Making a difference in the community, this is Mark Burnham, a NextGen farmer who with his parents Anne and Paul, operates in Cobourg.
This year, the Burnham Family Farm Market is celebrating their 30th anniversary as the community’s source for fresh and local produce. Mark is one of the sixth generation of the Burnham family to take his hand at the family business, growing and selling seasonal fruits and vegetables.
For Mark, technology is a huge part of his side of the business which is to supply the market with fresh produce.
Burnham said this season they’ll have three different monitors in their planting tractor and while the technology brings efficiencies, it comes at the cost of additional time to learn how to operate it and for Mark, how to repair it if something goes wrong. He said that one of the ways farmers are combatting a shortage of labour is by doing more with technology.
According to Burnham, he tries to implement technology into everything he can, but when it comes to soil science he using a company to help him with variable rate fertility using more and more sensors every year to measure among several things, the temperature and moisture of the soil at any given time.
“There is a bit of whatever worked for my father still works for me, whatever worked for my grandfather still works for me,” said Burnham, “but you still should be evolving as a person and as a business and use the technology that’s available to you.”
For Mark what drives him to use technology is in part effeciency. Having trained as an engineer in school, Burnham derives considerable satisfaction in finding comphrehensive solutions that ‘tick all the boxes’. He does however note that sometimes, it can have its drawbacks when you’re having issues. You might say it’s a next frontier for this and the next generation of farmers to venture into.
To listen to the complete interview, click on the file below.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
