This time, at the Royal Winter fair in Toronto in November, a 41-year-old second-generation Alberta dairyman was awarded the biggest showmanship prize among Canada’s dairymen – and it is named in honor of a former Alberta dairy.

At the national show the 2023 Curtis Clark Achievement Award was handed to Markus Hehli, operator of Mosnang Holsteins & Jerseys of Rimbey. Last year, Canada had approximately 9,700 farms shipping milk, including 488 in Alberta.

The annual national award was established in 1988 in memory of a Holstein breeder from Acme, Alberta. The Curtis Clark Achievement Award committee seeks out dairymen who possess “the ability, sportsmanship and character necessary to be respected by fellow breeders and showmen.”

Hehli’s name was added to the Clark trophy. Hehli also received a gold belt buckle as a personal keepsake.

The journey to one of Canada’s top dairy awards was a long one.

Markus’ parents, Heini and Ruth Hehli, left Mosnang, Switzerland, in 1980 to start a dairy in Alberta. Today, Markus and his wife Amanda, along with their four children, Wyatt, 11, Adair, 10, and twins, Sawyer and Georgia, 7, are partners in the Mosnang farm corporation.

They routinely milk 110 Holsteins and 10 Jerseys. The herd has become one Canada’s best, with 10 cows holding multiple excellent awards, plus 12 excellent, 75 very good and 29 good-plus cows.

Markus journey to his own award began in 2009 with marriage to Amanda.

“That’s when we really started taking over the dairy,” Markus says. “Dad is still about half-time on the farm today. For land, we own two quarters and rent another two. We are on that nice black dirt in central Alberta, with a little bit of low land, a bit of trees and hills. It’s a good place for a dairy and a family.”

The family was building a calf barn in November, hoping to put some animals inside before Christmas. The barn measures 67 x 180 feet and will hold about 80 animals.

“You milk an extra cow or two every year for ten years and, all of a sudden, they’ve all got calves and heifers and we’re running out of space,” he says.

He traces the route to the award back to his 4-H days. He was involved with the dairy from when he learned to walk.

Hehli began showing cattle when he was 10 years old. In 4-H, he was grand champion showman at the 2003 Western Canadian Classic (WCC). At 15, he exhibited his family’s first show string at the Olds Fair all by himself. Hehli has been exhibiting Mosnang cattle ever since at major shows across Western Canada, as well as the Royal Winter Fair and World Dairy Expo. Every year he supplies animals to many 4-H members looking for a project calf to show.

He started clipping and fitting cattle at shows and sales in Alberta as a teenager. Later, he travelled throughout North America, Australia, and Switzerland, helping to prepare cattle. In 2007 he was selected by Holstein Canada and Semex to participate in the Canada-Australia-New Zealand young adult exchange program. He worked as a fitter for well-known Western Canada show strings like Stanhope-Wedgwood, Morsan and Westcoast Holsteins.

At the 2022 National Holstein Show at the Royal, Mosnang was runner-up for overall premier breeder. Another three Mosnang cows at the 2022 Royal — Liquify, Lipstick and Live Wire — combined to take second place in the breeder’s herd class and later were acclaimed Reserve All-Canadian Breeder’s Herd. The Mosnang Jersey herd also has enjoyed great success at shows and, in 2022, Markus and Amanda were presented Jersey Canada’s Young Achiever award.

“When you like animals, that just kind of grows. The real showing, judging, genetics, all that kind of comes from 4-H. You meet a lot of people, learn a lot, and it grows from there. I went to university; you learn what finances mean and, you know, breeding is just another aspect of being the best farm you can be.”

He adds, “Every farmer is a judge. You learn it for yourself, so you recognize what you want in a cow.”

He’s been “fairly successful” at selecting his cows and bulls, and he traveled a lot, being part of a structured judges program.

“We have at the provincial level a couple schools every year where judges just learn and practice and discuss. And there’s a national one every two or three years through Holstein Canada. An aspiring judge can keep learning, doing smaller shows. Then, if you get approved, you can become an official judge and travel quite a bit.” 

Hehli began with judging in provincial and western Canadian 4-H programs for five years or more. At 25, he got onto an ‘aspiring judge’ list, and then became an official judge. For more than 15 years now, he’s been on the national circuit for judging dairy animals. 

He’s seen the Clark Achievement Award presented a few times. For a Canadian dairyman, there’s no higher award, and he’s among the youngest to receive it.

“It’s a great award to receive from that end, because it’s your peers that vote on it. That makes it pretty unique,” he says.

Working in the dairy industry at that level has taken a toll in time, he admits. He’s away a lot.

“It’s probably the biggest struggle we face, and my dad is less-and-less involved, so it only gets harder. It was a lot easier when I could just hire one person and know my dad would run the farm with somebody to help him. It’s a balancing act, depending on who I have for labour. It’s got to be somebody I can trust,” he says.

