Southwestern Manitoba farmers feeling supply chain pinch

Manitoba farmers are used to dealing with the forces of nature, but now they have another issue to contend with, in the form of supply chain issues and delays for essential materials and parts.

Getting machinery and components has been an ongoing struggle for farmers this year, said Keystone Agriculture Producers president Bill Campbell, who farms south of Brandon, in southwestern Manitoba.

"We're in the midst of harvest," he said. "Any breakdown or parts unavailability has a huge impact on being able to get our crop in the bin."

Farmers have been dealing with supply chain delays since the spring, he said. Keystone Agriculture Producers has heard reports of delays in getting everything from seeding equipment to microchips to tires.

"We've heard of different people who've ordered new equipment last winter and they were not showing up for harvest season," he said. "They thought … [the equipment] would be delivered."

The problem is likely to stretch beyond this season. Some dealers are not taking orders or have cancelled requests because the equipment is unavailable for 2023, said Campbell.

He added it is also hard to find used equipment as an alternative option.

Producers are trying to make do with existing equipment — but eventually, repairs are required.

The bigger challenge, Campbell said, is trying to adapt to new technology. Older equipment can't always be retrofitted, making it difficult to use with more modern technology in some cases, he said.

"We are, as an agricultural industry, in a different framework as we move forward in 2023..... [There are] rising input costs when we look at all of our fertilizer and our fuel and seed costs," Campbell said.

"It is only going to be more expensive to produce a crop."

Finding parts, machines for harvest a challenge

Mike Nykoliation works on a farm near Virden, also in southwestern Manitoba.

Getting his hands on the equipment and parts he needs to ensure operations on the farm run smoothly has been one of his biggest challenges during this harvest, he said.

Nykoliation said he purchased a combine in mid-September 2021. It arrived just about a week ago, when the current harvest season was already at full tilt.

He says a combine typically takes about six months to arrive after it's ordered.

Now, delays are so severe Nykoliation said he's debating ordering a new rig in the hopes it will arrive by 2025.

He said he began to notice delays earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, when factories, deliveries and other links in the supply chain began facing labour shortages.

He now worries there will be years of catch-up producing supplies farmers need, leaving them with "a huge financial burden."

"You have to plan ahead to make sure your equipment is ordered on time if you're going to receive it," Nykoliation said.

"If you know what you need for parts ... you have to stock up on those yourself because the dealers won't have them in stock if you need them."

Nykoliation says looking to the future seems scary, with low supplies of machinery and parts in high demand, on top of other factors like rising costs and labour shortages.

"It's not just the ag … it's everywhere. It's in the industrial [sector] the factories, the grocery stores, the big warehouses.… The shortage of labour is everywhere."

Colin Penner farms near Elm Creek, about 50 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, where he's currently harvesting soybeans. The machine he uses has knives on the front that work like scissors to remove plants. 

Penner went to the dealership earlier this season as he knew he'd need new knives — but the parts were tough to find.

"We had to make a few extra calls, and we ended up finding the knives. But it's something that we typically don't think about," he said. "Usually we just go to … the dealership and say, 'Hey, I need these parts.'"

Penner said he's been trying to stockpile more parts and items than typical.

"It would be almost a catastrophe if we ran out of something and … the machine had to stop and wait until we were able to continue with harvest," he said.

"If we see it, we're going to have to just jump on it.... That's what a lot of people are doing right now.

"[If] I need it or I might need it, I'm going to buy it, just so I could have it."