
Nichole Van Dyk
Future Family Farming
BY JESS CAMPBELL
When it comes to the future of her family’s blueberry farm, Nichole Van Dyk has always known she would be part of it.
The opportunity to become a farmer and a part of the larger agricultural landscape in Canada is a privilege. It’s difficult to start out and even more difficult to maintain, yet most farmers, young or not so young, will tell you it’s worth the work.
What’s even more of a privilege is being part of a farming family and understanding the critical importance of agriculture from the youngest possible age. Nichole Van Dyk is the third generation of Van Dyk’s to be absolutely certain of her lot in life. “To be honest, there was never a time where I thought I wanted to do anything else,” Nichole says of being part of her family’s blueberry farm. “Growing up, I never wanted a summer job off the farm. So, I think I started working at around age 12 with my father on the weekends and school breaks. From there, I always worked on farm whenever I could. I always really enjoyed it.”
Nichole is very quick to say that a big part of her motivation to work within the family blueberry business is her family, both immediate and extended. “My grandparents immigrated from the Netherlands with $200, a kitchen table and four chairs. My grandmother had a few cookbooks, and a few cookware items; my grandfather had a few tools. They started purchasing blueberry land in the early 1960s. The family, the family legacy and working so close with family are why I love what I do.”
Van Dyk is a name synonymous with blueberries all across the province of Nova Scotia, thanks first to Nichole’s grandparents, Cornelius and Henrica, and now thanks to her father and some of his siblings. Together, the family has taken an already thriving business and secured its success well into the future by innovating and expanding the business itself. “My father, Peter Van Dyk, my uncle, Charles Van Dyk and my aunt, Jeannie Van Dyk, own the blueberry production part of our business,” says Nichole. “Then we have our two value-add companies. We make 100% pure wild blueberry juice and that company is owned by a different uncle, Leo Van Dyk and another aunt, Anne Selig. Then, we have a second value-add company which is Van Dyk Specialties, where we dry wild blueberries. We dry them in a microwave under vacuum and get three different products from that production line. We have a chewy wild blueberry, a crunchy wild blueberry and then we make a powder. Then we also have roughly 200 honeybee hives and sell honey products.”
Nichole’s role in the family business varies from month to month and depends on what arm of the business is busy, when. She and her father care for the honeybees, which are used not only to produce honey and honey products but also for pollination across the many different wild blueberry sites the farm owns. “We have land from Yarmouth County all the way to Cape Breton; we’re about 2.5 hours from our Yarmouth land and about 5 hours from our Cape Breton land. As difficult as that can be, it can also be a big benefit for us because each county blossoms at a different time for pollination, and it’s ready to harvest at different times as well.” The Van Dyk family has about one thousand acres of wild blueberries in production, although only half is harvested each year to allow the other half to rest and naturally regenerate.
While every day for Nichole is different, she’s more than happy to be working alongside her family and having a hand in securing the farm’s future for the next several generations to come. “To see where my grandparents started and where we are now, with their hard work and dedication, being able to carry that on makes me quite proud,” Nichole says. “My father is one of nine siblings. There are 20 of us grandchildren and now there are 10 great grandchildren, one of which is mine. Having my daughter grow up and be involved in the business and in agriculture in general makes me very excited.”
For Nichole Van Dyk, helping to build the family blueberry business is definitely worth the work.
“To see where my grandparents started and where we are now, with their hard work and dedication, being able to carry that on makes me quite proud.”






Dane Froese
What Matters Most
BY JESS CAMPBELL
When it comes to starting your own farm business, you can get by with a little help from your friends – as long as you’ve got some.
Farming is about relationships.
Yes, it’s more typically about weather and crop rotations and grocery store prices and yields. But even those things wouldn’t be possible without the farmer knowing people or working with people. So, farming is about relationships.
Most especially when it comes to starting your own farm business, as Dane Froese well knows.
Although his parents began farming in 1990 near Winkler, Manitoba, Dane has farmed independently since 2014, purchasing his first 80 acres soon after he’d graduated from the University of Manitoba. Since then, he’s slowly grown his business through renting neighbouring acres from those neighbours who own them, again emphasizing the importance of maintaining relationships. Dane also works full time off the farm for Manitoba Agriculture as the Oilseeds Specialist. One might wonder how Dane finds the time to get everything done on the farm if he’s also committed to working full time off of it. “So, what we do is, we trade labour and knowledge and expertise,” Dane says of how things work between his farm and that of his parents’. “Having gone to university for agronomy, I handle a lot of the agronomy and grain marketing and things myself. I make those decisions for both farms. As we purchase and upgrade machinery, I have a share in my parents’ operation and then have access to that machinery. My dad’s a mechanic so I don’t do much of the fixing myself. We split the duties to utilize our strengths. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to run the farm the way I do, not without the other operation.”
While farming is definitely about relationships, it’s also about money. When it comes to starting a farm, Dane understands that growing up as a farm kid makes him one of the lucky ones. “The access to capital and being able to guarantee your first loan if you’re successful enough to buy land is almost impossible without that external guarantor. That initial one or two pieces of land, how do you do it? I think that’s one of the biggest challenges facing young farmers today.”
Relationships are what Dane is choosing to focus on as he considers the future of his farm. Maintaining careers off-farm works for Dane and his wife, an engineer, for now. But it’s the relationships he’s cultivating currently that will hopefully help him grow his farm into the future. “If land goes to tender or to open bid for rent or purchase, you’ve already lost,” Dane says. “The competition for land is intense. Everybody is trying to find a little piece of ground. You have to have those relationships so then when a farmer decides to leave the industry, you have the first opportunity to access the land before it opens to the public.”
There is a succession plan in place for Dane’s parent’s farm, and the fact that they farm “separately but together” ensures they remain successful. “Between what I farm and what my parents farm, we’re close (to 3000 acres). But we’d like to get a little larger than that, just to make sure we can invest in the farm with things like improved grain drying and handling systems and diversifying our crop rotation a little bit more, and to keep a hired hand on full time. But I also don’t want to necessarily rely on my parents’ farm land (to keep farming independently). I want to prove to myself that I can do it, too.”
Maintaining strong external relationships with those around you helps make farming a little bit easier, especially on the hardest days. But that internal relationship with yourself, being proud of your accomplishments, and knowing that you’re always doing your best on behalf of not only your family but also the farm itself, matters just as much. “What makes me the most proud is that we’re always improving. We’re always making something better. This land has been farmed for over 100 years by now, and the fact that it’s still healthy and producing good yields is amazing.”
“What makes me the most proud is that we’re always improving. We’re always making something better. This land has been farmed for over 100 years by now, and the fact that it’s still healthy and producing good yields is amazing.”






Travis Hopcott
Back to the Farm
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Just because you were born into farming doesn’t mean you will become a farmer – at least, not before you’re ready to be one.
Multi-generational family farms aren’t as easy to come by as they were, say, a decade ago. Farming is hard work. There is no glamour and very little fortune in choosing to grow food for your community and your country (and other countries!). The call of doing something different, something more lucrative, has been strong for many farm kids, and so, we lose them to a life outside of agriculture. Sometimes it’s for good. But in the case of Travis Hopcott, it was only for a little while.
For Travis, the choice to leave his family’s farm in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia – even if only for a while – was one he made early on. “I understood when I was younger that you never, ever should work solely for the family business; without working off the farm. For me, you lose the opportunity to work for others and perhaps even take the family business for granted, what it means to work for family. So, I worked off the farm; I went to post-secondary education for accounting and took an ag tech diploma. I also worked abroad, for a farm in England as their sales rep for Western Canada. I wanted to do other jobs and travel, at the very minimum. But by the end of that phase, I knew that this was the best option for me.”
Travis, along with his sister Jenn and brother Brad, are now the third generation to farm the land they have. “The farm itself was purchased by my dad’s dad, my Poppa,” says Travis. “He bought the farm in 1932 for $9000.” (laughs)
There are now several different branches that make up the Hopcott Farms business, including retail grocery, a bistro, meat counter and soon-to-be abattoir, cranberries, plus a wedding and events venue and even hay and manure sales. Travis is responsible for everything to do with the 72 acres of cranberries they grow each year, selling to the Ocean Spray Cooperative. His sister, Jenn, is the retail manager, and brother Brad is the cattle farmer of the family.
2022 will mark 90 years for Hopcott Farms. While it’s always interesting to look back and see where you’ve come from, Travis and his family are already looking forward. “When it comes to sustainability, the business has to be environmentally, economically and socially stable. So, those three pillars are our focus. People tend to be very quick to call themselves an entrepreneur. It’s very trendy these days, I think. They say a good entrepreneur is someone who has resilience. To me, that’s what Canadian agriculture is all about, which makes me proud to be part of it.”
While some may have the next 90 years planned down to a tee, Travis’ vision isn’t quite that forward-thinking. “It’s the unknown (about farming that I enjoy). Having something in front of you and you know the result will be based on what you put into it and how much you love the job. Agriculture is obviously one of the more riskier businesses to get into because you can’t control weather or price. So, it’s somewhat of the risk factor that I like, too. And also knowing that the people in our community trust our products so much that they want to bring it into their homes with their families. That’s something everyone here should be proud of.”
Having business and work experience both on and off the farm has given Travis a solid perspective of how to continue his family’s 90-year-old farm business. When asked what he’d say to new, first generation farmers, Travis’ advice is helpful no matter whether you’re brand new to farming or were born on one. “Only focus on what you can control. Be proactive, and know when to pivot quickly. Talk to others and make friends in your industry. Even try to have a mentor or a peer group you can bounce ideas off of. Get to know people, because most people are generally very willing and even eager to help. So, get out there and meet as many people as possible.”
“When it comes to sustainability, the business has to be environmentally, economically and socially stable. So, those three pillars are our focus. ”





Jasmin Bautz
Jasmin Bautz has always known she wanted to do things her own way when it came to farming.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
For some young farmers in Canada, pursuing their passion in agriculture seems like an uphill battle, something that’s especially true for first generation farmers.
Jasmin Bautz is not one of those young farmers.
That’s not to say she doesn’t have her own battles to fight. As a young woman who has decided to farm on her own, Jasmin definitely has her work cut out for her. But being raised on a farm – even one that’s different from her own – certainly has its benefits when it comes to figuring things out.
“My farm is Country Log Ranch and I raise purebred Boer goats and commercial sheep,” says Jasmin. “When I was young, that’s what my mum did; she ran a meat goat operation. That’s what I was involved in as a kid and where I spent most of my time. That’s when I grew a passion for them.”
With help from her parents, Jasmin began purchasing animals back in 2012, proving it’s never too early to get started in farming. While helping her dad on the family’s commercial cow-calf and grain farm, Jasmin has also committed to growing her own farm business, with her family’s support. “Right now, I have 80 breeding does (goats) and about 50 breeding ewes (sheep). I lamb and kid them out at the same time. So, come kidding and lambing season, I’m in the barn all day and all night, looking after them. I do this by myself. I’m responsible for everything. That can be lonely and challenging. I can call on my parents or friends for support or assistance. But being able to raise them, and see animals grow and develop – that’s what I love. So in the future, I would probably see myself increasing my sheep herd and decreasing my goats, and just raising a smaller herd and making the quality better.”
Jasmin is constantly looking for ways to improve the way she farms, to make sure she’s raising her animals in the best way possible. “Goats and sheep don’t handle stress as well as cattle. So, I need to keep improving my system and keep finding new solutions to problems and what I’m doing wrong if an animal becomes ill. With the meat goats, it’s a smaller industry. There aren’t as many people involved in it so there isn’t as much support and not as much technology as other industries.”
You might think that farming on her own might be too much for Jasmin sometimes. In fact, farming by yourself can sometimes seem almost impossible, no matter who you are. But for Jasmin, being a young female farmer is the main thing that keeps driving her forward to pursue her goals. “What makes me really proud is that I’m a young woman, and one of the first women on my family farm to be farming and raising animals by myself, on my own. I’m proud that I’m carrying on the family farm like my parents before me. But I’m also changing the kind of farming (that’s being done). I’m also involved in the industry. I’m proud that I go to meetings and voice my opinions, even though, oftentimes, I’m the youngest person there. In the meat goat industry, it’s majority female dominated. That’s helpful because it’s a little less intimidating. It’s definitely easier to speak up.”
Being a young female farmer has never stood in Jasmin’s way, and likely never will, if she has anything to say about it. “I’ve been raising animals for awhile; I sometimes don’t feel that young! (laughs) As a young farmer, my opinion is just as valid as the next farmer.”
Rajasekhar Chokka
If you could choose to grow any kind of crop, what would it be? Follow-up question: where would you choose to set up your farm?
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Rajasekhar Chokka chose to begin growing two crops near his home in Nova Scotia. One is very traditional, the other is very much non-traditional, yet both crops are seasonal. “We grow haskap berries and we also sell frozen and fresh berries. Apart from this, we also do Christmas tree farming and sell Christmas trees.”
If you’ve never heard of a haskap berry, you’re not alone, as they’ve only become popular throughout the previous decade. But you also may know them by another name, as they seem to have several. Haskap berries can also be called the fly honeysuckle, blue honeysuckle, sweetberry honeysuckle, honeyberry and a few other names. They apparently have a very powerful taste, exuding a flavour somewhere between a raspberry and a blueberry (a traditional one, that is).
But Christmas trees are, well, just called Christmas trees.
Raja also sells haskap berry plants to other farmers on top of working off the farm full time. Having started his farm business just one and a half years ago, Raja says he’s already had to face a significant challenge and learn from it. “The main challenge for the berry side is the birds. We have to put netting on the trees. If you don’t put the netting on, the birds will eat all the berries within two or three days. They can eat up to a thousand pounds of berries! Last year, for selling plants, I didn’t put netting on and I didn’t get a single berry from those plants because everything got eaten by the birds.”
On the two acres he’s leasing right now, Raja hopes to be able to expand in the near future, especially given how many other haskap berry farmers are switching to other varieties. “Slowly, there are fewer and fewer haskap berry farmers. Sadly, there was a company that came to Nova Scotia a few years ago and said they’d buy all the haskap berries from the berry farmers and export them. But then that company went bankrupt.”
