In the many years Darren Sander has been involved in agriculture, one thing has not changed during that time: connections in the farming industry will always be best made face to face.
For the last 14 years, Darren has been selling farm real estate in Saskatchewan, with his son, Tyler, joining him in 2021 as the fourth generation to be part of the Canadian agriculture industry.
As more and more people choose digital communication—like texting over phone calls or in-person meetings—Darren said they are always trying to ensure they are physically present with their clients across the table.
"We keep it old-fashioned," said Tyler. The phone crackled a little as the two drove four and a half hours for a coffee meet-up with one of their farmer clients.
"We always like to do one-on-one chats, no matter how far. We will drive as far as needed for an in-person meeting. We keep it original," said Tyler.
Darren grew up on the family farm near Wilkie, Sask., and took on custom harvesting contracts across Canada and the United States. He saw firsthand how small and tight-knit the farming industry is, and that sense of community continues to amalgamate. "Everybody knows everybody," he said.
"Through those connections is how we started off selling farmland. And really, it's still evolving from some of those connections. Whereas I may have met the father of the operation 25 years ago, now we’re dealing with the sons of the operation in this business."
Darren and Tyler deal with farm sales in two different scenarios: either as operations expand or as farmers transition off the farm. When a realtor is helping a family sell generations' worth, the farmer needs to feel they are being represented by someone they are comfortable with.
"It's still about one-on-one connections and people being comfortable with you," said Darren.
For those times when face-to-face is more difficult, Darren and Tyler are seeing the benefits of the digital space and tools. Using the Sanders’ farmland website, farmers can send valuable information to get the process of evaluating the farm started.
"We wanted to have a mechanism where a farmer could simply email our website with their land locations, and we can do our research on all the sales values and the data from their area, and give them an accurate valuation on what their farm might be worth in today’s market," said Darren. This is always followed by an in-person meeting.
Darren was also one of the first to offer aerial drone services to his clients. Born of necessity, it started when potential buyers from Alberta were interested in land in Saskatchewan.
"Taking footage of this farm really was the key to get those people to come out and look at the farm. But they were sold before they came out, because they saw the drone footage of this productive farm in seed. Acre after acre of great land."
Providing drone footage to their clients has created more opportunities to get people out to view the land they’re interested in. Buyers and sellers get a new perspective of the farm compared to just driving down the road.
"Even back in 2012, the quality has always been fantastic, but the types of information drones capture is becoming more and more sophisticated," said Darren. "Drones are used now in every sector of agriculture, whether it involves spraying, locating weeds, or analyzing field conditions during the growing season. It’s really evolved in the last 10 to 15 years."
He is proud to be among some of the first to use that technology in the farmland industry.
"If you have a listing and somebody wants to get a sense for the farm or get comfortable with what they’re looking at—the topography, the layout—you’ve got this mechanism out of this tool that really helps people get comfortable with what they’re looking at."
Moving into the 2025 growing season, some of Sanders’ clients have expressed concerns on a variety of topics that may impact the season. However, Darren is optimistic about the future of agriculture in Saskatchewan and the future of farmland real estate. No matter where someone is farming from, Darren and Tyler are always happy to talk about the family farm and its challenges at the kitchen table over a cup of coffee.
