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Canola is a story arc in Canadian agriculture that farmers weren’t and aren’t ready to kill. It was created by Canadians and has a sizable cadre of farmers devoted to growing it. Canola is engrained in many farms, almost like a pet or a loved one. Agronomically, there are always other crops a farm could grow, but doing so could be risky and, more so, it could possibly change the identity of an operation.

Edible beans, wheat, corn, sunflowers and many other crops grown in Canada carry a similar weight. They aren’t easy to quit. A farmer’s relationship to them is complex.

There’s a willingness to dismiss facts for a good story. Or, rather, there’s an inclination to situate and treat facts in the context of a farm’s identity. It may not make sense to grow one of the many commodities that have taken a price hit in the current U.S.-China trade war, but that won’t necessarily stop farmers from doing so. Science and markets are considerations; not judge and jury.

Our wheat is off the field and we’re waiting for the soybeans to ripen. In the interim, I’m considering the 2020 growing season. I’m planning to grow pinto beans, refreshing and hoping to put a more positive spin on a story that has gone stale on this farm.

Since I returned to the family farm in 2012, there has been an increasing interest among people who live in cities in hearing about what’s happening on the Canadian farms growing the food they eat. There’s an appetite to hear the stories that define our farms and give character to the choices we make.

I grew up hearing the story about a divide between rural and urban Canada. As the story goes, farm kids have robust work ethics that make them more employable than city kids. And city kids don’t know anything about where their food comes from.

I can’t speak to stigmas city kids foist on farm kids. They exist, though.

These stories are so powerful they’re passed down from generation to generation and believed with sometimes little to no proof to back them up.

Stories are powerful. No one is impervious to a good story, and farming is defined by them.