When situations like that happen, it certainly doesn’t help things like land prices which, according to Raja, are already inflated. But he remains optimistic about the future of his farm business, with no plans to change course. “The reason I started is because of my degrees in agriculture. I worked for almost seven years back in India for different agriculture companies. My family background is in agriculture, too. So, I wanted to be in the sector because I knew about the business a bit already. There is a lot of opportunity here, in Nova Scotia and in different parts of Canada. If I want to go elsewhere and grow Christmas trees and berries then I can do that. But I don’t want to get away from agriculture.”
Lexie Young
Lexie Young is an excellent example of what the future of Canadian cattle ranching looks like.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
There are a myriad of reasons why Lexie Young of Preeceville, Saskatchewan, has always known she wanted to become a rancher when she grew up. She loves cows and horses and crops and open spaces. She loves the outdoors and working with animals. And she has one particular woman in her life who has set an excellent example for what she can expect of her life on the range.
“My mom is the farmer,” says Lexie. “It was her dream to farm and she was determined this was what she wanted to do, so that’s what she’s done. She’s part time at the school in town and full time at the farm, so she works her butt off to have this farm!”
With 100 head of cattle and 2000 acres, there are, thankfully, a few more family members willing to help balance the workload around the farm. “My dad has a part time job and farms, basically doing whatever my mum tells him to do after work. (laughs) Both of my brothers have full time jobs so over the past few years, their roles on the farm have slowed down quite a bit. And my grandparents also help out, too.”
To make sure her dream of coming home to the ranch becomes a reality, Lexie decided to pursue post secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan’s Agronomy department. She’ll graduate in the spring of 2022, and then come home to the farm—but already has big plans in the works.
“I know where I want to take the farm and I’ve talked to my mum about it quite a bit,” Lexie says. “I think the biggest thing with our farm is that we’ve got a really good set up on our home quarter. We’ve redone our entire barn for calving season; it’s just for cows and for calving. There’s a lot of space to keep hay. But one of our biggest things right now is making sure we have enough pasture land for all of our cows. Our plan is to continue to get as much pasture land as we can to sustain more cows and then grow our herd.”
While the farm started with an open herd, Lexie says they’ve worked hard to build their breeding bloodlines and keep the herd closed, which is also something Lexie looks forward to continuing once she’s home full time. But to grow your herd, you need to make sure you have the land base and the hay to feed your animals, especially through the often harsh Saskatchewan winters. “In my opinion, hay land is very important because that’s what sustains your cows throughout the winter,” says Lexie. “Having good nutrients in your hay is really what your cows need, especially through the really cold months. My biggest expansion plan is getting more hay land and growing really high quality hay – the best for our cows to get them through the winter as healthy and happy as possible.”
It’s making sure the herd is healthy, happy and comfortable that drives Lexie to do her best, not only in her Agronomy studies but also in learning everything she can from her mom about managing the ranch. While Lexie certainly benefits from all that knowledge, the hard work is for something else entirely. “It’s all for the cows!” Lexie laughs. “Sometimes the cows are the biggest headache, but really, everything we do is for them. To be able to see your cows go through the auction and get the highest price, or to see that your cows are the best looking out of all the cows at auction, it’s just really rewarding as a cattle farmer. The lifestyle they give you is really amazing. Sometimes, the hours are long and the work is really hard, but at the end of the day, every time you go into the house, there’s a huge feeling of satisfaction.”
Lexie’s intrinsic love of farming is what she hopes other people can see, both in herself and in other Canadian cattle farmers and ranchers. “We care about those cows more than anything; everything we do is for them,” says Lexie. “We’re feeding the people we care about. We’re sustaining the world with top quality beef, and that’s why I continue to do this. Agriculture is just continually growing. Animal husbandry and animal welfare is just getting so much better. I really love being part of all those big changes. I’m really excited to see where the beef industry in Canada goes, because we have all these really awesome farmers and ranches who are always working together to improve the industry. I just love that feeling of accomplishment, knowing that we’re giving the cows the best life they can have while also providing the world with the best beef we possibly can. I just love farming! I think I was born to love it.”
Andrew and Jolene Karanfilis
When faced with the most challenging time in their lives, Andrew and Jolene Karanfilis dug deep – and came up with maple syrup.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
No one could argue that the pandemic hasn’t been hard. Everyone, on some level, has experienced loss, grief, fear and uncertainty, among other things. But as we turn the calendar on another year, there is great hope that maybe this will be the year the pandemic will finally end, and things will finally change for the better.
Andrew and Jolene Karanfilis know this tide of change; they also know fear and uncertainty well. When the pandemic hit, they were working as children’s entertainers in the Niagara region of Ontario. Now, over a year later, they’re beginning something entirely new and different, yet couldn’t be more excited about where their lives are going. “We had such a good thing going with the world,” says Jolene. “But then the pandemic hit, and a lot of people suffered consequences; we were on the bad end. Our business was decimated. Andrew was laid off from his part time job and I was pregnant and couldn’t work. So we really had to go back to the drawing board and redefine what we thought we wanted for ourselves. We dug deep into what we really wanted out of life. We combined our ideas and realized that our all-time goal, individually and together, was to own a farm of some sort.”
People come to farming in a myriad of ways, and Jolene and Andrew are no different. Neither of them were raised on a farm, but that didn’t stop them from pursuing their dream of owning one. “We owned a home and decided to sell it,” says Andrew. “We purchased a sugar bush, a two acre maple syrup farm here in Niagara. This is an origin story. We’re meeting what the market is demanding. There’s still an opportunity for us to do children’s entertainment but we’re integrating it with this sugar bush by getting involved with agri-tourism and education.”
February 2022 will hopefully be Andrew and Jolene’s first maple sap season. Although their sugar bush isn’t currently set up with the infrastructure to produce maple syrup, they have immersed themselves in the maple syrup industry in Ontario, meeting many existing maple syrup producers and even gaining some interest from producers in need of their sap. While Andrew and Jolene wanted to get involved in something “authentically Canadian,” they also wanted something that many other farmers want, too: to build a family legacy.
“We’re doing this for our son,” says Jolene. “This will be an opportunity for him. He has a very different upbringing than I did or than Andrew did. We’re creating a ball that we can pass to him, and he can improve the world as he pleases.”
Out of all the entrepreneurial ideas they could have chased down on behalf of their son, it just so happens that Andrew and Jolene have chosen an agri-tourism opportunity that works well with their existing skills. “I thought, maybe we could make this into something that we could not only pass down to our son but also bring our children’s entertainment business into,” Andrew says. “We want to tie the fantastical to the authenticity and the local feel of it, creating a little space to teach people where maple syrup comes from and how it’s made.”
While there are still uncertainties in their lives, Jolene and Andrew are determinedly looking forward to building their business over the next year, and beyond. “It’s very important to me to let people know that they can build something from nothing,” says Jolene. “With a little observation, you can make all the difference in your life.
My husband and I were put into a very stressful situation where we had to sell our home; it was a very scary time for us. But what gave us clarity were the moments we allowed ourselves to sit back and observe our life, and think about who we are as people and what we want to do with our life. In a way, we have the pandemic to thank for that. We were able to sit at home together and take that deep dive and make the necessary changes we needed to in order to fulfill our dreams.”
Janna Quesnel
Starting something from nothing isn’t for the faint of heart, but Janna Quesnel can handle it.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
If there’s one thing that is very clear about young farmers across Canada, it’s that everyone comes to farming in their own, unique way. For some, they are proud to be part of a multi-generational operation, working the land and caring for livestock alongside one, two or even three generations of family members. But for others, like Janna Quesnel and her husband, Jason, of Lumby, British Columbia, a big source of their pride comes from striking out on their own and starting something from nothing, perhaps with the goal of someday being a multi-generational farm.
“Having started our commercial cow-calf herd in 2011, we bought our farm in 2013,” says Janna. “The farm was completely run down. There was nothing usable, so we’ve been working at building it up since then. Now, we have 150 head of cattle and 425 acres. We also have four kids now, so it’s busy!”
As with any farm, there are a number of challenges that Janna and Jason need to manage, whether on a daily basis or to achieve their long-term vision for their operation. But with challenge comes opportunity. “I would definitely say that in BC, land costs are huge,” Janna says. “At the time we purchased our farm, the cost seemed crazy, but now it’s even more. So, we’re fortunate to have purchased it when we did. Grass is a big challenge, too. The cost of land rental is a lot. We’ve secured some Crown range, which is good, but it’s also not enough for what we need. So, we’ve built some relationships with other farmers and are working together, and we’ve got some nice rental land and have some great people we’re working with on that. But honestly, our biggest challenge has just been building it from nothing. Blood, sweat and tears really applies!”
It’s likely that most farmers would agree that the challenging days are the hardest to get through and can easily make you feel like you want to throw in the proverbial towel entirely. However, the drive to keep moving forward is often the same, no matter how a farmer may have gotten started. “We’re doing this for our family and for our kids,” Janna says. “Raising our kids here and having them be able to run outside is great. We have 425 acres, so they can run and be free. I love that I get to raise my kids on a farm. For the most part, they see the joyful side, not the stressful side. And they’re just little helpers; they love to learn. Even my three year old, shovelling out the stock trailer, he loves it! Most people would think that’s a terrible job, but he enjoys it.”
While farmers generally take pride in their work, Janna finds that seeing the farm grow into what it is today has been extra satisfying. “Seeing our progress and experiencing tangible results has been quite nice. We’re pretty proud of our animals, too. We take good care of them and do our best to provide a really good environment for them, with the best possible care and good herd health programs. Canadian agriculture has some pretty good standards, too, and that makes me proud. We have really high standards for ourselves and our product, and we’re proud that we’re doing the best we can, as are most Canadian farmers, I would imagine. I haven’t met too many Canadian farmers who don’t take pride in their product.”
In fact, that’s a message Janna believes to be a very important one for consumers to understand, that despite how a farmer got started with their farm, they take great pride in producing food for Canadians. “Anyone who owns livestock cares about their livestock. They care whether they’re healthy and taken care of. Farmers in general are passionate about their product, and their livelihood. Consumers can have faith that farmers are doing their best and providing you with the best possible product they can.”
Amanda Henderson
Amanda Henderson went from milking cows to raising bees, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Farming isn’t an easy endeavor to start, especially if you’re not from a farming family. Amanda Henderson, owner and operator of Henderson Apiaries in Brant County, Ontario, grew up on a dairy farm. For many dairy farm kids, the assumption is that they’ll one day take over the farm, carrying on the multi-generational legacy a farm can bring.
That wasn’t the case for Amanda, as her parents sold the cows and quota when she was in high school. It was while attending university that Amanda started keeping bees on her parents farm as a hobby. “It’s been 11 years now,” says Amanda. “I started with just a few hives, but grew it into a side business. I work full time for a commercial beekeeper that’s about half an hour from home. I’ve been there for seven and a half years now. We focus on breeding queens and selling bees to other beekeepers.”
While Amanda also raises queens, her focus at Henderson Apiaries is producing honey, beeswax candles and other products. Amanda is quick to say that beekeeping wasn’t really on her radar as something she wanted to do with her life, let alone raising the coveted queen. “If I’m being honest, I stumbled into queen rearing a little bit,” Amanda says. “I was at university and was really getting into beekeeping. We’d had our hives for three or four years by that point. I wanted a job in beekeeping but a lot of those jobs, especially entry level, are seasonal. I was hesitant to quit my year-round part-time job, but I started looking around for where I could get a job in beekeeping. Half an hour from home is a queen breeding operation. My boss had worked for the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association for years and eventually left that job and started her own queen rearing operation. She was about four years in and working on expanding when I was looking for a job. I ran into her at a beekeeping meeting and told her I was looking. And I’ve worked for her ever since.”
When asked what she loves about beekeeping and raising queens, it’s very clear Amanda loves pretty much everything about it, including working with larvae (yes, larvae). “I love the seasonality of it. The queen rearing season is relatively short; we usually start grafting larvae in late April and go until late July. When we’re raising queens, we’re selecting our stock for the genetic traits we want. Once we have our mother lines selected, we start grafting larvae out of those breeder hives and take them into a cell builder hive. We’ll raise the larvae into a queen cell, then 10 days later, that cell is ready to harvest. We can either sell the cell to another beekeeper or use it ourselves by letting it hatch out into a mating unit where that queen will mate with the drones, which are male bees. At that point, we can sell her as a mated queen or use her ourselves for expansion or replacing older stock.”
Amanda says she loves all the different aspects of beekeeping and queen rearing, such as paying close attention to the blooming schedule of flowers to understand what the bees are pollinating, when. But just like any other type of farming, there are always challenges as well as consumer misconceptions about beekeeping and apiaries. “It’s so tough. There’s a lot of fanfare around honey bees. People don’t realize there are, like, over 400 native species of bees here in Ontario. A lot of the bee populations that are under threat are actually some of the native bees. We’ve got the European honey bee. They’re living in a lot of the world and are pretty adaptable in terms of pests and diseases. But some of the bees that people aren’t reliant on for income get overlooked, and I think that gets mixed up in the media sometimes. Plus, there’s different management practices, there’s micro climates, there’s so many factors that make beekeeping difficult. I mean, they just go fly! We can’t tell them where to go! (laughs) They will go for three miles from wherever their hives are, and I can’t control what happens within a three mile radius of all my hives.”
Even with all of the challenges of beekeeping, Amanda is truly passionate about her work and her business, especially when she’s able to foster a connection between agriculture and the consumer. “To be able to meet my customers and say, ‘this is local, the bees made it.’ To provide that connection for people, I think they really value that.”
Stephanie Lipp
Stephanie Lipp grew up in one of the biggest cities in Canada. Now, she’s a mushroom farmer in one of the smallest.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
It’s not very often that you meet a young farmer who was raised in Mississauga, Ontario, the sixth largest city in Canada. Now living and farming gourmet mushrooms in Bonavista, Newfoundland, Stephanie Lipp is that person and, sometimes, even she still can’t believe it. “My previous life is pretty much opposite to agriculture,” Stephanie laughs. “I come from a background of graphic design and photography, and grew up in a different world in the city. I’m definitely more comfortable on the TTC subway than I am calling myself a farmer!”
But a farmer is exactly what she and her partner, Leo Gillis, are. Two years ago, Stephanie and Leo were living in the city and not enjoying their lives. “Leo is originally from the West Coast of Newfoundland but moved to Ontario when he was really young. Six months into our relationship, I visited Newfoundland for the first time and loved it, but never thought I’d live there. Leo’s mom had recently got a new apartment. The price she was paying was so unbelievable that, on a whim, I looked online for housing listings in Newfoundland. I saw how affordable the houses were; it was unbelievable! You could get a whole house for the same price of a condo parking space or a storage locker in Mississauga.”
