Marchand couple tops among crop of Outstanding Young Farmers

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This article was published 30/06/2022 (1067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Marchand couple who have evolved from hobby farmers to direct market suppliers to beef and dairy producers have been named Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2022.

Richard and Kristy-Layne Carr of Rich Lane Farms south of Marchand received the award, which recognizes excellence in agriculture among farmers aged 18 to 39, two weeks ago in Brandon.

The Carrs said it was “incredibly humbling” to win the award, which earns them passage to the national competition in November in Saskatoon, where two winners will be chosen from among seven regional finalists.

This year’s Manitoba nominees included Harley Siemens of Rosenort and Tyson Martens of Kola.

“This set of nominees proves once again that the expression ‘you can’t do that’ is not part of any Outstanding Young Farmer’s vocabulary,” Steve Cooper, president of the OYF national board, said in a release.

Richard said he was glad he and Kristy-Layne could make it to Brandon amid seeding.

“We managed to take a day off from the farm, which is not easy,” he said.

The trip proved to be worth it. After lunch with Derek Johnson, Manitoba’s agriculture minister, the nominees took the stage.

“We were standing up there and they opened the envelope,” Kristy-Layne said. “I think we were pretty surprised.”

Richard, who was born in England and raised in La Broquerie, oversees day-to-day operations on the farm while Kristy-Layne, who grew up in Portage la Prairie, manages the finances.

They milk 55 Holsteins and raise 60 Black Angus beef cows, growing most of the feed for both herds with the help of custom operators. Richard said with the cost of equipment nowadays, it doesn’t make sense for a smaller farm to have a lot of implements.

Rich Lane Farms began in 2006, when the couple moved Kristy-Layne’s small beef herd from Portage to La Broquerie. The Carrs operated a hobby farm while working full-time jobs—Richard at nearby Labass Holsteins and Kristy-Layne at the Seine-Rat River Conservation District.

In 2010, they moved the farm to its current location south of Marchand, gradually growing it to 250 head of cattle and more than 1,000 acres. They dove into direct marketing, selling pastured poultry and pork at farmer’s markets. They also supplied Steinbach specialty shops and a Winnipeg restaurant.

Kristy-Layne described 2013 as a “perfect storm” of growth.

“We grew the beef herd substantially and Richard stayed home to farm full-time,” she recalled. “We also found out that we were having twins.”

A holistic management course made them rethink their trajectory.

“It led us to just say, ‘We’re doing too much, we need to streamline things a little bit,’” Kristy-Layne recalled.

In 2018, they sold off nearly 500 acres of land and 200 cows to start a dairy, popping champagne at 4:30 a.m. to celebrate the first milking. They currently farm about 460 acres, growing forage grains in a rotation.

“This year we put in corn, alfalfa, rye, and millet,” Richard said.

Rich Lane Farms uses computer technology sparingly, in part to keep costs down. There are no GPS units in the tractors and no robotics or temperature sensors in the dairy barn.

“I feel a little bit more in tune with the barn and the cows that way,” Richard said.

The Carrs are active on social media and run their own YouTube channel, The Big Small Farmer.

“It’s just a way for us to show what we do every day,” Richard said. “Everybody eats, but a lot of people don’t know where their food comes from.”

“Our hope is that someone can watch one of our videos and see how relatable they are. I milk the cows every morning, you don’t, but the rest of our lives are exactly the same.”

Their online presence caught the attention of Horizon Seeds Canada, which asked Richard to become a dealer a few months ago. The side gig aligns with his farming mentality.

“Never be afraid to try something new.”

The Outstanding Young Farmers program considers community involvement, something the Carrs have in spades. Kristy-Layne sits on two advisory committees, one for the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives and the other for the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba. Richard is a former Marchand Community Club board member. Both are active in their church and spend their winters ferrying their four children to hockey practice and 4H Club meetings.

The Carrs have also endured adversity. Richard underwent back surgery in Germany in 2019. Six months ago, Kristy-Layne was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy and is preparing for radiation treatments this summer.

“It’s kind of like a bit of a marathon,” she said.

The couple has learned how to keep the farm running when the other needs to step back.

“When one person is removed from the equation, the other person has to step up big time, and you get an appreciation for what the other person does,” Richard said.

The wider farm community in Manitoba also rallied around them.

“We have a deep freezer full of lasagnas and shepherd’s pies.”