His biggest helper of course, is Amanda. Markus says, “She usually stays behind and takes over day-to-day operations for us when I go away. Figuring that out is definitely one of the harder parts of being a judge.”

At the end of 2024 Markus will pass along the trophy to another winner, but he won’t be done with his activities as a breeder, showman and judge.

“Once you’ve won, it’s not over. It keeps changing. You keep trying to improve. There’s never really a top; the ceiling just keeps moving as you get closer to it.”

The post Alberta dairyman earns national award appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

For three rural Albertans involved in the burgeoning industry, the consensus was “yes, but.” Yes, they’re happy with their choice, but anyone hoping to do the same had better love it with a passion.

“I think if you have that passion for anything and you really want it, you’ll make it work. If you can sleep at night with the risk you’re taking, then go for it,” said Alex Hogarth. She and her husband, Aaron, run Hogarth Malt near Olds.

The question was posed during a GrainsWest podcast called Craft Maltsters Add On-Farm Value. Tse quizzed Hogarth and fellow maltsters Matt Hamill and Sterling Hilton on what sent them down the craft malting road and asked about their strategies for success in a sector they’re helping pioneer.

Craft maltsters are a key link in a supply chain that ends in craft beer, a category of suds that has exploded in popularity over the past two decades. According to Just Beer Alberta, there are 180 craft breweries representing nearly 3,000 craft beers in the province.

But that’s still relatively small beer in the grand scheme of the industry, so the Hogarths — who don’t farm but buy their grain from producers — sometimes struggle to source sufficient malt barley, particularly when chasing the organic market.

“We’re looking for organic grains and organic isn’t a huge aspect of Alberta farming,” said Hogarth.

“There just isn’t as many people out there growing some of those things we would be interested in malting so we’re definitely building those relationships with farmers.”

However, she’s hoping Hogarth Malt and other like-minded maltsters will create enough of a value proposition that new organic farms will start up in response.

“We feel like our business can maybe give some glimmer of hope to some organic farmers to start trying new things and have an outlet for their product at the end of the day,” she said.

Hamill is unsure exactly when Red Shed Malting became a sustainable operation but he is sure it happened when he was working too hard to notice. The business is a malt barley processing and sales appendage to his family’s century-old Red Deer-area farm.

“It took a lot of sweat equity,” he said. “It took a lot of support from my parents. We got a lot of unpaid hours from all the family members. So it took a while before we were where we kind of wanted to be.

“Fortunately, we have kind of hit that critical mass and we’ve been able to undergo an expansion. And with the expansion, we’re at higher production capacity, we have a little bit more control of it, there’s some more automation in there. That’s helping with the economic sustainability of the business model.”

All three maltsters identified succession as a key motivator behind their decision to malt.

Hilton is co-owner of Origin Malting and Brewing, a Strathmore-based company that embodies the concept of “field to glass.” Malt barley is grown on the family’s fifth-generation farm, processed in their own malt house, turned into beer in their own brewery and served to customers in their own tap house.

It sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but it has also unlocked opportunities for family members to participate in the family business even if they’re not interested in driving a tractor.

“It gives them another avenue to be involved in (the farm) in a different aspect,” said Hilton. “It just broadens the ability to bring back people if they want to be involved in the family business.”

For Hamill Farms, the malt business is a huge part of a succession strategy. It has to be, said Hamill, to support three generations.

“Hamill Farms is a fairly small, 2,200 acre grain farm. It’s enough to support one family but probably not big enough to support my mom and dad, my brother and his wife and their family and my family. Acquiring additional land here is next to impossible, so value-adding was just absolutely essential to make the whole operation work for three families.

“It was a natural extension to the farm because we’re value-adding the stuff that we’re growing ourselves. And it’s an industry that we’re passionate about. So it was a pretty good fit that way.”

The Hogarths view the malt industry as a way to connect their children to their farming roots. That required a move back to central Alberta to pursue their craft beer ambitions on land they inherited.

“If we didn’t move back, our kids would not have that connection to it when we were long gone. So while we don’t farm on it, we hope they grow up knowing that this was the land that has been in their family for 100 years and they have that connection to it.”

Two years of COVID and the 2021 drought tested the resolve of all three maltsters.

But there have been more subtle challenges as well. For Hamill, dealing with more customers was among the challenges.

“Previously, the farm just had a few predictable buyers for some of the commodities we were producing, with fairly easy price discovery or set prices,” he said.

“Now with craft malting, and especially with us going into specialty malting, it means we’re dealing with a much greater number of customers and a lot more face-to-face is required; just open and frank discussions about costs and what some of the benefits are.”

A big challenge for Hilton was building a brand for Origin.

“For us, it’s definitely a huge venture going from producing a raw product, switching to value-added, and taking a finished product to market. And there’s the branding that’s involved. That ability to build a brand was all really new to us because the agriculture community is pretty new to that.”