The drastic difference in the cost of living was enough that Stephanie couldn’t quite let it go. “Totally joking, I was like, maybe we should just move to Newfoundland! And then I Googled moving to Newfoundland to see if there was anything online about people who had moved there. All these articles came up about Bonavista and all the entrepreneurs who were moving here. So, we kind of started to think that maybe we could actually do this. There was an established artisan community, it was by the ocean, and we could afford a house. So what started as a joke in September turned into our house closing in January. And then we moved at the end of April.”
Stephanie and Leo knew they couldn’t move to Bonavista and live the same kind of life they’d been living in the city. They both had talent and a taste for adventure, so started thinking about what kind of work they would love to do. Having already been frequenters of their local farmer’s market in the city, they came across someone growing and selling gourmet mushrooms. And the rest is history. Well, sort of.
“I actually hated mushrooms at the time!” Stephanie admits. “I just never ate them, and cringed if I had to. But when I started eating these gourmet varieties, I was like, okay, I understand now why people love these. They were so delicious, had all different flavours and textures, and were just beautiful to look at. We started researching how to grow mushrooms, and Leo just dove into it. Suddenly, our whole life was mushrooms and mushroom farming and mycology. By the time we got to Bonavista, we’d practiced with some basic lab skills and had our first fruiting bags. It just really quickly became our passion.”
Right now, Stephanie and Leo have everything they need set up in their home in Bonavista. But if things continue to go as planned, it won’t be like that for very long. “We’re doing plans to create an actual farm premises; we have to have a certified farm to be able to sell to grocery stores and restaurants. We also want to have a space for education and engagement for not only tourists but also the local community. Cooking classes, healthy eating and also fun things, like a space for local artisans to have workshops and supper clubs. We really want it to be centered around local food and community.”
Their desire to support the community that has supported them comes from wanting to help improve food security in the province as a whole. “There was a report released a couple of years ago that said there’s only about 72 hours worth of food on the island at any given time. If flights can’t come in or the ferry doesn’t run, that could put people in very precarious situations, especially people who have socioeconomic factors related to their access to food. So, even though we’re on a small scale, starting this type of agriculture that’s year-round, requires a small footprint, has less water consumption and then produces a biodegradable byproduct is helping to alleviate food security issues.”
Stephanie says she and Leo love their new life as Newfoundland mushroom farmers, but that they are even more grateful for the Canadian agriculture industry and other young farmers they’ve met. “We kind of feel like imposters because we’ve met so many young farmers who work really, really hard—I mean, we work hard too! But it’s not quite the same as getting up at 5 AM to be out in the barn or the field, and owning land. It’s just really increased our appreciation and admiration for the people who are feeding us. We are proud to call ourselves farmers, but it’s still a little bit surreal.”
Thomas Lavoie-Vigeant
Thomas Lavoie-Vigeant didn’t grow up on a farm, but his passion is to teach you about them.
It’s no secret that consumers are as far removed from the farm as they’ve ever been. Gone are the days when people shopped exclusively from stores and markets local to them, with those stores and markets only selling local products to the community. In a way, it’s a bygone era—unless you’re Thomas Lavoie-Vigeant.
Thomas is in no way a farm kid. He was not raised on a farm, nor are any of his family members farmers. Thomas works full time as a dairy equipment salesperson, at a job and a company he loves that has steeped him in the ways of agriculture. So in 2019, Thomas and his wife decided they wanted to step into farming themselves. “We bought a sugar bush in 2019. It was just maple syrup; we bought that land from Roger Petit. We’re not family, but we kept the last name for the name of the farm, Sucrerie Petit.”
Thomas has about four thousand taps that he manages during peak maple syrup season on his farm just outside of Montreal, making all of the classic maple syrup products one might expect (we’re talking maple butter, candy, and caramels). But in the two years since purchasing the sugar bush, Thomas has already expanded and diversified his farm business. “Land is kind of expensive so we had to add on to our production to maximize the land,” Thomas says. “In 2020, we started to grow pasture pigs; we started breeding Mangalica, a hairy pig, like a sheep. They take around 28 months to grow. It’s very, very slow, so we are just starting to harvest them now.” Thomas also has Berkshire pigs, as well as a herd of Belted Galloway cattle (“The Oreo cow,” he laughs) for beef.
Working full time off the farm means Thomas and his wife, Marjorie, farm in the evenings and on the weekends. Saturdays happen to be their busiest days, but also one of Thomas’ favourites of the week. “Every Saturday, we have people from the local community out to the farm. I give them a little tour and explain to them how we raise everything. It’s nice to show them.”
The opportunity to educate people about where their food comes from is one of the top reasons why Thomas decided to become a farmer in the first place. “I want to reconnect citizens with agriculture. I think agriculture should be open doors every weekend, with more accessibility. We have to eat three times a day, and that food has to come from somewhere. We need to educate citizens about farming. I always explain to my visitors that with a pig, you have just two ribs. So, if you have a party with 20 people, you need to kill 10 pigs to have ribs. You have to be responsible about what you eat from the pig. Buy the ribs, but also buy the shoulder or the less popular parts so it’s not wasted.”
While Thomas believes the best place to raise a family is on a farm (which he and Marjorie are now testing out with their son, Julian, born this past March), he also believes that farmers need not be in competition with each other when it comes to helping consumers learn about their food. “There’s nothing perfect in agriculture,” Thomas says. “I try to explain that to my customers. Everybody has their own way of doing things, and there’s always a reason for that. The way I do things isn’t better than a commercial farmer, and the way they do it isn’t better than me. There’s a place for everyone.”
In the future, Thomas has plans to grow his farm and, hopefully, process his own meat. “Right now, I have to drive the animals everywhere. It’s a lot for me and I think it’s stressful for the animals. So, that would be nice, to be able to process my pigs and cows here, and to have room to process animals from neighbouring farms, and work together to sell the meat.” If anything, this young farmer will continue looking forward to both serving his customers and helping them learn about agriculture. “We just started selling meat in December 2020, so we’re very young. But every Saturday, I’m very happy to meet my customers. Some customers don’t know how to cook the meat, so we’ll teach them how to do that, too! It’s a big role, but I enjoy it.”
Mattson Griffiths
Mattson Griffiths didn’t grow up on a farm, but he absolutely plans to grow old on one.
As someone raised outside of agriculture, it’s one thing to find yourself working on someone else’s farm. But it’s entirely another to decide to start your own farm business based on the work you’ve done and the lessons you’ve learned from growing food for someone else.
Mattson Griffiths and his wife and business partner, Maggie Winchester, have done exactly that. Neither of them come from a farming background; in fact, Mattson says you’d need to go “fairly far back in the genealogical tree” to find anyone in his family working as a farmer.
If you know anything about farming and agriculture, you know it’s not a job that’s considered easy. As someone who worked in the corporate 9-to-5 world, Mattson knew farming would be a drastically different life.
That, as it turns out, was entirely the point.
“I prefer to have a job that grinds me into the shape I want to be,” Mattson says. “There’s so much that farming provides in terms of health and lifestyle. There’s satisfaction from putting effort into a project and seeing that project materialize and yield food right before your eyes. Initially, I was interested in agriculture as a method of therapeutic benefit for others. But instead, I realized that there’s a lot of benefit to myself that I could also reap.”
And benefit he has. For the last year, Mattson and Maggie have worked as the co-general managers of Juniper Farm, an organic vegetable operation near Wakefield, QC, starting as field crew three years ago and working their way up. 2021 was their first season farming an eighth of an acre of cut flowers and garlic on their own (called Moonie and Merl, a clever take on their walkie-talkie nicknames instated during work at Juniper Farm), in part thanks to the generosity and support of their employers. “We’re exceptionally fortunate to have a great relationship with our employers. Juniper Farm has an on-site farm store that they sell their products through, and have their own online store and other methods of distribution. Our host farm has a lot of opportunities for market access that way. We’ve been very lucky to be able to sell to them directly.”
Even after graduating from McGill University’s Farm Management and Technology program, Mattson understands that being a first generation farmer doesn’t come without its challenges. But it seems he and Maggie have been able to take those in stride, and with an open mind, too. “Access to land is a universal challenge and one that I think will just become more of an issue going forward. We’re currently renting land. But to have something to call your own, that we have more control over and can invest in long-term, that is a bit of a trickier thing for us to foresee the trajectory of. Farming is already unpredictable. But I feel like when you’re trying to put all the pieces together, you just have to be ready for anything and be fairly flexible.”
Like all farmers, Mattson and Maggie don’t know what the future holds for their farm. Continuing to be part of a thriving agricultural community has them buoyed and able to keep moving forward, especially on tough days. However, Mattson attributes the hard work of becoming a farmer to his ability to stay open-minded, and to his ability to recognize that farming isn’t just about growing food for yourself and others. “I think it’s working in an industry that’s inherently hard and challenging day to day that makes me proud to be a farmer in Canada. It has really made us stronger individuals: our communication skills, our overall resilience, the lifestyle we live in terms of how healthy we are. Agriculture is a very challenging industry, but to only see the difficulty, I hope, wouldn’t overshadow the tremendous personal and professional benefits the work can provide. Farming is kind of hectic – which is possibly the biggest understatement of the year – but at the same time, I don’t know if I’d be growing as much as a person, if I were way more comfortable and not putting myself outside my comfort zone.”
It seems the risk Mattson and Maggie decided to take by becoming farmers themselves is paying off, both as a beautiful compliment to the work they’re already doing, but also as a way of life. Indeed, that seems to be the point.
Nelson Fagan
Butcher and vegetable farmer, Newfoundland
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Being a successful farmer often means closely managing a daily To Do list. Farming keeps you present and in the moment, whether it’s filling a tractor with fuel before heading out for spring planting or waking up in the middle of the night to check a cow that’s calving.
What people don’t often realize is that farming is also about looking forward. For many young farmers across the country, farming isn’t just about what they’re doing today. It’s also about what you’ll be doing – how you’ll continue your farm and everything it provides for your family and community – down the road.
Nelson Fagan is a 5th generation farmer and butcher from Conception Bay South, Newfoundland. And although he grew up around farming, he didn’t always think about it the way he does now. “I work alongside my father, Nelson Sr., at N.Fagan Meats and Vegetables. For years, I worked a full time job off the farm and still came home to work on the farm in the evenings and weekends. I always said I would just wait for dad to retire and then step in. I quickly realized that dad will never fully retire and if I want to make this my life, I’d have to branch out on my own so that’s what I did. For seven years now, I have expanded my business to not only selling meat and vegetables on the farm but also to travelling across the province and selling from my freezer trailer. I’ve attended countless markets as well just trying to get my name and product around. I’ve also started retailing my products at markets and stores in the last few years.”
A big advantage of living in Newfoundland is Nelson’s ability to offer a variety of products to communities all across the island. “We are a licensed abattoir and butcher shop so we sell anything and everything that comes from a cow! Our biggest seller is definitely our meatballs. We have chickens throughout the year and we also have a few pigs yearly, too. We grow turkeys every year for Christmas, and we have grown savoury for Mount Scio Savoury Farm for the last eight years and plan to continue. My father grows all the vegetables on our farm which include carrot, potato, cabbage, rutabaga, parsnip, beet, onion and kale which is then sold to Sobeys or locally at the farm.”
Nelson has definitely made some changes since he made the decision to farm full time. Then again, that’s the nature of being a farmer in Canada: you need to be comfortable with change, because things are always changing. The most important thing about that change, though, is to understand that it’s necessary in order to continue doing what you love, a point that’s top of mind for Nelson as he discusses the future of his farm. “I’ve recently acquired 10 Charolais cows from a Beef Genetic Enhancement Program with the Government of Newfoundland and I am the first member of the Canadian Charolais Association and first registered Charolais breeder in Newfoundland. I plan on building on that to have a 40 head cow-calf operation in 5 years, and hopefully bring that number up to 100 in 10 years. This is besides my feeder cattle that I have ready for market all year round. I also plan to have my beef sold in more stores in the next few years and by 10 years, I will have my own storefront market opened up, relocating from the original homestead to our other piece of ground where my cattle are now being housed.”
No one can predict the future, but you can certainly plan for it, just as Nelson has. Perhaps that’s a little easier to do when the future you’re planning for is all you’ve ever wanted to do, anyway. If anything, continuing to look forward makes managing the daily To Do list just a little bit easier. “Farming is a way of life. Growing up on a farm, I always knew I didn’t want to do anything but that. I don’t feel like this is a job and although each season brings on its own set of tasks and it never gives us time to slow down, it’s always right where I want to be.”
Cheryl Norleen
Mixed Farmer, Saskatchewan
BY JESS CAMPBELL
If there was ever any question about whether farmers work hard, you’d only need to chat with Cheryl Norleen for about 30 seconds to dispel that doubt. Cheryl, her husband Marc and their five children are mixed farmers near Raymore, Saskatchewan. Through planning, taking a few risks and definitely with a lot of hard work, they’ve built their farm business from the ground up.
“We were married in 2010 which is really when our farming started. We were expanding very quickly; at the time, it seemed really slow. We were able to pick up four quarters of land in 2009 from non-family, and then three more quarters from non-family the following year. Then we kind of got stuck. In 2012, land changed hands in our area which did two things for us: reduced the opportunity to purchase more land close by and also increased the equity in the land we did own.” At the time, Cheryl and Marc were cattle and grain farming. The sale of the land around them and the rapidly rising price-per-acre made them rethink their plans for the farm – more than a few times. “We started researching other avenues of what we could do, and put together a business plan for an egg barn. We applied for the new entrant draw for an egg quota in 2016 and didn’t get it. There was also a farm auction that had a bunch of land and we were able to buy four quarters from there. We applied (for egg quota again) at the end of 2017 and got it. In 2018, when we were building the chicken barn an opportunity arose to purchase 10 quarters. So, we doubled our land base plus we built a chicken barn in 2018. Plus, I had a child! Things were just piling up. It was super stressful and we did it on adrenaline. But that’s what we had to do to expand and provide for our family.”
For Cheryl and Marc, overcoming their expansion challenges is something they’ll always be proud of. “I have a figure-it-out attitude. I never say no, and I’m very solution oriented. We don’t take holidays; we don’t party. We work 24/7. It’s pretty intense! But having the opportunity to show our children what growing food for Canadians looks like makes us proud. We also took every opportunity to create extra cash flow to build the farm business as that is one of the largest challenges for our generation starting out in this industry. It takes a lot of cash or equity to expand!”
