A Wallaceburg farmer’s need to improve his crop drying system has led to recognition from the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce.
Dennis DeBot is this year’s agriculture innovator of the year as part of the chamber’s Rural Urban Awards.
DeBot said his farm needed to be more efficient because since 1994 it grew from having two small grain storage bins to 12 bins which together carry 550,000 bushels on site.
“We updated our dryer system so that we can be more efficient, so that we can do more bushels per hour,” he said.
The previous system could only handle drying 300 bushels an hour, but now the farm can dry about 1,900 to 2,000 bushels an hour.
The equipment is called a tower dryer from manufacturer Sukup. DeBot described it as a free-standing elevator that uses a heat-cool method to dry corn.
He said called the system a “godsend” because it has made his farm 70 per cent more efficient when it comes to the drying process.
“That’s the thing that makes you money is your dryer system and your storage of your crop,” DeBot said.
Raised in Wallaceburg, DeBot started farming with his dad and his brother in 1978. He said the farm has gone from 200 acres to 6,000 acres.
“We’ve diversified into all kinds of crops now,” he said.
In 2019, his team sat down to decide what else they could do and they decided to try popcorn. They’ve since launched The Popcorn Barn brand, selling bottled popcorn and two- or three-pack popcorn on the cob.
“We’re doing well,” DeBot said, adding they grow about 15 acres of popcorn each year. “We’re in Sobeys and we’re in a lot of gift stores. It’s a niche market.”
DeBot noted his father started farming with horses and now they use 620-horse power tractors.
“The technology on the farms, it’s just leaps and bounds” above what it was, he said. “We’ve had track tractors now … and three-point hitch planters. It all changed for our technology on the farm.”
He said they continue to keep up with advancements, both in technology and in techniques to take care of the land.
“If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you,” he said.
DeBot and his family has also been involved in the community through work with Wallaceburg Community Living and organizing the 2019 Otter Creek Jam Fest, featuring Trooper and Tom Cochrane.
The Rural Urban Awards will be presented Nov. 23 at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre.