropping and seed production, processing, and packaging operation with his brother Justin at Ungarra, was reassured that our Australian grains industry was as cutting-edge as our global counterparts.
With the tour including a mix of farm visits, research and development tours, and corporate infrastructure insights, Ryan said the cross-section of experiences was valuable.
From visiting HyTech, a hybrid seed production company, to the G3 Terminal at Vancouver Port, having unique access to the whole Canadian supply chain encouraged plenty of robust discussions and conversations.
“The G3 Terminal is an automated, highly efficient grain export facility which can receive three 150-car trains at a time on a continually moving loop track system, with an average time of only seven hours needed to unload each train from track to ship.”
Ryan Modra at G3 Grain Elevator in Melfort, Saskatchewan
“At a farm and industry level there’s enormous progression and efficiency, yet across the world agriculture consistently struggles to gain the environmental acknowledgment it deserves – whether it’s through regenerative farming or carbon capture, our industry is contributing positively, and it’s frustrating this story isn’t being heard - and this is a sentiment shared amongst our Canadian colleagues.”
Ben Allen, Rabobank’s Yorke Peninsula and Mid North Area Manager also attended the tour, as well as last year’s Domestic Grains Tour on the Yorke Peninsula, and said he found each experience fascinating.
“The principles that underpin a grain growing operation are essentially the same, yet the length of the Canadian growing season, and infrastructure were really interesting,” Ben said.
“Canadians plant in their spring, late April/early May, but due to the long days – the sun doesn’t go down until 10pm in summer – their wheat and canola is ripe by August/September, so their season is two to three months shorter than ours.”
“They also have a lot of upright on-farm storage – generally enough to store a whole harvest,” he explained. “With the approaching winter and snow, it’s a really effective way to mitigate risk, and grain bags or bunkers aren’t as prevalent.”
Growing knowledge, and networks
While the experience of meeting Canadian grain growers and seeing the inner workings of their farms was beneficial, Ryan believed meeting fellow Australian farmers on the tour and hearing about their operations was equally valuable.
“You soon realise how diverse our Australian grains industry is, and how differently people operate,” Ryan reflected.
“It takes a bit of getting your head around – the ability for some people to double crop, or what they can crop – and if I’m ever in the neck of the woods of anyone on the tour I’d feel very comfortable calling in to check out their farm, such were the friendships formed.”
A highly considered itinerary, executed perfectly
Ryan laughed that it was no small feat wrangling 38 farmers through Canada, including the Calgary Stampede and at Ag in Motion, one of the country’s largest farm expos.
“It was an extremely well-organised tour, from every evening meal to each farm tour, the detail was spot on, and I congratulate Rabobank’s Shayne Sice and the staff who attended for making the experience one that I’m not likely to forget,” Ryan said.
“The opportunity Rabobank provides clients beyond lending money is so valuable.”
“To participate in this knowledge tour, and take advantage of Rabobank’s global network is outstanding, there’s no way we could access these Canadian farms if we were simply taking a holiday, and Rabo is passionate about agriculture, and taking the initiative to connect farmers, both locally and globally.”