The five Norleen children are home full-time this year due to the pandemic, being homeschooled by Cheryl when they’re not in the barn or on the tractor with mom or dad. Neither Cheryl nor Marc would have it any other way. “We don’t have back-up help so we decided to homeschool the kids this year as we wanted to reduce the chances of exposure to Covid. It’s hard and it hasn’t been a smooth ride, but it has worked fantastically for our schedule, especially during harvest. We work late nights but then don’t have to worry about the kids getting up really early in the morning (for school). We can go to the barn late; I have a cot at the barn so they can sleep there while we work. We’re mixing our own feed now because we decided to become an organic egg producer in the specialty egg market (being only the 2nd producer in the province), and there isn’t an organic mill close by to deliver to us. Marc and our eldest son work at it together, measuring out all the ingredients that go into the feed. Our two oldest boys eat, sleep and breathe farming, which definitely keeps our passion fueled to see the next generation taking such interest at a young age. Since our oldest son has been home this year he was able to start his own farming career by growing potatoes, selling them locally and also donating to the local Salvation Army. This experience has been second to none for our kids to learn the work and costs it takes to produce the food. The giving and receiving of support was also another life changing experience for us as a family. For many young farmers, part of what makes all the hard work worthwhile, is knowing you’re providing food for Canadians.”
It’s something Cheryl and Marc are proud to do, happy that their children can learn from their hard work. “I think it’s important to show that it’s real people who produce the food and that we eat what we produce, striving to grow the highest quality of food and wanting it to be generationally sustainable.”
Nathan Dennis
1st generation farmer, Cormack, Newfoundland
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Farming in Canada looks very different as you move from coast to coast. Not every farmer has the same advantages as their fellow agriculturalists, which means you will probably have a very different experience than other farmers just one province over.
But as with all things, different doesn’t mean bad. In this particular case, not bad at all.
Nathan Dennis is a first generation farmer who hails from Cormack, Newfoundland. His farming experience differs from many others because his parents aren’t farmers; he decided to begin farming all on his own, and at a very young age, too. “When we were growing up, every year for passing school, we’d get a little something. It wasn’t Christmas but we’d get something for making an effort in school. When I passed Grade 5, I wanted and got two chickens and a rooster. And it went from there!”
Nathan laughs, saying that he’s been “cursed” with a love of farming his whole life. But perhaps it’s less of a curse and more of an engrained passion for both land and animal. “(While I was growing up) There were a few people around who were homesteading so I’d always be bugging my parents to take me there so I could go see their stuff. I have a few friends who are older than me and they went farming and made a good living at it. Then they sold out and retired and are doing well. But I also know lots of other people who are just like me: the day I stop planting crops in the ground is the day I’m planted in the ground myself. It’s just what you do. It’s who I am.”
Nathan has two separate farms, and focuses on a little bit of everything between them. “I have Dennis Farms which was the original farm I’d started as a hobby in 1999. Then I registered it as a business in 2007. It’s basically a mixed farm of non-supply managed commodities, all on a smaller scale. Forage would be the main one, but we run a few beef cows, we run a few sheep. We raise a few market hogs in the summertime. We grow some root crops some years. Then in 2017, I became a new entrant into the egg industry in the province, and that’s Long Range Poultry Farm. I run that along with my girlfriend, Jody, and we’re the first commercial free run egg operation on the island. I’m a sole proprietorship so I have 100% of the responsibility and debt and things!” (laughs)
Not many young farmers have experience with using horses to work land or otherwise complete their farm work – but Nathan does. In fact, he’s quite keen to speak on the range of equipment he’s had the pleasure of working with over the years. “In 2002, I got my first horse, a Newfoundland pony. In the last 22 years, I’ve gone through about 150 years of farming technology. I started off working with work horses. I still have all the old horse gear and things, but I don’t use it much anymore. I kind of progressed in a hurry but used a lot of older technology because I was starting from scratch.”
And progress has certainly been made. Nathan owns 150 acres of land and leases about 60 acres from neighbouring landowners. But there’s still plenty of land to clear – another distinguishing feature of farming on the island – and Nathan says there are definitely plans to do it. “The majority (is) pasture and forage. A small portion would go into root crops. That’s the total blocks of land; it’s not all 100% farmable land. Some of it we still have to clear. I’d say in total, there’s probably 145 acres that could be cleared up to be actual arable land. My father is a logger, so anytime we need anything clear cut, my dad can do all that. I just recently purchased a bulldozer so now we have the equipment for clearing the land. It might be a five year project to get all the land cleared up to where we want it to be, but there’s definitely plans to get that done.”
In terms of his future, Nathan says that he plans to continue indulging his curse by way of farming whatever it is that needs to be farmed, telling of how Newfoundland farmers before him have done just that to keep island agriculture alive. “Traditionally, a jig’s dinner was a big Sunday meal. Everybody would come together and have one big main meal… with things like carrots, turnips, cabbage, sometimes parsnip. That was all cooked in one big pot with some kind of salted meat. Everybody had that every single Sunday, so the main vegetables grown in Newfoundland were potatoes, carrots, turnip and cabbage. Those were the four staple crops and the main ones sold into grocery stores. Like everywhere else, we have different people with different backgrounds moving into the province. But especially with my mom’s generation, you had potatoes with every meal because you didn’t have access to things like rice or pasta. But now that those other options are there, the demand for those staple crops isn’t there anymore, or at least, the demand isn’t as big. As long as you’re willing to adapt, to accept things and to figure out new ways of doing things, I think there’s a positive future not just for myself but for anybody in general.”
Susan Lester
Lester’s Farm Market, Fruit and vegetable farmer, St. Johns, Newfoundland
BY JESS CAMPBELL
There have been a lot of different sayings created and dedicated to the trials and tribulations of last year, but one that is dedicated in particular to farmers could be Shuck 2020.
Susan Lester is a sixth generation fruit and vegetable grower from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Shuck 2020 was her family farm’s motto for most of last year. Although there were many great things that happened on the farm, the effects of a global pandemic forced the Lester family – which includes Susan, her brothers, Brad and Chris, and her parents, Mary and John – to pivot more than a few times in order to keep serving their customers, support their employees and keep their farm thriving. “(The pandemic) certainly made us think on our feet even more than we usually do. Usually this time of year, we’re open just a few days a week. So (last year), we were doing that and then went into our crazy planting time – which was right around the same time that COVID really hit. We had to find a way to make an online store, we had to figure out how we could open to the public, and how to make it work so that people moved in one direction and didn’t cross over. We were trying to keep our staff and customers safe. There was definitely a lot to take into account.”
The farm is quite the popular destination on the island, which meant Susan and her family members were constantly having to make new decisions and think way outside the box of ideas when it came to continuing to serve and stay afloat. But having to think like that isn’t all bad, she says. “These decisions we had to make, it wasn’t like we could just look to the previous 25 years and say, oh, this is what worked before. It was all brand new, a whole different ball game. But it kind of forced us to finally do a few things that were always on the back burner. We had always thought about doing an online store and wanted to find a way for people to purchase online, but it always kept getting put off. So, it was just about learning how to serve our visitors differently and keeping everyone safe.”
There are many different aspects to Lester’s Farm Market that have kept customers coming back over the years, and even through a pandemic (albeit safely and at a physical distance, of course). “Our main focus is vegetables and we grow over 100 different varieties throughout our season. This will be our 27th year and we’ve added on a few things over the years. We’ve done school tours – but not this year, because of COVID. We have a large flower operation where we have annuals and perennials that we sell to our customers and we have a flower u-pick. We have a strawberry u-pick and we just started a corn u-pick last year that was lots of fun. I run a kids program, Lil’ Lester’s, where kids come to farm once a week to learn about farming. We have secondary processing on-site so not only do they supply our on-site food truck with typical things like fries and different burgers that highlight our in season veggies but they also do bottled items, some salads and soups that are ready to go so when people come into the market, they can take them with them. We have an on-site bakery as well. Oh, and we have a petting zoo, too!”
If you’re thinking that the Lester’s Farm Market sounds like a lot to manage, you’re right. But to Susan and her family, it’s simply a matter of finding and utilizing everyone’s talent. “It certainly helps that there are still five of us in the family who are involved with it. Although we all have different strengths and priorities, at the end of the day, it fits together like a puzzle to make ends meet and come to the final destination of growth and a great place for people to work.”
The farm actually expanded, adding a second location in 2020. Between the two, Lester’s Farm Market employs about 70 people at the peak of the season. Looking ahead, Susan says the family hopes to continue on with building what they have in order to support not only their customers but also their staff – and the good people of Newfoundland. “We are pretty strong in our values and what we want to represent as a family farm and business. We just want to have other people come and experience what we do because, here in Newfoundland, it’s pretty rare. It’s even more rewarding when you get to see someone come in and be like, ‘I just picked this ear of corn!’ It’s really humbling getting to see people do that. We love what we do.”
Marie-Eve Bigras
Quebec
BY JESS CAMPBELL
What does it take to keep a farm going from one generation to the next? Resiliency. Financial planning. The desire to keep farming. And the ability to adapt to change.
This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list. But for Marie-Eve Bigras, a vegetable farmer from Quebec, it’s definitely a relatable one.
“We’re a family farm, the fifth generation, and produce cabbage, field tomatoes and rhubarb, which there aren’t very many big producers of. We have 20 hectares (just under 50 acres) of rhubarb. We’re pretty much the only big rhubarb farm in Quebec. My dad passed away 11 years ago so I came back to work with my brother and my mum. Then my mum got sick a few years ago so my brother and I are running the business now. It makes me proud that I’m on the same farm as my family members and that we keep running the farm business, growing it bigger and bigger over time.”
Even though farmers need to always be ready for change, Marie-Eve has had to lean on her resiliency and adaptability a little more than usual over the past year. “We have about 40 employees who work with us; mostly, they’re from Mexico and Guatemala. We have 30 foreign workers who live right on the farm with us. We had some trouble getting our workers here this year but we were pretty lucky. We had 27 out of 30 coming at the same time. Some were late, but we managed everything. Every time we got a call that another flight was coming, we would go out and plant more cabbage and tomato. My brother didn’t want to plant 2 million cabbage plants if we had no one to harvest them. But even so, our season was pretty good. We produced almost as much as we normally do; our sales were good. But we had to work more overtime. It was different this year; it was difficult but we made it through.”
When times are harder than usual, it’s often helpful to remember why you chose to farm, something that Marie-Eve is happy to discuss. “I like farming because there’s all kinds of things to do. I like being outside. Some days, I drive tractor. Then another day, I’ll be in the office. Then the next, I’ll be doing sales or going to a meeting. There isn’t one day that looks the same as the next, and I like that.”
Having a good team in place definitely makes the day-to-day business on the farm a little easier to manage – especially when your plant count is in the millions. “Depending on the weather, we start mid- to end of April planting cabbage. We plant over 2 million cabbage; green cabbage, red and savoy. As staff come in slowly, week by week, we can put two tractors planting cabbage. Then depending on the weather, we start planting tomatoes in May. Then we plant 150-thousand tomato plants, all in the field, on plastic with a tube of water. As all the tomatoes are growing up, we attach them (to a trellis), so that’s a lot of work, too.”
Marie-Eve says the farm is definitely very different than it was when her father was at the helm, further proving that if you can handle the changes that come with farming, you have a good chance at success – and maybe even some time off. “30 years ago, my father was starting the (tomato) plants. But now we’re too big. We would need to build greenhouses and things like that; it’s too much. We buy the seed and ship it to a guy who plants them, then he ships us the baby plants. From there, we plant them in the field. We save a lot of work doing that. It costs more money but we save work. I’m a single mom so the bigger we get and the more people we have working for us, the better we can manage our own time. Plus, it gives us quality of life; I can actually take vacation!”
Melissa Sinnige
Broiler breeder (chicken) farmer, ON
BY JESS CAMPBELL
As a young person, it’s not always easy to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. Some would argue that decision is easier for farmers because they almost always have the option of at least working on the family farm – if a family farm exists, that is. Luckily for Melissa Sinnige, a broiler breeder farmer from southwestern Ontario, coming home to the family farm has always been an option. “I’ve always wanted to come back to the farm. I farm with my dad, and have been full time for almost three years now. My family got into this in 2005; before that, we were dairy farmers in Holland.”
As a young farmer, Melissa has already learned the importance of being flexible and adaptable – and that change, although scary sometimes, can be a very good thing. “Farming in Holland is pretty difficult, which is why we moved to Canada and became broiler breeder chicken farmers. I personally think that switching from dairy to chickens was the best decision ever. I love it. I love what we do.”
Loving what you do for a living is a huge benefit with any career, but especially with farming. It’s hard work but loving it can make it less hard. “Chickens are very interesting animals to work with; they’re fascinating. It’s also quite difficult, at times, to manage trying to get them to lay eggs instead of just getting them to grow for meat. You need to carefully watch the weight of the birds, and the fertility, and the environment in the barn. Every flock is different. In every flock, you’re looking at new birds and you have to manage them differently. It’s always an exciting challenge. I just find it very interesting.”
Broiler breeders are not as common as some other types of farm operations in Canada, which means the way Melissa and her dad manage their chickens is different from other chicken farmers. But you can tell by the way she speaks about their management practices that broiler breeders are where her passion lies.
“The birds get hatched as day-olds in the USA; there are no breeder farms in Canada so all the breeding stock comes from the States. From day olds to 20 weeks, they’re grown in a growing barn (by someone else) and then at 20 weeks, they come to our farm. Between 24 and 26 weeks, they start laying eggs. Then we typically raise them until they’re about 58 weeks old, more or less, depending on when you fill your egg allocation. The biggest thing we watch for inside the barn when we have the birds is weight. That’s very important, that both the males and females stay in good shape. Egg weight is also very important. Every egg we have gets weighed and that tells you a lot of information about how the birds are doing; like with the females, whether they need more or less feed. Every egg that gets made, the hen uses the same amount of calcium to form the shell. So the bigger the egg, the thinner and weaker the shell gets, so there’s a greater chance that the egg cracks or breaks or doesn’t hatch. So, you don’t want your eggs to get too big.”
