Nathan Stamp is a second generation seed farmer from Enchant Alberta. He serves as a Board Director at Farming Smarter. Both his father and brother served on the board in the past as well.
Nathan along with his brothers, Matthew, Greg, and father Richard, own and operate Stamp Farms and Stamp Seeds. They grow, clean and retail certified seed to customers across Canada. Nathan manages the farming operation and crop production side of the business.
In a seed operation, they must clean all the equipment between varieties to avoid cross contamination of seed types and varieties. During the growing season, staff rogue out off-types and volunteers.
Stamp has a seed cleaning system with multiple machines Including a color sorter that uses cameras and compressed air to sort any remaining weeds seeds and contaminants.
On the farm they produce multiple generations of seed from breeder down to certified grade. Stamp Seeds can also treat the seed for its customers.
They grow upwards of 15 different crop types on the farm including common southern Alberta crops and some of the specialty types gaining popularity in rotations such as fall rye, faba beans, quinoa, and triticale.
"We may have three generations of one variety. In an average year, Stamp Farm grows between 60 ≥ 80 plots that includes multiple generations within one given variety in the field," says Nathan. "There's a lot of logistics behind it."
Nathan remembers coming to Farming Smarter events before he entered post secondary education to earn a Plant & Soil Science diploma and B.Sc in Agriculture Studies.
"Farming Smarter is really a good source of local information. I brought a lot of it back to the farm to try," he says. After 12 years of appreciating the unbiased, locally relevant information coming from Farming Smarter, Nathan stepped onto the board.
"Farming Smarter plays a vital role in our ag community. It provides a great service and I wanted to offer any insight I might have to help steer the organization," he says. Adding that it's also an opportunity for him to learn and meet good people in the industry.
Nathan's expertise lies in farm management, agronomy, and organizational planning/logistics. He also knows mechanics and equipment.
He has skin in the agriculture game and has made his own mistakes in farming.
"Every year brings new challenges and opportunities in farming, you learn from those and move forward," he says.
In the event Farming Smarter faces a challenge, Nathan can combine his expertise and experience with the voices around the board table and help the organization make decisions.
"I hope Farming Smarter can shape what happens in farm/agriculture research and agronomy for western Canada. Even larger, Farming Smarter reaches people all over the world through technology. It's neat to see that people around the world watch our videos."
Nathan wants Farming Smarter to be here still in 20-30 years as it truly provides valuable information regarding agronomy and helps farmers with the tools needed to be successful.