Wheatland County family wins 2011 BMO Family Farm Award

 

After a summer of chemotherapy and a stem cell bone marrow transplant to treat cancer in his colon, Dwayne Marshman has seen some of life’s worst moments. But every morning when he wakes up at the family’s century-old farmhouse, he sees some of life’s best.

“There’s nothing I love better than being out on that tractor, and growing a bumper crop,” says Dwayne, who’s been told by doctors that his rare form of cancer, mantle cell lymphoma, is now in remission. 

“It’s seeing the cows, too . . . watching the calves being born, and grow. It’s the circle of life, I guess, that always amazes me every year. I could be close to the end of mine, or I could go another 20 years. Who knows?  But I’m alive, and feeling great.”

The Marshman name has been part of the east-central Alberta farming landscape since 1909, when Dwayne’s great-grandfather brought his family to Canada from Latah, Wash. Dwayne’s wife Mary is a descendant of the Koester clan that also has a long history in the area, having arrived in Rockyford in 1929 from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

For their longevity, their perseverance, and their deep love of the land, the Marshmans are Wheatland County’s choice for a 2011 BMO Farm Family Award. The Marshmans run a dryland grain operation about 12 kilometres south of Carbon, seeding about 1,800 acres each year in wheat, canola, and barley. They’ve also got a small cow/calf operation, and run a greenhouse supplying tomatoes and bedding-out plants to customers in the area. In 2005, Dwayne and Mary’s youngest daughter Kimberly and her husband Ben Salt, originally from England, returned to the farm full-time. Dwayne and Mary’s oldest daughter Kathy and husband Lance, along with their young daughters Josie and Jenna, help out when they can, as does son Craig.

Eight years ago, Dwayne worked with the Rosebud River Watershed Group to develop an off-stream watering system. With his cattle drinking fresh well water instead of stagnant water in the bottoms, the move has helped to protect riparian areas and resulted in a significant weight gain for the calves. The family has also made every attempt to increase production through modern agronomics, while protecting the land for future generations.

“My grandfather always told us that we never really own the land – we just purchased the right to use it,” remarks Dwayne.

Off the farm, Mary is the chairman of the Rockyford Library, and has been playing the organ at St. Rita’s Church for 25 years. Dwayne is a director with the Wild Rose Agriculture Producers and is connected with the Rockyford Rural Fire Association.

Dwayne also coached hockey for 10 years and ringette for another 20. In May 2010, when his cancer diagnosis prevented him from coaching ringette, his team hosted a Ringers for a Reason fundraiser. The 12-hour game, supper, and concert helped raise $50,000 for patient comfort care in the Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Unit at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre.

“My son-in-law kept telling me this spring, ‘I’ll do the fertilizing,’ ” recalls Dwayne. “I said, ‘You know, Ben, that’s where I love to be. You guys fill it and calibrate it, and I’ll run the tractor.’

“That’s the best medicine for me.”