Even though they’ve already faced some challenges, Melissa says she and her dad hope to continue growing the farm. “We started building a new barn in January 2020, and finished in June. We bought the second farm two years ago and the plan was to build a barn and then a second barn fairly soon after that. But the pandemic has put a bit of a slow down on that. The chicken market got cut pretty heavily during the first lockdown, and now again. So, that’s been hard.”
With the grip of the pandemic still fierce, Melissa has had to think a little outside the box in terms of how to continue the farm’s growth, coming up with an innovative idea – thanks to the CYFF’s Farm Your Numbers course – to provide chicken products to the local community. “We are now looking at adding a value-added section to the farm, selling chicken products directly from the farm. I’m on a fairly busy road with a lot of traffic; we’ve seen in Europe where people are selling chicken products off their farms with these freezer vending machines. They’re touch screen vending machines so you don’t need to be there to monitor it. People just come up, they pay with a credit card, they take their chicken and they go. We’re thinking of starting with chicken breasts and wings, just simple stuff that people can pick up. So right now, I’m just putting all the numbers together to see if it’ll work. Hopefully once the course is finished, we’ll know where to start.”
Indeed, it can be hard to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life when you’re young and there seem to be endless options available to you. But it seems Melissa Sinnige has known what she’s wanted all along, and is more than happy to keep going after it.
Julie Bissonnette
Dairy farmer, QC
BY JESS CAMPBELL
If there’s one thing people need to know about farming, it’s that it’s much easier to do it together than by yourself. When you farm with someone, you can learn together, lean on each other when things are hard (and they are sometimes), and celebrate together when things are going well.
Julie Bissonnette is a dairy farmer who knows exactly what that’s like. Having grown up on a dairy farm, Julie was able to see first-hand how much easier it was for her parents to share the responsibilities of farming between them, as opposed to just one person attempting to shoulder it all. Now, Julie and her boyfriend Olivier own their own dairy farm and are excited to be not only building their farm together but also building a future together, too.
While Julie splits her time between the farm and being the Chair of the Young Farmers of Quebec (Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec), she says that being able to farm with someone is what keeps her loving the life they have. “We are the only two on the farm. We challenge each other. Right now, we can’t go anywhere or see anyone. We’re on the farm, we listen to music and we love what we do. My boyfriend, it’s his dream to milk cows. It’s nice to work with someone who is realizing their dream every morning.”
Julie and Olivier may have only been farming for six years but those are years Julie wouldn’t trade for anything – especially since those six years have given her everything she loves. “The beginning of the farm was six years ago. My parents have a dairy farm and his parents have beef cows. He bought quota and we rented a barn but we didn’t have land. We bought everything – hay, corn silage, everything. The manure was on the field that was owned by the people who we rented the barn from. So, that was the beginning. In September 2019, we bought a farm with land. It was an empty farm and near his parents farm. It was our goal to be near them. So, we moved the cows, we moved everything here. And now, we have our farm, our barn, our cows, our land. Everything is ours.”
Julie and Olivier milk 50 cows in a renovated tie stall barn, and farm the surrounding land. Although they enjoy the autonomy of owning their own farm, Julie says it is nice to have support from others who have been farming a little longer than six years. “There are strengths and weaknesses, being together on the farm. We need to be surrounded by people who have experience, who have an outside view of the farm. A key to our success since the beginning has been being surrounded by good people. It helps us to improve.”
The future of farming for Julie looks a lot like how it looks today: milking cows, taking care of their land and slowly, over time, growing their farm together. “We have to work on our herd. We have to work on the land, to make it produce more. We want to make sure that everything we do makes things better. For now, it’s a lot of money, and we just want to be sure everything we do is better. Together, we work every day to make the farm better. It’s nice to work toward that.”
Lucas Strong
Newfoundland
BY JESS CAMPBELL
As much as there are many young farmers across Canada who have always known they wanted to farm, there are just as many who have tried working in other industries only to realize that farming was what they truly wanted to be doing and where they felt they truly belonged.
Lucas Strong is a dairy farmer near Lethbridge, Newfoundland, and at just 24, he’s already tried his hand at working in the offshore industry as well as the oil industry in Alberta. Yet as fun and interesting as those experiences were for him, Lucas couldn’t help but be drawn back to his roots – and hasn’t looked back since. “My grandfather started dairy farming back in the late 1970s but got out of the industry in the early 1990s. He had a beef farm while I was growing up and I helped him with that until I graduated high school. Then I tried the offshore industry and I tried Alberta, and I said it’s not for me and I wanted to go farming. There was a dairy farm that was empty in Harcourt about 15 minutes away that had a lot of land. New dairy barn built in 2005, 6-row, 132 stalls but it was empty, 130 acres of grass ground. So my mother and father helped me and I got started.”
At first, Lucas focused his new farm on making hay. “The first year up there, we made 17- or 1800 round bales, my first year on my own. I bought some of my grandfather’s equipment and bought some of my own, with my parent’s help, and we secured the mortgage from Farm Credit Canada, and my father and mother put the down payment on it for me. It wasn’t bad but with the mortgage, income was inconsistent. Coming into the next summer, we put in another 40 acres so got up to 170 acres on that farm. Then I rented my grandfather’s farm, 100 acres there, so cropping about 270 acres by the time I was 20. We were selling a lot of hay by then but I really wanted to make the barn cash flow and dairy was the way to do that.”
Even after facing some fairly significant obstacles – like access to cows and quota – Lucas continued to work hard and progress toward the goal of dairy farming. “A lot of guys laughed, saying I’d never get quota, that there were too many guys buying. I said, you watch. I’m gonna be milking cows here.”
Sure enough, a neighbour happened to be selling and getting out of the dairy industry, an opportunity of a lifetime for Lucas. “We bought roughly 1100 litres of fluid milk, about 38 milk cows, and some heifers and dry cows. I milked in their barn until about the middle of April 2017 and then Chris Nelson of ATL Dairy installed a Boumatic robot in my barn, some EasyFlex stalls and locking head gates and a feed pusher. We started milking 50 and then 60 cows. So we fluctuate between milking 50 and 60 cows and have been doing that ever since.”
Between his own land and his grandparents’, Lucas now has almost 900 acres; 300 in production and another hundred ready for production this spring. While Lucas has worked to diversify his farm with beef animals and even some vegetable cropping, his focus remains on the dairy, and working to improve the access to processing that Newfoundland dairy farmers have (something that’s certainly helped by being a Board member of the Dairy Farmers of Newfoundland). “They only process fluid milk here. Anything besides fluid milk products is processed off the island. We’re having trouble with the ferry because it causes issues when it shuts down (due to inclement weather). In the spring and fall, there could be 3 or 4 days that we don’t have boats moving. And all our feed comes in on boats. There’s always an underlying issue: either milk can’t get across or feed for the cows can’t get back across. That’s why we’re really pushing for this company, The Real Dairy Company of Newfoundland. I believe there will be about 14 of us who’ll be partners in this plant and it will stabilize the industrial milk market on the island and mitigate the losses due to things like inclement weather.”
While a new processing plant would mean a huge change, for now, Lucas says he’ll keep building his farm while remaining hopeful and optimistic about the future. “My father works a lot when he’s home (from working in the offshore industry). He’s a big push when it comes to what goes on at the farm, and my mother does all the bookwork. So, we’d like to have around 100 beef cows and milking around 200. But it all depends on fluid milk markets and our milk plant. If we can get that set up, it will secure our location for milk. And the bank will look upon that favourably for lending purposes. We only have one robot now, so we’ll probably look into a rotary parlour so then we can add on what we need. I have a little girl now; she’s a year old. And hopefully, if she’s interested, it’ll be something for her to think of.”
Vanessa Junkin
Annapolis Valley, NS
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Counting yourself as a young farmer in Canada is pretty exciting; after all, you’re part of how Canada will continue to feed not only its own citizens but also citizens throughout the rest of the world, producing high-quality, safe and healthy food year after year.
At least, that’s the plan.
Vanessa Junkin is a brand new farmer who, within the last 10 months, has purchased 71 acres just on the edge of the Annapolis Valley in the heart of Nova Scotia. While she has only just begun her farming adventure alongside her husband, Will, Vanessa already has a passion for Canadian agriculture and for being part of something bigger – even on a smaller scale.
Of the 71 acres they own, just 11 are workable. And working they are. “We’ve designed this process to have the first season on the farm to just get ready because you need that time when you’re starting with a cabbage farm that hasn’t been farmed in 35 years. You need time to get that ready for it to be functional again. The vision we have for the farm is to control as many of our inputs and outputs as possible to make it a full circle operation. So, trying to grow our feed for our animals then using our animals to fertilize our soil to grow our vegetables. It’s like homesteading on steroids because we want to sell our surplus to our neighbours so we can keep doing what we’re doing on the farm.”
Vanessa is also passionate about education and helping people learn about where their food comes from through sharing what she’s learned on her blog, honeywwoofers.wordpress.com. “I know there’s somewhere in this process for me that revolves around sharing and education. It’s starting with the blog. I can see in the future, running seminars on the farm to help other people who are starting from scratch. First generation farmers who maybe have little to no experience or maybe just a little bit of volunteer farming experience like us, who really want to get their wheels spinning on their own property.”
Vanessa and Will got most of their farming experience by WWOOFing – which stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms – where farmers offer room and board to travellers and those wanting to learn more about farming in exchange for farm labour, an experience that worked as a catalyst to get started on their own farming dream. “We knew we wanted to have a farm but when you don’t inherit land or animals or machinery, it takes a lot of start up to get things going. It blows my mind. We’ve been here for six months and the amount of effort – and money! – that we’ve put into this is crazy. And we’re still pre-sales. We still don’t know if this will be a viable business or if this just ends up being a really expensive hobby.” (laughs)
And what, exactly, does this viable business/potential expensive hobby consist of? “In terms of livestock, we’ve started with ducks, quail and we have alpacas that just sort of fell into our laps. So yes, really common livestock!” (laughs)
Vanessa says they have breeding plans for the ducks and quail along with egg sales. The alpaca are an agri-tourism draw but with a useful twist. “Alpaca manure is a cold manure; you can put it in your garden right away as an amendment. We’re new to this community and people want to come up to see us because they want to see the alpacas. So, making those connections has been great. Plus, I can use alpaca fibre to barter or sell.”
Vanessa says everything on the farm is multi-purpose; the ducks help with pest control (“We have a lot of ticks around here!”) and the quail can be harvested for meat after just eight weeks (“I’m not so sure but my husband says we’re eating them.”). As they dive into their prep for spring planting, they also need to prepare for the arrival of a few new, multi-purpose residents. “I have my pig order in so we’ll be getting pigs this spring. They’ll be helping with our land management. We have a really old field in our forest; you can barely tell it was a field, it’s so scraggly and overgrown. So, I’m going to be using my pigs to reclaim that piece of land. We’ll be harvesting them in the fall but also considering a breeding program for them.”
Even though she’s a brand new farmer, Vanessa says she and Will have already felt the weight of farm business overwhelm. But they’re trying their best to use it as a tool in the planning process. “I worked for 10 years as a paramedic so I have a lot of anxiety around going from being a salaried employee to hoping someone will buy my carrots so I can pay my electricity bill. It’s a complete shift in thinking and mindset, and it’s very hard because it’s challenging what we are taught to believe success means. But the way we’re trying to mitigate those risks somewhat is by being diverse. Not so diverse that we get lost in our mission but diverse enough that it’s not devastating if we lose a crop or some animals. But that equates to having a lot of balls in the air at once, which can be really difficult to manage at times. So, there’s always a trade off.”
No matter how much you’re juggling as a young farmer, it’s difficult to look at your operation and your efforts and say it isn’t worth it. You are, after all, working to feed the future – and yourself – and even after the hardest days, there’s something to be said about that. “We always tell people that if we won the lottery, this is what we’d be doing. This is how I would spend my time. I love being in sync with the sunrise and sunset, and the rhythms of animal care and the seasons. This is how we’re supposed to be spending our days: with our community and with the animals that support our lifestyle and on the land we’re caring for. It’s a soul’s purpose kind of work, and that’s important to me.”
Melanie MacInnes
Langley, B.C.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
While there are all types of farms across Canada, Melanie MacInnes of MacInnes Farms in Langley, B.C. is not necessarily what you’d call a conventional farmer. “We have a 100-acre farm, which is big for our area. But this is a tiny farm compared to the rest of Canada!” she laughs. While their farm might be small in comparison to others, there are big things happening on MacInnes Farms.
Growing up, Melanie’s parents milked cows and raised beef cattle in a feedlot. They decided to sell their quota, uncertain about free trade agreements being signed at the time, and took advantage of the equestrian-focused community they lived in. “They got into horse boarding, riding rings, and we also planted 30 acres of cottonwood trees. At that time, it was an agricultural incentive; it was used for toilet paper but then the Scott paper mill that was going to buy the trees shut down. So, we had 30 acres of cottonwood trees just hanging around.” Having lived in Australia for a few years, Melanie and her husband knew that if they wanted to see the family farm stay alive, they’d need to relocate and figure out what kind of farming they wanted to pursue in the meantime. “My husband and I started getting more and more involved in the farm succession. Basically, if we wanted to keep the farm, we had to figure out something that we could really enjoy and put all our time and waking seconds into.”
And they’ve done just that.
“We decided to go with more of a permaculture style farm. We went with six acres of hazelnut trees. We also decided to start grafting cider apple trees. We planted 10 acres of malting barley, which is not usually grown in the Fraser Valley. We have hops, which does quite well around here. We also started with one honeybee hive; now we have 40. We also started with like, 50 chickens and, well – you know where that went.” (laughs)
Their most recent project being added to the farm is Locality Brewing, what Melanie calls a “field to glass brewery,” meaning they use only locally grown ingredients to brew their beer – including their own barley and hops.
But with so many different facets of the farm, how do these busy farmers get everything done? By focusing on one thing at a time, and finding and nurturing what works best for each member of the MacInnes Farms team. “I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re balancing everything. There are just times where you’re working on something and then you switch to working on something else. My dad, who’s in his 70s, works harder than possibly any of us could work and is the backbone to everything. We’re trying to learn as much as we can and keep up with him! (laughs) My husband is an engineer so that was helpful in getting some of the innovation started and worked on. And then just hiring; we have different contractors working on different aspects of the farm. As much as we’re learning all the aspects, there are just certain things we’re going to be better at than others. As we get through different stages, we’ll find that right person who works and manages a specific thing.”
