How a Canadian Farmer Sought Land of Opportunity in Mississippi, Planted Roots of Conservation and Community

Planted in the middle of fields of cotton, rice corn and soybean country is where you’ll find some rare roots in the Mississippi Delta.

“Back in the late '70s, property values would get very expensive where I lived in southwestern Ontario, just east of  Detroit, Mich.,” says Willard Jack, founder of Silent Shade Planting Company.

A Canadian by birth, Willard Jack set out on an untraditional path with his dad and brother -- all with a plan to find land of opportunity.

“We wandered around and got down in the Mississippi Delta, had a real estate agent show me some real swamp, but he drove by a lot of good places to get there," Willard remembers. “So, we came back to this area finally in the spring of 1979.”

Willard was newly married at the time. And as he stumbled across the Delta, he saw less expensive land and room for growth. So, Willard decided to take on the challenge in Belzoni, Miss.

“This was big cotton country,” he says. “A little bit of rice growing, not a lot of soybeans, not a lot of irrigation, but there was a lot of potential to irrigate. And we saw there was a lot of potential to farm here.”

A Canadian who knew nothing about cotton, rice or how to grow crops in the South, Willard sought help through the local county Extension agent.

“He handed me a book called the Delta Digest, and he said, ‘Read this. And if you got any questions, come see me.’ I came back with about a book full of pages.”

From there, Willard met Mississippi State Extension specialists in each of the area’s crops. Working from the ground up, Willard built a business, and today, Silent Shade Planting Company is still grounded in family.

“Family is very important to us. The fact of the matter is today, my wife is driving the combine and shelling corn while we’re down here talking,” he says.

The Diagnosis 

Always family first, Willard sought support from his family even more, after a sudden diagnosis put the future of their farm in question.

“Life's always playing tricks on you,” says Willard with a smile. “So, about 16 years ago, the doctor told me I was going to die with cancer. He was wrong, obviously, thank goodness.”

But the diagnosis and the news sprouted a transition plan.

“My son Jeremy came back, and I said, ‘Look, I don't know how long I’m going to be here, but if you're going to be successful, you need to start sooner than later,’” says Willard.

Within five years, Jeremy took over the day-to-day operations of the farm.

“We have  a lot of different things going on every day,” says Jeremy. “And I  think that's the diversity of operation being in cotton, corn, soybeans, rice, and we also irrigate. So, we're always planting, harvesting, watering and tilling. And we have trucks also running separate from that. So, there's always something going on. And the only way to keep everybody on the same page is to over-communicate as much as we can."

Safety, Hard Work, Sustainability and Teamwork

A Mississippi farm constantly in motion, the farm philosophy is “safety, hard work, sustainability and teamwork.”

“Every day we come to work, we try to get better at what we're doing,” says Jeremy. “If we're not watching everything we do, whether it's solar, water conservation, whatever we're doing, we have to look for the future and keep it sustainable, or we won't be in business.”

Family and a team of employees are the integral pieces of what the farming operation does today.

From a variety of crops that require irrigation to aerial fertilizer application, from moving dirt and even managing their own trucking company, the management piece of Silent Shade Planting Company is key.

“I have a morning meeting at 6:45 a.m. with the operations managers,” says Jeremy. “At 7 a.m. I meet with the entire operations team on the farm. And then at 7:05 [a.m.]. I meet with the trucking manager to make sure everything's going well with the trucks, and then at 7:15 [a.m.] meet with agronomist, making sure we've got the direction right then.Then, sometime around 8 a.m., I get to go to work.”

From the daily tasks, to even longer-term decisions, it’s not just one person calling the shots.

“What we do is once a month, we sit down for one hour,” says Willard. “I'm chairman of the board, and we sit out all the family members that are stakeholders that are working here, sit down with that board meeting.”

Plan by plan and line by line everything is discussed in the open.

“Anything we're going to do other than the day-to-day operations, we talk about,” says Willard.

With a annual budget as the guide, Jeremy, who serves as CEO, follows the budget which was crafted by a team of board members. .  

“If there's something we need to change, they come back, we talk about it and make changes accordingly,” says Willard. “But it lets everybody feel like they're running the business. Everybody in that room has a say every month on what goes on.”

Farming for the Future

It’s not just decisions for today, improving and repairing the land – both rented on owned – is also a family affair.

“’Farming for the future’ sounds very catchy, and it is, but when you really dive into everything that we do on the operation, and all of our big decisions, even the little ones, and what we've done over the years, it all kind of feeds into that,” says Jeremy.

Farming for the future is rooted in everything this operation does, and is a theme that embodies the family farming operation.

“It goes back to the decisions that we're making; they might not be beneficial for our lifetime, but for the future of the generation they will be,” says Jeremy.

From daily decisions to year-end financials, those decisions are rooted in the “farming for the future” theme.  

“These decisions help the operation long-term,” says Jeremy. “Not all of the owners are the people that work here, and the longevity of the land that we're taking care of. But we want to make sure that every decision that we're making will make sure that the operation will be here in the future.”

Valuable Data and Insights 

With the help of technology, and a true team employed on the land, improvement sprouts with every step.

“For years and years, we've had data flowing in. We didn't know what we could do with it all; we just had a bunch of the garbage data,” says Jeremy. “And it just kind of grew. And then we had more garbage data.”

He says at the time, the data didn’t contribute to the overall goal, but now technology is a tool that allows the farm to conduct “master control” from anywhere.

“Now the great thing is we can have all this good information instantly on what we're looking at and how we're doing it,” says Jeremy.

Building Community 

A wall of awards shows just how much Silent Shade Planting Company has grown, but its owners and managers have never lost sight of caring for the local community.

“Over the years, and we've been recognized, and that's very nice but I think the ultimate reward is how well the operation does -- what you're able to give back to society -- and that society has been very good to me,” says Willard. “So, I continue to try to give back to society and give back to agriculture. We have a big outreach program, and I think it's just so important, that success is not measured in just dollars and cents, but how well the whole operation runs long-term.”