Annie's Organic Farmers: Wade Tryan

 

Wade Tryan lives near Flaxville, MT about twenty miles south of Canada in rolling farm and ranch country too pretty for words. We made a wrong turn on the way to his place and the ladies visiting at the post office in Whitetail gave us directions right to Wade’s house. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows each other and people aren’t afraid of strangers.

 

When we arrive, Wade greets us with an easy smile and laughs at how we got turned around and ended up in another town. We jump into his truck and he tours us around the entire property, obliging all our questions. The sky is dark and chilly and the blonde durum is a striking contrast. See photo ->.

 

In one field, we discover his neighbor’s cows have jumped the fence and they are feasting and trampling on his crop. Wade takes this calmly, and calls the neighbor to come chase the cows out. They’ve probably done about $2,000 in damage, but Wade hasn’t flinched. He jokes that now they are organic cows!

 

Wade grew up farming, and his Dad, now 84 still helps Wade around the farm! His Dad can’t shake the farming from his blood and loves to give Wade a hand most days a week. Wade has farmed his Dad’s land since the 1970’s and started out renting land from his Mom’s side of the family. He has also worked as a trucker to make ends meet in the lean times. Now, Wade owns his Mom’s farmland and he grows crops on close to 3,000 acres.

 

Wade farmed conventionally before he turned to organics about 8 years ago. He made the switch because conventional farming was no longer profitable and he was tired of using chemicals. Now Wade rotates his crops and uses summer fallow to maintain fertility. Instead of using harmful herbicides, he spends extra time on the tractor controlling weeds. He likes organic farming because it keeps the prices up. In contrast, conventionally farmed crops have become too cheap and globalized to make a living.

 

Wade has three sons and one daughter, and his sons have grown up on the farm. He likes farming because he gets to be his own boss and he’s able to spend more time with his sons. His sons have a blast helping out in the field and playing on the land. They all have names beginning with K—Kole, Kyle and Kobi, and you can see that they are the light of his life.

 

Later in our visit, Wade’s neighbor shows up to chase the cows out and it turns out that they belong to another rancher. Still, he fixes the hole in the fence and he and Wade chat about all sorts of local news. We take a picture of the trampled durum and eventually we head on our way. It’s lunch time and Wade treats us to a burger at the local bar, it’s the only place that serves lunch in town. We wrap up our visit and Wade returns to the farm to get ready for durum harvest tomorrow.