Melanie’s brother is involved in the farm, as is her mother. But the success of the farm and their ability to continue expanding also comes from the support of their surrounding community. “We have some filming on the property which helps to pay for a lot of what we’re spending money on right now. My brother runs that aspect, which is huge. My mum has always worked really hard, too. She’s just so great at making sure everyone has what they need. She also does the books and she really speaks so proudly of our farm. And her friends – oh, goodness! She just has to whistle and then there’s, like, 30 people from the Red Hat Society here to pick hops or something. She even had her friends help me graft apple trees which is one of the least fun things to do, especially in March when your hands are freezing. She’s such a good friend to so many people, we have this huge supportive community around us.”
No matter where you are in the country, farming has always been synonymous with community, something that Melanie hopes to continue to foster throughout the coming years. “When I was younger, we’d do a hay day and everyone would help everyone else get their hay in. We don’t get that so much anymore in communities and farms. But when you have that group working together, it brings out such a sense of community and a connection to the land. We feel that’s a very important aspect to what we do. I know there are bigger farms that produce way more than we do. But it’s also about farms like ours that are smaller and can help people to connect with the land, meet the farmers and say, ‘Okay, this is how farming works and I understand they’re families as well.’ You need all the different types of farms to make it work.”
Erin Harris
Creston, B.C.
BY JESS CAMPBELL
It’s safe to say that, in Canadian agriculture, gone are the days when consumers simply purchase their food without asking questions. Sometimes, those questions can be tough to answer. But questions and the opinions of consumers can sometimes help farmers step back and reevaluate how they’re doing business, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Organic dairy farmer Erin Harris of Creston, B.C., is happy to have that level of communication with the community that surrounds her.
“We’re an organic dairy,” Erin explains. “We are vertically integrated so we do all of our own processing on-farm. We do fluid milk in glass bottles, skim through whipping cream and chocolate milk. Then we do three raw Alpine-style cheeses and one fresh cheese. We also grow about 90% of our own feed so we farm about a thousand acres. In the last year, we built an on-farm feed mill so we make all of our own robot pellets on-farm as well.”
Erin farms with her parents, milking 100 cows with a robotic milking system, and her brother and sister-in-law also work for them on the farm (processing cheese and running the retail store, respectively). But when speaking about the farm’s beginnings, it’s clear this business has come a long way. “My parents bought the dairy when I was five years old and have done, I think, pretty incredible things. They had three young kids, bought a dairy and converted to grazing. We have family in New Zealand and friends who farm in the United Kingdom so that’s what inspired the grazing. Then they converted to organic. Then they built the on-farm processing facility and then the feed mill. We’ve all been involved along the way but my parents have been the driving force behind a lot of the things in the last 25 to 30 years.”
As an organic dairy that makes Alpine cheeses, Erin and her parents decided to focus on grazing their herd, as opposed to feeding a TMR mix, a decision that has worked well for them given their surroundings. “We pasture for seven months of the year and our milking herd gets about 85% of their diet from pasture during our summer season. We have intensive pasture so we get new grass every 12 hours for the cows. We only feed long dry hay to our milking herd because of the cheeses we make. So, that’s partially why we farm so much land is because we need to grow a lot of alfalfa, grass, and hay. We can’t feed any silages so it’s all long, dry forage. We grow wheat, barley and some flax, and buy in pea protein and some minerals.”
The decision to go organic spiralled the other decisions that have pushed the farm forward in recent years. “We’re in Creston so we’re the South East corner of B.C.; we’re relatively isolated from other dairies and dairy processing, and couldn’t get our milk processed as organic. First we built our cheese plant, where we make our raw cheeses. About five years after we started making cheese, we decided to start processing fluid milk on-farm. Fluid milk is a really good market. Your cash flow is a lot easier. One of our cheeses ages 18 months. So, you buy that milk and then 18 months later, you’re selling the product. So fluid milk is definitely easier!” Erin laughs.
Another aspect that makes things easier is the incredibly supportive community that surrounds the farm. “We’re very lucky. The Kootenays is really into this kind of product. It was a smart decision to call ourselves Kootenay Meadows, really tying ourselves to our region. Kootenays is just super supportive of local products. We did very little marketing to start; it helped that we’d been making high-quality Alpine cheese for quite awhile. But then there was this hype around it when we were building onto the farm shop and people started to realize we were getting into bottling fluid milk. That really helped us get into a lot of major grocery stores because we had a lot of people asking. We’re incredibly lucky in the communities that we’re part of. I don’t think you could do it with as little marketing as we’ve done in most other places.”
The farm pays their gratitude forward by having self-guided tours of the barn open to the public during the retail shop hours, as well as hosting a big event every spring. “We do a turn-out event when the cows go out to pasture for the first time in the spring. We do an art walk in the barn, and have a couple of artists come in the barn to paint. We have a brass band that plays while the cows go out. We get between 500 and 1,000 people out for spring turn-out most years. We try to do stuff like that so people can connect with our farm and feel like it’s their farm in the Kootenays.”
When it comes to answering questions, Erin has a slightly different take on how she approaches her answers, one that has likely helped continue the success of the farm. “I actually like when questions from consumers force you to think outside your own box. Sometimes as farmers, we get into a bit of an echo chamber. At the end of the day, we are a service industry in agriculture. The customer is always right even if we don’t always agree with them. You have to figure out how to meet them halfway.”
Dan Chiappetta
Southwestern Ontario
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Dan Chiappetta is a crop farmer from Southwestern Ontario but wasn’t raised on a farm. He was raised in an urban area, worked at a pumpkin patch in high school then went to the University of Guelph for his Agricultural Business degree. But at no point during his progress toward achieving his dream of becoming a farmer did he have the fall-back most young farmers have: experience.
Over 90% of farms in Canada are family owned and operated. Dan’s operation is one of the few that isn’t – but did that stop him? Does it worry him now?
Not even a little.
From day one, Dan has approached farming from a business perspective. “I always look at everything as a return,” he says. “Similar to how people invest in the stock markets, I invest in the grain markets. Whatever expenses I have for the year, I have to make sure my profit is equivalent to some sort of return.”
Dan began farming seven years ago while fully understanding the benefits of taking more risks when you’re young. “I was just like, what’s the worst that could happen? I started farming my first chunk of land when I was 20. At least when you’re that age, you can bounce back if something happens.”
This year, Dan farmed approximately 170 acres of winter wheat and soybeans. But these plots of land aren’t exactly in close proximity to one another, making the way Dan farms just a little different from the norm. “I have a little land outside of Cambridge, a little outside of Milton and then some land out in York county just North of Toronto. I live on a rural property – not a farm – between Guelph and Elmira, and I rent land wherever I can get it. After I graduated, I purchased a farm in Grey County and held that for a couple of years. Then the Mennonites came and made me an offer so I sold it. I’m looking to get back onto a chunk of land but it’s so expensive now, I’m just figuring out my next steps.”
One way that Dan keeps his costs in check is by supporting custom operators in the areas where he rents his land. “I’m on all developer land; land that’s destined to be turned into homes one day. It’s marginal land; it’s not tilled, most of it is heavier clay so not the best to crop. But it’s cheaper rent. In terms of getting the crop in the ground, I work with local farmers in those areas and get custom guys to do it. I own the seed and fertilizer; I just hire them to plant the crop and then hire the co-op to spray it. I’ve built my business on that, using local operators with equipment because it’s tough to get equipment to the different farms.”
Ideally, Dan sees himself purchasing a home farm in the future – “likely in Wellington County” – that will act as a base where he can continue to scale his business from. But at the moment, it’s about continuing to grow slowly but steadily. “I’m focused on keeping my costs as low as I can, taking every single dollar out of the land that I can and investing that into either a farm purchase or other aspects of real estate, because farms are so expensive. What I’ve found is that I’m better off taking that money and investing it in a rental or a flip property to make some winter money, and then do it all again. That’s what I’ve done the last 7 years. Everyone always says there’s a better way of doing it, but it works for me.”
Dan works full time for a major bank in agricultural lending, but is quick to say he wishes he could farm full time instead. It’s his passion and, like many young farmers, the opportunity to continue building his business is what keeps him moving toward his goal of owning his own farm one day. “It’s definitely a passion that keeps me loving it and keeps me moving forward. I know I will live on a farm, it’s just how I’m going to get there.”
Rachael Verwey
Portage la Prairie, MB
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Balancing the different aspects of your life isn’t always easy. It becomes especially complex when you’re involved in a family farm and trying to find your place within the operation. Rachael Verwey, a dairy, cash crop and beef farmer from just outside Portage la Prairie, MB, seems to have lots of practice with it. “We have a mixed operation,” says Rachael. “We farm about six thousand acres of grain land. We milk about 140 cows in a double 12 parlour and we run about 250 head of commercial Charolais. So, there’s a lot going on. Everybody’s always busy!”
Rachael’s farm is a genuine family affair. “My dad and his three brothers farm together. I have three older cousins who work full time on the farm and a brother who is full time on the farm as well. Then there’s a bunch of us, cousins and such, who help out when we’re home. I work off the farm full time as an agronomist so am around on the weekends to help out, with the goal of eventually being on the farm.” As well, Rachael’s mom is the bookkeeper for – among other things – for the farm and her aunt is the farm’s agronomist.
Of course, balancing your own life also depends on how the people in your life balance theirs. Rachael has many family members to consider when it comes to planning her future on the farm, something she acknowledges as not always being easy. “There are a lot of people working on the farm right now so that’s something that we’re still trying to figure out, for sure. I joke with my brother that if it was just us, it would be no problem. I’d be farming full time with him if it was just us taking over from our dad. We work really well together.”
Rachael says that understanding everyone’s personalities and where their strengths lie is helpful when trying to plan for the future of the farm. “With my cousins, we also work well together. You know everyone so you can figure out who’s better doing what job and play to those strengths. There are five of us who are looking at farming full time and we kind of all know where we would fit.”
Like many young farmers, conversations about the succession plan for the farm haven’t been as smooth as the younger generation might like. But Rachael says it’s about understanding where everyone around the table is coming from. “My oldest uncle is only 60 years old; no one is even thinking about retirement yet. They’re all in great health and love what they do. They built this operation to what it is now so trying to figure out who will take it over… it’s complicated. But when I went to the CYFF conference in March, someone asked a speaker about how to start those hard conversations; how to talk to the grumpy old guys! (laughs) The speaker said for us to figure out why they’re grumpy in the first place. What’s on their brain that’s making them so grouchy when it comes to talking about this? For me, that was huge, understanding more of where my dad is coming from. He and my uncles basically built this farm up from nothing. Understanding that puts it into perspective for me, for having those succession planning talks.”
Not everything about the future of Rachael’s family farm is complicated, however. “Our goal is to have a self sustaining dairy, and not necessarily three different operations. We’d like to expand the dairy and use our acreage to feed the cows. There’s been talks of getting rid of the beef herd and that hurts my heart because I love the cows!” Even though she’s not sure of her place on the family farm just yet, Rachael loves her agronomy career – and she’s certainly not against diversifying to keep that balance interesting. “My boyfriend, Ken, and I actually started, very modestly, beekeeping. We started with four hives this year and we’re hoping they live through the winter. We did everything by the book, so we’ll see how it goes!”
Rudi Meier
Abbotsford, British Columbia
BY JESS CAMPBELL
For many young farmers in Canada, part of their work involves something less tangible than doing chores, planting and harvesting crops or otherwise growing food for Canadians and the world at large.
This is very true for Rudi Meier of U and D Meier Dairy Limited in Abbotsford, British Columbia. “What I love most about farming is continuing my dad’s legacy. I love working with my twin brother, Karl, and with my children. Being able to produce great quality milk for the community and work alongside my children makes me proud. I’m proud to see them work really hard and learn skills they’ll be able to use later on in life.”
Building a legacy is something many young farmers are familiar with, as many are working with family and creating plans to gradually take over the family farm from their older family members. But building a legacy means moving forward not only as a family but also as a business, something Rudi knows a lot about. “We’ve installed an underground irrigation system and purchased an irrigation reel. We added a brand new Claas tractor with triple mowers to speed up the summer chopping season. We also added a cow monitoring system with collars and camera surveillance. Our herd has grown from 230 to 300 cows and we’ve expanded out into our old pack barn.”
As any business owner knows, growing doesn’t come without its (hopefully occasional) pains. This is true for the next generation of Canadian farmers, too. Although he loves working with his brother and children, Rudi says that labour has been their top challenge as they continue to grow and strengthen their farm business – and legacy. “Our challenge has been trying to get consistent labour and then convincing ourselves to purchase land. Land costs are high here – and less and less of it is becoming available. We are applying for workers to help us with the labour issue and decrease our labour costs, which will allow us to pay down debt and buy land in the future.”
The future is something that no one can accurately predict, of course. But for Canada’s young farmers, their future can seem pretty shaky at times, with trade agreements being renegotiated and the ever-changing demands of consumers. Despite walking on uneven ground most of the time, Canada’s young farmers persevere with a positive outlook for their chosen livelihood. Rudi’s outlook is no different. “The future of my farm is strong. I am young and very passionate about my business. I want to be successful but also smart about my financial choices. British Columbia is a strong province for agriculture; we have a strong market in our culture and a very demanding customer group. Canada will have to (continue to) defend (what we have) in the future in order to keep farmers safe. In the meantime, farmers are becoming more efficient with the way we farm our land and how we grow our crops.”
The ever-changing demands of consumers could mean big changes for Canadian agriculture. But if there was one thing Rudi would like consumers to know about farmers and agriculture in Canada, it’s to hold on to that sense of trust. “The most important thing consumers should know about Canadian agriculture is that we make great quality products. We take great care with our animals, our land and with the needs of our communities. Farmers are the backbone of this country and we are proud to feed millions of Canadians and others across the globe.”
Eric Simpson
Glencoe, Ontario
BY JESS CAMPBELL
For Eric Simpson, farming is about family.
Together with his mum, Victoria, brother Owen, wife Sarah and his two young sons, PJ (six) and Carter (four), Eric owns and operates Simpson Poultry Ltd., just outside of Glencoe, Ontario. “We farm 1200 acres, have 27,000 layers and two flocks of 25,000 pullets,” says Eric. “We have two hired hands, Wesley and Mike. On our farm, we make our own feed, and maintain a daily routine of checking the barns, gathering eggs, tending to the fields and maintaining our own equipment.”
