No I in Team Seed Grower Profile “We take that information — after the sales year has gone by — and we sit down and say, ‘Okay, what can we do better to look after these customers?’” — Len Solick 76 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta WHEN SPEAKING WITH Len Solick of Solick Seeds, it is clear there are two driving factors behind his business: his family and his customers. “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the family base,” Len says. Backing up a few years — 30-plus years to be exact — Len was in the engineering field for quite some time, living in Edmonton as well as working in the Arctic. “I was all over the place and had a couple of close encounters in the Arctic, and then I decided it was time to move on.” Moving on included buying a farm in Halkirk, Alta. in 1978 after working a bit on his parents’ farm in Lacombe, Alta. “We started out as a commercial grain and cattle enterprise. Through transition, in 1986, I grew my first pedigreed seed crop. That was because of the Crow Rate — I saw freight would be an issue going forward. That was one of my main reasons for getting into the seed business — we were able to market off the farm. My grandfather was actually in the seed business quite a few years back. He was a founding director of United Grain Growers. My parents farmed southeast of Lacombe, grain and cattle … I guess I continued on in that direction.” Moving onto the farm with their then one-year old son at the time, no one could predict that the family — and the operation — would grow. Family and customers drive Solick Seeds Ltd. Len Solick with his sons Kelsey and Corwin. Photo: Paul Sankar Len’s wife, Lucy, and sons Kelsey and Corwin all work on the farm. Len says Lucy is behind the scenes doing a lot of the paperwork. Other than a full-time hire, and maybe an extra body for occasional help in the busy seasons, Solick Seeds is family owned and operated. Len and Lucy’s daughter Kim resides in Lacombe with her husband, Rieley and three children. But on the farm, it is all about family teamwork. Spring is the most hectic with seed delivery, seed pick up, and treating and seeding their own crops as well. Corwin and Kelsey do all of the seeding and spraying, and at harvest everyone is out there doing their part. One of the biggest labour demanding jobs is the cleaning of all operations whether it be the bins, equipment