Inspirational Advocacy Takes Home the Orville Yanke Award!

John Kolk, Inspirational Leader in Conservation Agriculture and Advocacy

By Kristi Cox - in the Spring 2024 Farming Smarter Magazine

Commitment to conservation agriculture and a willingness to share knowledge and support others are the key attributes of the farmers and scientists who receive the Orville Yanke Award. John Kolk, 2024 recipient, has an abundance of all those qualities.  

“John has always been a farmer who is obviously interested in sustainability,” Ken Coles, General Manager at Farming Smarter explained. “He’s helped with research projects, and he’s an early adopter of new practices. If there’s a conservation angle, he’s involved, whether it’s research, policy, or extension.”  

Kolk farms with his family near Picture Butte, Alberta, and credits a foundation of stewardship ethics for his decisions around business and personal practices. 

“If you've got resources, you're responsible for that,” said Kolk. “You take care of them, and preferably leave them in better shape than you receive them. Whether it's raising crops or raising livestock, it's about understanding the local biology, climate and production practices and trying to move towards using less energy, less resources and still maintaining or expanding your production.” 

One area where Kolk has seen great success is in water management. When his grandfather was starting to irrigate, 36 inches of water produced 50 bushels of barley. Today the land produces 140 bushels with approximately 16 inches of water. He uses variable rate irrigation and has experimented with subsurface drip irrigation.  

“We’re trying to use technology to farm by the by the square foot instead of by the acre,” said Kolk. 

Other conservation measures used on farm include strip tillage, cover crops, and manure application. These combined efforts have resulted in organic matter increasing from 1.5% to 2.5% in the past 10 years.  

“He's definitely innovative,” said award presenter, George Lubberts, owner of Complete Agronomic Services. “There are times you try things, and it doesn't always work out, or you have to do it two or three or four times to make it work right. He's willing to stick to these things where he feels that there's an advantage to conserving the soil, and to maximize the amount of carbon that's captured.”  

Kolk’s commitment to agriculture reaches far beyond his fields. Sometimes challenges come in the form of consumer confidence or government policies.  

“You’ve got to make sure that the agricultural message gets to the decision makers,” said Kolk. “You have to do it right on the farm, but you also have to push to get it done right at the legislative level.”  

This led to Kolk serving on boards, including Farming Smarter’s. When asked to list his other boards, Kolk said there are many, but listed how three exemplify his commitment to conservation agriculture. 

Bow River Irrigation District: “There we work on areas like water delivery and water efficiency tools that allow farmers to do a better job and still meet our legislative requirements.” 

Alberta Pulse Growers: “Pulses are an important part of the rotation if we’re trying to move crop agriculture toward net zero. They reduce nitrogen usage the year they’re planted and into the next year. They’re a low-cost, water-efficient, carbon-sequestering, energy efficient protein option for food consumers.” 

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute: “ABMI monitors the entire province looking at changes to plants, animals. We work with forestry industry, oil and gas industry and municipalities. We provide the data that managers and regulators work with to show a baseline as well as changes over time.” 

Kolk sees great opportunities in agriculture as well as its challenges. The need for profit is a good thing but can be an obstacle to growth. 

“Farming is very, very competitive,” explained Lubberts. “If you have a competitive edge, sometimes you don't want to talk about it because you don’t want to lose that edge. With John that doesn't seem to be an issue. He's more than happy to talk to other people and help them to do things the right way.”  

Kolk’s dedication to conservation agriculture, improving his practices, problems solving and sharing his expertise has earned the respect of his peers.  

“He’s somebody that I would consider a mentor,” said Ken Coles, manager of Farming Smarter. “Both in providing advice, but also challenging me when I need it. I've always appreciated that about him.” 

He’s contributed much already and intends to continue to grow. 

“Agriculture's got great opportunities,” said Kolk. “It's a great place to be. We have to keep working to be better at what we're doing. You want to do the right thing, in the right way for the right reasons. All three of those pieces are important. I think work in conservation agriculture is doing the right things for the right reasons.”