Farming among his family comes naturally to Eric, as he’s worked on the farm since he was in high school. But that same blessing has also presented a unique challenge, too. All throughout high school, Eric was working with and learning from his late father, Peter. “The biggest challenge I have faced is when I was 25 years old; my dad had a heart transplant and he never made it out of the hospital.”
Although Eric had learned many lessons from his father by then, he also – and for the first time – felt the immense pressure to succeed in carrying on the family business. “(When my dad died) that’s when I realized that it was all on me. Every decision I made, every mistake I made, it was on me – nobody else. It was scary.”
That’s a lot of pressure for a then 25-year-old with a young family. But Eric already knew he would persevere somehow. “I overcame (that pressure) by using the life lessons that my dad had taught me in the past. I didn’t know it but he was preparing me for this day. It wasn’t supposed to be so soon, but here we are. I’m 31 years old now and we haven’t sunk the ship!”
These days, Eric tends to focus on the future of his farm, including the (potential) next generation and all they’ll need to face in order to continue feeding the world. “What I love about farming is spending time with my family and watching my boys enjoying the animals. I hope the future of my farm is my two boys. I see the industry in the next ten years starting to have even more rules and regulations. It’s going to be harder and more stressful. We have to (continue to) show people how we farm and that they are eating some of the safest food in the entire world.”
The rules and regulations around egg farming are one of the aspects Eric takes pride in when it comes to being a young Canadian egg farmer. “What makes me the most proud to be in the egg industry is how we farm. Everything is very meticulous, everything is clean, and everything is done a certain way. I’m proud to show people our farm and to talk about our farm.”
Consumer messaging is becoming more and more important these days, something Eric is very aware of. But Eric says he simply wants consumers to be able to have their questions answered and to know that Canadian farmers take their work – and especially the care of their animals – very seriously. “We have protocols that we have to follow. There’s a lot of paperwork and time invested in keeping our barns clean and in all the testing we have to do. We have inspectors coming in to make sure we’re doing a good job and treating the chickens well. The most important thing the consumer needs to know about our industry is about the rules and regulations that are in place to make sure what they eat is safe.”
Despite the work, challenges and stress of it all, there’s still nowhere else Eric Simpson would rather be than continuing his father’s farming legacy with his family by his side.
Korey Peters
Randolph, Manitoba
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Korey Peters, a third-generation grain and hog farmer, gives an honest answer when asked what it’s like to farm with his family. “I love working with my family! Maybe not every minute of the year; there are times it can be tough but it sure is an amazing experience to say that I own a business with my family that is thriving into the third generation with the fourth in university.”
Korey’s farm is located in Randolph, Manitoba, and even its name is steeped in the multi-generational theme. “My family farm is called Herbsigwil Farms. I farm with my dad Will, my brother Kevin, my uncle Sieg and my cousin Scott. Our farm name also includes my Grandpa’s name, Herbert; hence, Herb-Sieg-Wil.”
Together, the family grows wheat, canola, corn, soybeans, sunflowers – and pigs. “We have a hog operation, and we’re lucky to have a great barn manager who has been with us for 12 years and two other fantastic swine technicians who take great care of our pigs.”
Even though he loves his work, Korey admits that working with family can be difficult at times and, in fact, it’s one thing he counts as a challenge. But it isn’t one he and his family haven’t overcome. “Transitioning from one generation to the next and finding your role within the farm to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible is tough. We have spoken to many professionals and have listened to many speak at numerous conferences about succession. It is an ongoing, never ending process that I am very thankful the 2nd generation wasn’t afraid to start early. Just as they did, (the third generation is) already talking about how we would like to retire and have the farm continue on.”
Succession planning is an absolute necessity when it comes to the future of any farm in Canada. At the end of the day, farming is a business, and not necessarily an easy one. Korey is optimistic that the future of his family business is a bright one, thanks to innovation and agricultural technology. “Our farm will continue to look for that sweet spot where we are as productive as we can be with the acres that are comfortable for us. This is always changing and will probably continue to be adjusted as the farm grows the amazing technology that we are slowly implementing into our family business. Technology in ag is second to none. We, as an industry, need to celebrate this and let others know of the strides we have taken and continue to take in growing our businesses and our food and commodities in a sustainable way.”
Part of having a sustainable farming operation is being transparent about your farm’s practices. Korey and his family take this seriously, and welcome extended family, friends and consumers alike onto their farm so they can show people exactly what it is to be a farmer in Canada in 2020. And they’re proud to do so. “I really enjoy connecting those who are a few generations removed from the farm back to the land. I often bring my friends and their friends for rides on the machines during the summer. It’s a great starting point to have a conversation about what we do, why we do it and the benefits it has to our farm right now and also to its future. We care about our business and, in order for our business to make money, we cannot cut any corners. Our animals are healthy and well taken care of, our crops are grown with patience and attention to detail. We know and understand every aspect of our business because if we don’t, we won’t be in business long. We love what we do and want to show that to others, connecting everyone to their food through social media, open farm days and many other opportunities.”
Ann & Cody Legge
Blomidon, Nova Scotia
BY JESS CAMPBELL
What do flower farming, raising cow-calf pairs, milking cows, running a feedlot, working as a veterinary technician and growing grain crops have in common?
If you’re not sure, you’d better ask Ann Legge of Blomidon, Nova Scotia. Between she and her husband, Cody, that list of work is how they make their living.
“I work full time at Patterson Farms Limited, a local dairy farm milking 50 cows,” says Ann. “I also run my own farm, Petal & Bay Flower Farm, growing cut flowers for wholesale or to order. Cody works full time at K.B. Kinsman & Sons Limited, a local feedlot, raising 400-500 feeders and also runs his own farm, Cody Legge Farms, growing hay and grain crops. And together, we help on Cody’s family farm, Legge Farms, raising 40 cow-calf pairs. And on Saturday mornings, I work as a Veterinary Technician at Glooscap Veterinary Clinic.”
If you think that sounds like a ton of work, you’re correct. But these newlyweds – married in October 2018 – wouldn’t have it any other way. “We both love keeping busy and especially the variety that comes with farming. Every day is the same but different. We work in acres, not hours!”
Cody is a third-generation beef farmer so farming is not only their livelihood but their lifestyle. Ann admits that farming isn’t always easy – but it isn’t something they’d ever give up on. “There can be really long days. But (we’re) thankful for rainy days when we can catch up on house chores or get in the shop, fixing things. At the end of the day, as we wipe the sweat – or tears – from our faces and watch a sick cow get better, a tiny seed grow into a quality product after so much work… to fail some days but be able to get back up the next morning and try again with determination makes it all worth it and we wouldn’t change it for anything!”
Ann and Cody’s farm is right on the Minas Basin of Nova Scotia. The Basin “plays an integral part in agriculture in the area” adding a unique soil mixture, temperature and weather fluctuations. Plus, the tides rise between 46 and 52 feet every day! Their opportunity to farm within such an extraordinary location isn’t lost on Ann or Cody yet their community and the many partnerships they have which help them do what they do is equally important to them. “We are grateful for all our fellow farmers, nutritionists, veterinarians, supporters and consumers for helping us along the way, and encouraging us to grow with experience and knowledge to be the best we can! In fact, we don’t really consider this a ‘job’ – it’s simply how we have chosen to spend our lives.”
Being members of the Canadian Young Farmers Forum is another meaningful opportunity for Ann and Cody. “It has allowed us to meet so many farmers and members of the agriculture industry with so much knowledge and experience to share, allowing us to grow and innovate. It’s so helpful to have a whole support group alongside us!”
Having so many things to accomplish in a day may seem overwhelming to some. But to Ann and Cody Legge, it’s about building a beautiful legacy.
Chris Oram
Wooddale, Newfoundland
BY JESS CAMPBELL
There are hardly any places left in Canada where you’ll find a farmer clear-cutting trees to build an agricultural landbase.
But Chris Oram of Wooddale, Newfoundland, happens to be one of those farmers. “We got probably another 100 acres we can clear,” says Chris. “We try to get five acres into production every year. You pick away at it and it’ll come.”
Along with his wife, Kayla, and his parents, Richard and Arlene, Chris operates Mark’s Market, a 56-acre fruit and vegetable farm. The thing about being a fruit and vegetable farmer in Newfoundland – or The Rock as many call it – is that soil suited to growing fruits and vegetables isn’t very easy to find. So on top of clear-cutting new acreage each year, Chris also needs to tend to the soil and prepare it for growing fruits and vegetables, which takes a lot of time, patience – and money. (No pressure, by the way.)
“In Newfoundland, we do rough clearing enhancement. The government gives us a subsidy, $1500 per acre rough clear. Then the following year when you have gotten the soil pH up a bit, they’ll give you another $1500 per acre. So, they’re giving you $3000 per acre to get it into production. It’ll cost you more than that, likely five or six thousand dollars an acre. But, it helps. We’ve managed to buy an excavator and keep it running to clear the big trees off of the land; every spare minute we have, we run it. It’s a work in progress.”
A big part of preparing newly cleared land is the most back-breaking work one could imagine yet it vital to improving the soil. “There’s a hill right close to our market and I literally spent seven days picking rocks on it to get it ready for potatoes this year. The more rocks you can get out, the better, obviously!”
Planting crops on newly cleared land isn’t as easy as one might think. “There are only some crops that’ll do well in new ground,” says Chris. “The first year that you clear it, you can get away with planting turnips – everywhere in Newfoundland, we call them turnips, not rutabagas! (laughs) You could maybe (plant) some table beets for pickling. But you’ve really gotta be on top of your fertilizers to get a decent crop out of it.”
Mark’s Market happens to be the only fresh market within an hour radius of Chris’s farm. Some customers come from two hours away to purchase fresh, in-season produce that isn’t always available elsewhere. For Chris and his family, having the flexibility to grow what’s in demand is part of what makes their farm business worth the hard work. “We’ve gotten into strawberries now, as a u-pick. It’s got our season extended on the front end for probably four weeks earlier than usual. So, we can push out lettuce and peas and green leafy stuff and sell all that with the strawberries.”
The farm grows what Chris calls Newfoundland’s “traditional vegetables” of potatoes, carrots, cabbage and turnip plus several other crops like apples and plums. Although selling to wholesalers may have once been a goal, Chris says they’d much rather make their living selling directly to their customers. “We grow everything from A to Z. Everything we can physically grow, we are! We’ve got secondary processing with jam, pickled beets, carrots and all these other add-ons like peas, beans, broccoli, cauliflower – a customer will spend a bit more. It all draws people down to the farm. We set our own prices and offer a fresh, quality product.”
Justin Williams
Bloomfield, Ontario
While there are many farms across Canada that are multi-generational, there are less that have a farm lineage creeping up to double digits. Justin Williams of Wilhome Farms in Bloomfield, ON, happens to be of the latter description.
“Our farm has been in the family since 1814 and I’m the 8th generation farming this land. My parents, Don and Anne, own the farm that I work on with my younger sister, Brittany. Wilhome Farms milks 70 cows in a tie stall, with around 400 acres both owned and rented. Crops include hay, corn, wheat and Identity Preserved (IP) soybeans.”
While Justin’s ancestors may have farmed the land to provide for themselves and their community, farmers today must have a head for business in order to succeed. In the 21st century, farming is truly an entrepreneurial pursuit, something that Justin has taken to heart, having started his own maple syrup business alongside being part of the family farm. “I own and operate Justin’s Maple Syrup which produces high quality maple syrup and maple products. In a forest located on the family farm, I tap around 500 trees using modern equipment.”
While his days are certainly busy, Justin is thoroughly content in his chosen profession, happy that it provides an opportunity to do some good in the world. “Things I love most about farming are the ability to work outside and with animals. It’s important to protect the environment we live in and I’m honoured to play a part in that, and in producing food for people.”
For Justin, the future of farming is exciting – and the current reality is pretty cool, too. “We have a robotic feed pusher that goes around the barn every hour, pushing in the feed to the cows, ensuring they always have feed in front of them which makes them happy. Modern technology is a great way to reduce stress and the physical demand on farmers so they can be more productive and work smarter. I believe in the next five to ten years, there will be huge advancements in the agriculture industry both in cropping and animal agriculture. I’m excited to see what’s to come.”
Farming and agriculture aren’t without challenges, something Justin – and all farmers – constantly need to manage. From Justin’s perspective, managing consumer expectations is an important job to be taken seriously. “People (can) have different ideologies than those in agriculture, and other consumers; those people can sometimes overshadow all the positives of agriculture. Some believe we are trying to poison them with the products we use on our crops and animals when, in reality, we use them to help preserve the environment and provide the best, most comfortable life for the animals. (As farmers) it’s important to keep sharing the positive message of agriculture and continue to debunk myths while talking to the consumers who are genuinely interested in knowing more. Using resources from associations such as Farm and Food Care and The Centre for Food Integrity are great places to start.”
As for consumers, Justin recommends that questions and curiosities be fulfilled from the horse’s mouth. “It’s important for consumers to trust farmers because we are also consumers. If you’re sick, you go to the doctor. If you need money, you go to a lending institution. If you have questions about farming, you should talk to a farmer.”
Veronica Vermeulen
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Veronica Vermeulen is not your average farmer – and she prefers it that way.
Veronica is part of the third generation on a 350-cow dairy farm in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, farming with two of her brothers (she has six siblings total), which, as it turns out, is the thing that makes her non-average. “I was expected to go farm with my husband, Matt, who has a two-robot, 100-cow dairy farm,” says Veronica. “Everyone expected me to go there. That pressure totally didn’t come from my husband at all. I had to fight quite hard to get my succession deal done within my family farm. I don’t think it came from a negative place, necessarily; it’s just that people didn’t believe that I knew what I wanted. I really had to prove that this is what I want and to make sure my actions showed that.”
As a young, female farmer, Veronica is very aware that, despite working on the same farm, her farm life and the farm life of her brothers is very different. “I used to feel like the world was against young female farmers. But the more I learn, the more I realize that it’s the choices you make as a young female farmer – they’re VERY different than the choices a young male farmer makes. For example, when you decide to start a family, what happens with your work? For me and my husband, I feel that whatever changes happen in my life when we have a kid will be the same changes that happen in his life. I’m not going to be the one who isn’t going to work because we have kids. It’s 50/50 and we’re going to figure it out.”
Veronica and her brothers have learned to play to each other’s strengths when it comes to managing such a large operation. “I work a lot with my oldest brother. He does a lot with the business side of things, like HR and decisions about what barn we’re building next. Then my other brother does the cropping, and I do a lot of breeding, cow health, calving out the cows and all the calf stuff.”
