Dan Sawatzky plans to retire this year following decades working in the Manitoba potato industry, both as a grower and with the industry association.
For Dan Sawatzky, becoming general manager of the Keystone Potato Producers Association (KPPA) was the logical next step after retiring from potato farming. Ten years ago, as Sawatzky’s family wound down their potato operations, KPPA was looking for a new leader after long time General Manager Gary Sloik had announced his retirement.
“I was approached and gave it some thought. Felt that this would be a way that I would still be involved with potato industry, even though the farm had stopped growing potatoes. And it’d be a good way to continue on with people that I’ve worked with throughout my career and serve them in that capacity,” Sawatzky explains in a phone interview.
Sawatzky had grown potatoes on his family farm, Spudman Farms/Sawatzky Enterprises, near Bagot, Man. for decades. His father Glen Sawatzky had started growing spuds with his brother David Sawatzky and Ed Penner in the 1960s just as the processing potato industry was getting off the ground in Manitoba. Over the years the partners involved in the farm changed and in the 1980s Sawatzky became a partner.
“We farmed, rented quite a bit of land at the start. We always found that new potato ground always produced a little better yield than tired land. And I guess during the late ‘80s, early ‘90s there was a bit of a push in the province to have potatoes under irrigation. So that changed the makeup of the farm a fair bit,” he says.
Sawatzky in the end was running the farm with his brothers’ Tim and Ron. In 2010, the brothers decided they wanted to work their way out of potato farming. His brothers still planned to (and do) run the farm as a strictly commercial grain operation, but Sawatzky was approached to take over the reins at KPPA. As a potato grower Sawatzky had been involved with the KPPA serving on the board of directors and as chair of the board even.
“It was very comforting to know that we had someone from the industry. It was nice to have someone come into the position that understood what the farm positions were to start with,” Chad Berry, current KPPA board chair, explains in a phone interview.
At the time Sawatzky took over the KPPA helm, the potato industry was going through rough times. The popularity of the Atkins diet had caused many to reduce their spud intakes, while the Canadian dollar was at parity with the American dollar, making Canadian potato prices more expensive internationally. In his role, Sawatzky’s focus was negotiating contracts and making sure to get the best prices for the growers he represented.
“We’ve been able to continue to hold pricing or improve pricing to levels where it has given somewhat of return for the growers, to be able to keep the industry somewhat healthy and keep people engaged,” he says.
Throughout Sawatzky’s decade with KPPA, he’s been involved with planning the annual Manitoba Potato Production Days conference and he helped write a book about the history of KPPA for its 50th anniversary. He has worked closely with MaryAnn Sareault and Marlene Sponarski in the KPPA office. Sawatzky also served as the secretary treasurer for the Potato Marketing Association of North America. As he looks toward retirement, Sawatzky plans to travel more with his wife Sandra on their own schedule not tied to the potato production year.
“We don’t have any real bucket list things at this point, but I think as I find my feet in a different phase of life, we’ll discover things that we want to do,” he adds.
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