There is no shortage of problems and issues to try to untangle, but focusing exclusively on obstacles isn’t helpful. We also need to set our sights on the direction we want to go. “Don’t look at the ground, or that’s where you’ll end up,” goes the old equestrian adage.
We can chart a course by setting goals (something the industry does on a large scale through the Canadian Beef Advisors industry goals, for example). In our own lives, we can also look to others for ideas of what type of life we want and how we want to live it. I’m not suggesting putting anyone on a pedestal, but simply paying attention to those around us.
I was reminded of this recently when I found out that long-time ag broadcaster Jack Dawes is slated for induction into the Saskatchewan Agriculture Hall of Fame. There are many things to admire about Dawes, including his interest in the world, the respect he shows other people and his enjoyment of the job.
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Over the years, I’ve run into Dawes at farm shows, as well as events organized by the Saskatchewan Farm Writers’ Association and our national group, the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation. He’s always been welcoming to me and other colleagues at various media outfits. He’s unfailingly upbeat, curious and witty. He has also played saxophone in the impromptu farm writers’ band at our national farm writers’ conferences (as well as a community band in Yorkton, Sask.), so you can add that to his list of talents.
Dawes is probably best known for his time at CJGX Yorkton in the ’80s and ’90s. He also helped found the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission and was general manager of the Prairie Oat Growers Association for several years.
Rather than staying in the studio, Dawes likes to hit the road and attend field days. “There’s nothing like getting a farmer’s point of view,” he told Neil Billinger of CJWW. Dawes says he came to the job as a “clean slate.”
“Farmers have taught me a lot and I keep trying to think like a farmer” and ask the kinds of questions a farmer would want to know, he adds.
When Dawes started out, one of the first tasks he set for himself was to find out who speaks for farmers. As he explored the different farm organizations and the associated politics, he found the adage “that wheat is maybe 12 per cent protein, and then the rest is politics.”
One of the big issues Dawes covered was the Canadian Wheat Board, and the demise of the single desk 10 years back. His personal opinion was that if he was farming, he wouldn’t want someone telling him how to market grain, but he also says that he “had to respect the guys who said they wanted a wheat board and their point of view.”
Another topic he covered was the Hudson Bay Route Association and the Churchill port. Dawes says that the Arctic port always struck him as “an opportunity that should be exploited.” Dawes adds that if Manitoba was a state in the U.S., “there would be a four-lane highway from Winnipeg to Churchill and people would go up there for holidays and their honeymoons.”
Dawes is still in the business, freelancing out of Yorkton part-time. These days, his base is 98.5 FM The Rock and he shares stories with other radio stations such as CJWW. He puts together a piece daily, plus an extended, one-hour version each Thursday.
“They leave me alone and I do what I do. That’s the good news and the bad news ’cause I do everything.”
Dawes recently turned 81. Asked by Billinger why he’s still in the business, he replied, “Why would you retire from something you enjoy doing?”
I don’t know what I’ll be doing at age 81, but if I’m still around, I sure hope I’m having as much fun as Jack Dawes.
Congratulations, Jack, and congrats to the other deserving inductees into the Sask Ag Hall of Fame, including Jim Bessel, Les Hill, Dr. Jeff Schoneau and Mark Silzer. Congratulations as well to the family of inductee Margaret Crowle, who passed away in 2021.