The farm is split into four, something Veronica says works very well. “There are different locations and people have different responsibilities (at those specific locations). We have all the fresh cows in one place. The first half of their lactation, they all go to the same farm. Then after they’re pregnant, they go to a different farm until they dry off (and are ready to have their calf). Once they’re dry, they come to my barn which is a pack barn. I keep them for two months and then for a few days after they calve. After they’ve had their calf, I truck them about two kilometers up the road to the barn with the fresh cows, where they’ll eventually get bred and the process starts all over again.”
Outside the farm, Veronica pays close attention to both agricultural technology (she has an Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo) and consumer perception. It’s these two aspects that cause Veronica to be excited for the future of agriculture in Canada. “I think technology in agriculture is heating up and I’m really excited about where it’s going. It’s just amazing, all the tools we have – and that next year, those tools will be even better and we’ll have new tools! It’s just a really great time to be a farmer.”
As far as consumers go, Veronica hopes the agriculture industry can continue to improve trust and communication. “I’ve never been more excited to be part of Canadian agriculture. I think it has a very exciting future but we need to be more customer sensitive. Y’know how there was that whole, ‘If you ate today, thank a farmer’ thing? I think it should be, ‘If you’re a farmer, thank a consumer.’ I think as farmers, we’ll need to serve our customer more in the future. I think right now, there’s a lot of customer pressure and negative talk about farmers and being environmentally friendly. I think it’s an exciting opportunity to be a farmer, turning that on its head and doing better, especially with technology and precision agriculture. I see all the negativity as an opportunity, definitely.”
Colin Penner
Elm Creek, Manitoba
BY JESS CAMPBELL
For some people, it’s easy to be independent. You don’t need to rely on anyone or anything to live the life you want and to do the things you want to do.
But Colin Penner knows the power of doing things and living life with others, working together for a common goal.
As a third generation grain farmer, Colin farms with his parents on the land his grandparents purchased in 1959. While he’s been farming for the last 10 years, he has already seen – and will continue to see – big changes in his farm. “My parents and myself are the primary farmers. My younger brother is looking into farming with us. He works off farm as an engineer right now so we’re working through that succession plan. We’re very different personalities. He’s an engineer at heart, very process oriented whereas I’m an abstract thinker at times. It’s going to be hard with him coming home because I’ve been farming for the last 10 years and he hasn’t. So, the transition will be tough but I’m really looking forward to it because he’s a smart guy and really good at things I’m not good at.”
The farm itself has rapidly grown over the last few years, a good thing when the farm family continues to grow, too. “My wife, Laurie, grew up five miles down the road and her parents farmed as well. We farmed 1800 acres for as long as I can remember. Then when my wife’s parents retired, they asked us how much land we wanted. So, we’ve just been growing into their acres. The first year, we jumped up a little bit and then the second year, we jumped up a little bit more. Now, we’re at 3600 acres; we doubled in size over the last five years. There’ve been a few growing pains but it’s been a lot of fun, too.”
Farming with his family on a growing acreage has been a lot of work. But it remains a good balance for Colin’s off-farm job as an instructor at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. “I teach Farm Management at the university and it’s a lot of fun. The program is pretty neat because we take a student’s farm or a case farm and look at its finances for a year. Then, they take it over and run it and make changes. I get to advise these students on their books, how to cash flow their farm and how balance sheets work, and how to budget. For the fall semester, I’m advising but am not there as much; then in the winter semester, I’m teaching four days a week.”
Colin says he loves being a teacher much more than he enjoyed being a student, and that a big part of that comes not only from the students he teaches but also the faculty he works with. “I work with some really great colleagues. It’s kind of the weirdest workplace I’ve ever worked at! (laughs) It’s a great group who are all farmers. But we have very different backgrounds, political views, beliefs – we are all very different people. But it’s fun because we can sit down for a meeting and disagree with each other but by the end of it, we’ve come to an agreement or consensus on the best way to move forward. We have mutual respect all the way around and it’s just really fun.”
Balancing family and work that is both on- and off-farm isn’t always easy or straightforward – but the effort is always worth it, especially when you can share your challenges and triumphs with others. For Colin, it’s about continuing to do his best for himself, his family, his students and colleagues, and for consumers. “My sense of pride comes from seeing a job well done. Canadian farmers are striving to do a good job. I’d like to believe that everyone on their farm is treating their land well, treating their livestock well and doing the best job they can. When I look around my neighbourhood or during my drive to Winnipeg, I see a lot of people trying to do the best they can for their farm, and that makes me really proud.”
Carolyn Wilson
Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, New Brunswick
BY JESS CAMPBELL
One of the great things about farming in Canada is the diversity. Farm sizes vary from one to the next; that often depends on the province the farms are in. Still, it’s safe to say the average consumer thinks of farming as one of two things: either a huge conglomerate with thousands of animals, acres and employees, or what is essentially a hobby farm with a few chickens, one cow for milk, another for beef and a pig for pork.
You could say that Carolyn Wilson’s farm falls somewhere in between those two consumer images.
She and her husband, Mark, own and operate The Brookside Butcher in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, New Brunswick. Carolyn and Mark were both raised on farms – livestock with a GE grain business, and dairy, respectively – but came to purchase the butcher business and accompanying retail space in 2017, having absolutely zero experience in butchery. But with support from their families, their community and each other, they dove in. “It is operated primarily by my husband, Mark. I also play a key role in the business, managing our market booth, running our social media page and doing the accounting. We work closely with my family’s farming business, West Branch Feeds, and Mark’s family dairy farm as well. We produce and process quality meat products for direct sale to our consumers. We source approximately 80% of our meat products from our farm and that of our families, approximately 15% from farms in our neck of the woods, and the remaining 5% is Canadian product we bring in from out of province.”
While there have certainly been challenges in learning a new business, Carolyn says she and Mark always try to look on the bright side of life. “When we first purchased the farming business, we needed a place to stay while we found something permanent. So Mark and I spent our first summer on the property living in an aging camper. Little did we know, we had set the camper up in the absolute wettest part of the field and then it rained for a month straight. Seriously. The mosquitos were unreal – a real character builder, for sure! That was certainly a challenge that got a few chuckles from our neighbors. When we have a rough day at the shop, it certainly does help to look back on what we have overcome.”
For Carolyn, it’s the ability to look back on how far they’ve come that really keeps her and Mark striving toward their ultimate goal, a valiant and common one for most Canadian farmers. “In our farming business, our goal is to provide quality, locally grown meat to our consumers. We strive to support local farmers and businesses and build our local community by supporting initiatives and volunteering. We believe every community needs small business and we see our role in securing food at the local level. Working with the Bouctouche Farmers’ Market has enabled us to grow closer to consumers and help them understand a bit more about the realities of farming.”
It’s farmers like Carolyn and Mark who not only help consumers make the most informed choices about the food that they eat but also realize the value in Canadian agriculture and in supporting Canadian farmers. “Consumers need to know that Canadian Farmers produce the BEST food in the world. It is nutritious, safe and delicious. Consumers also need to know that Canadian Farmers care. A LOT. They care about their land, their families, their reputation and their product. Farming really is a labor of love.”
Amoree Briggs
Whitehorse, Yukon
BY JESS CAMPBELL
Not all farms are created equally.
That’s the message farmer Amoree Briggs would like consumers to understand, and rightfully so. Amoree farms just outside of Whitehorse, Yukon, with her husband and family, growing a wide variety of crops for both human and animal consumption. “We have beef cattle, laying hens, meat birds (seasonal), hay fields, and gardens/greenhouse. Our oldest son (Huxley, aged 10) raises rabbits for meat and fur. We have a few renters on our property who also help out, one with four alpacas and one who raises pigs seasonally. We have a bush berry patch with saskatoons, black and pink currants, raspberries, gooseberries and haskaps. We also have a northern-style apple tree greenhouse and are successfully producing apples – and soon-to-be pears from a new pear tree.”
Having a farm in the Yukon is definitely not without its challenges. But for Amoree, those challenges allow her to hone her skills and become a better, more efficient farmer. “The biggest challenge here is that farming in the Yukon is such a new venture; there aren’t a lot of people who have years of experience farming. Also, our infrastructure is limited. Parts for equipment often have to be sourced from down South, equipment needs to get hauled up the Alaska Highway, there are limited people/mechanics to work on tractors, etc. Another interesting thing is that farmers here typically do everything, from slaughter, mechanics, construction and soil analysis to marketing, cutting and wrapping their products, and composting for fields and garden crops. We are forced to be heavily involved in all aspects of our product development.”
Farming anywhere is hard work – but farming in the Yukon is really hard work. Amoree says that she’s proud of the opportunity she has to show her children what it means to work hard and how that can yield a great bounty (literally and figuratively). “We love our family connection with farming and the valuable time we get to spend together, whether it be baling hay until the wee hours of the morning, rounding up cows with our dogs, or taking an afternoon break (on a hot day) paddling on our irrigation pond. It’s really a whole-family venture.”
Amoree is a strong environmental advocate, and takes pride in being as resourceful and efficient as possible when it comes to how things are grown, harvested and used on the farm. Part of that environmental stewardship means teaching not only her own children but also local school children about what it means to farm and take care of the environment. “We enjoy aiming to be the most sustainable that we can. We have two large solar banks on our farm, use wood heat only (we haul all the wood, too!), grow a lot of our winter food (for humans, dogs and cows), have a hybrid vehicle that we drive sparingly and teach as many sustainable principles to our children as possible. Our small mixed farm is cyclical by design which reduces our off-farm inputs substantially. We invite school groups of all ages to come out to the farm to learn about our practices and have had many great learning adventures with this program (called Kids on the Farm program).”
Being part of Canadian agriculture and witnessing the vast diversity of farming in this country creates a strong sense of pride within Amoree – and a great sense of hope for the future. “Being such a diverse country, you can see anything from farming warm-climate fruits to farming in areas where only greenhouses can grow things. One local farm in Dawson City has been growing apples, pears and grapes in greenhouses “under the midnight sun!” We hope to get more into no-tilling and permaculture (as much as we can in our climate) to focus on more natural ways of growing.
Because farming is such a new venture in the Yukon, it will grow by leaps and bounds over the next 10 years – we are now seeing dairy farms pop up, textile animals being grown and sheared, large hydroponic systems used to supply grocery stores in our capital city… it’s so exciting!”
Matt Douglas
Whitehorse, Yukon
by Jess Campbell
With all of the diversity, technology and change that happens in Canadian agriculture, it’s interesting to ponder the future of the industry.
When you consider everything Matt Douglas and his partners at North Star Agriculture in Whitehorse, Yukon, are doing – you can absolutely get a solid idea of what that future looks like.
Matt does not have a typical farm background but had a great influence guiding him toward his passion for agriculture. “I was born and raised in Oakville, Ontario. I went to the University of Guelph for a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing. But y’know – it’s Guelph! So, I had a number of Aggie friends, including my best friend and roommate, Stewart Skinner. He’s a 3rd generation hog farmer from Listowel, Ontario, and I was just this poor suburb kid who thought that chicken came from the grocery store. Stewart literally opened my eyes to the world of agriculture.”
Post-graduation, Matt spent several years in Toronto, building – and then, selling – a traditional marketing agency, gaining experience on campaigns for the likes of Pepsi, Molson Coors and RBC. Once the agency sold, Matt found himself being drawn back to agriculture. This time, though, that draw was coming from a bit further North than Listowel. “I found myself up in Whitehorse visiting family. I connected with an entrepreneur and he said I needed to move up there. His company, Northstar Agriculture, had recently purchased the rights to an aquaponic growing technology. A year later, almost to the day, my girlfriend and I drove across the country in February and moved to Whitehorse.”
Relocating to the land of the midnight sun meant Matt had to learn about an entirely new arm of Canadian agriculture – and then figure out how to build a business around it. “The aquaponics project… is a massive indoor farm. Basically, a twenty thousand square foot facility in a territory of forty thousand people. We’re in the process of doing our design engineering for our facility up near the local hot springs 20 minutes outside of town. It’ll be North America’s first geothermally heated and cooled aquaponics facility.”
On top of that, Matt has developed commercial land with his business partner, Sonny Grey, to bring local pork products to the community, something that has never been done successfully before. “There was no real commercial livestock farming because everyone was conditioned that you could only buy meat in the fall because people couldn’t winter their animals. So, we did that over the course of eight months, bit by bit: working with restaurants and doing Facebook campaigns and me delivering meat in the back of my pick-up truck out of a cooler.”
From there, Matt has been attempting to recondition a market that’s used to paying exorbitant prices and shipping most of their food from “down South.” Local farmers who have joined Matt’s cooperative have trouble knowing what price to set for their products, one that’s not only competitive but that also allows them to make a living. Matt’s solution to that has been a packing company. “I partnered with a chef and two farmers – beef and boar, and pork and rabbit. I partnered with a marketing company and a locally owned and operated food distributor. We’re trying to build a marketing machine so that livestock farmers here don’t have to do everything themselves. So, we’re in the midst of building that now. It’s not easy.” (laughs)
Food scarcity and shortages are a huge concern for the communities of the Yukon, including Whitehorse, and this is something Matt is determined to address. “We have three major grocery stores (in the city). If you asked most consumers, they would say there isn’t a problem with their food source – until the highway is out. There’s really only two highways into the Yukon. All it takes is for an avalanche to take out a section of road, or a really bad storm that closes parts of it. It’s happened, and it turns into a mass panic and everyone stampedes to the grocery store and clears everything out. My partners and I don’t believe it’s sustainable to continue to have this decentralized distribution network when we can grow a lot of stuff ourselves. Why rely on the South and the vulnerability of the highways, the high cost of freight, the carbon emissions, etc.? Why not just try to find a way to do it ourselves? That’s what we’re in the process of doing.”
It’s a huge task but one that Matt is facing head-on, all the while considering its impact to the larger Canadian agriculture industry – and how it makes him feel. “There’s a huge disconnect all over the world about how people think their food is made and where it comes from. The future is a bit of a reconditioning of our population, having a better understanding of how our food is made and where it comes from and how to keep it closer, but also having extremely diversified growing methods, like vertical farming and indoor farming. Especially in a place like this, what makes me most proud is when I see people eating food that I helped make. It sounds trivial, but it’s the truth!” (laughs)