The process required some soul-searching, he said.

“You’ve got to put some serious thought to what are your values. What are your cores? You have to find your value proposition. If you’re asking to get paid a premium, why should a customer pay a premium for your product?”

The post Challenges and rewards greet Alberta craft maltsters appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“I was born in late August, so my grandfather couldn’t come to see me because he was swathing,” said the Fort Saskatchewan native. “So the first place I ended up going to was the swather. My mom kind of jokes that I never left.”

Even in kindergarten, when other kids talked about becoming astronauts or doctors, Robinson was set on becoming a farmer. As he got older, the city kid spent more and more time with his maternal grandfather, Peter Melnyk, at his farm near Waskatenau, a 45-minute drive from Fort Saskatchewan.

“I always went out on weekends and stuff like that,” he said. “Once I was old enough to drive, I was pretty much out there all the time.”

Eventually, some decisions had to be made.

“All the time I was growing up, I always had the idea that I wanted to do that. I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to do. After high school, I took a year off to give it some thought.”

Robinson began by renting land from his cousins and taking crop sciences at the University of Alberta, where he also joined the FarmHouse Fraternity and the Agriculture Club.

“It just kind of grew from there,” said the 30-year-old. “I did a few little stints doing contract work for some local companies … and was recently working with a neighbour doing some local seeding this past winter. Now my focus is just back on the farm full time.”

Robinson oversees the operation, but his grandfather farms with him and at the age of 82, remains active.

“I’ve taken over all the major decision making (but) you can’t get him off anything,” he said. “He runs combines. He’s always out in the field. He’s definitely still involved and helps out all the time.

“It’s really great because there is so much experience there that I can feed off of.”

That includes more than agronomics, because Melnyk has a background in heavy duty mechanics.

“I’ve learned a lot from that. Maintenance, repairs and fabrication all happen out on the farm. It cuts down the cost of operating.”

Robinson is farming just under 1,300 acres, including the homestead and some rented land. He grows oats, peas, canola and wheat, and aims for a three-to-four-year rotation.

“Grandpa had 10 siblings and the land has been kept in the family,” he said. “Most of the stuff that I’m renting has been in the family for 50 years.”

His fiancée, Cara Noble, helps on the farm as do his dad, brother and uncle when they can take time from jobs in the oil and gas sector.

“They help when their work schedules allow. My dad and brother shuffle some days out to help during harvest. It’s the most critical time of the year to have help.”

Robinson sells into commodity markets, but has been eyeing niche markets such as gluten-free and oat milk.

To better understand the sector, he joined the Alberta Oat Growers Commission and is now the group’s chair.

“I’ve been on the board for two or three years now. It’s been a great experience. We’re a smaller board but we have a big impact. It’s a good behind-the-scenes look at what happens in the industry. Hopefully I can bring a little bit of fresh perspective in some aspects.”

Involvement has also given him a more global perspective.

“There’s a lot of programs going into Mexico with some cheaper food options, with oats being a more affordable source of nutrition. That feels rewarding in some sense because you can see you are making a real impact, you’re just not in it for the bucks.”

Robinson said he’s “building my way” into the farm.

“It’s so much more than a job or a career. It’s a complete lifestyle,” he said. “Through the summer months, you see your hard work developing. There are a lot of trials with it being that way, there’s so much out of your control in that sense. (But) it’s also so rewarding at the end of the year, when you have a good year and you see exactly how much gets done.”

The post Farming was always the dream — and then it became the reality appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

And guess how popular you are these days when you have a landscape full of flowers that you’re willing to share?

“The internet, and in particular Pinterest, have created digital envy,” said Cory (who uses Christopher for his business name), adding there’s also a whole lot of people who have become equally enthusiastic about gardening, with some viewing their plants the way many people view their pets.

“A whole generation is very interested in gardening. We have the whole ‘plant baby’ phenomenon. Plants are a big thing for millennials.”

And with the pandemic putting the gardening trend into overdrive, it had a big impact at Birchwood Meadows, located east of Morinville. Business was brisk last year even though, of course, COVID protocols changed how the family operated its U-Pick, Christopher’s floral workshops, and the booking of gardens for photo and video shoots.

“Our weekends were quite steady, we decided to implement an appointment structure,” he said. “We would allow a certain amount of people in — to allow for careful social distancing and to allow people to feel comfortable. That was a really important component for us.”

The move into flowers (about 40 varieties are grown on the farm) was sparked by changes in the tree nursery business.

“The industry for tree growing and nurseries had changed a bit,” said Christopher. “Box stores were starting to become a much more competitive market for farmers. You sort of saw a lot of the smaller farms not being able to keep up.

“We sort of decided to take the farm in another direction.”

Christopher, who owns his own design and events company in Edmonton, works closely with his parents, who started Birchwood Meadows about five years ago.

“The flower-growing process is very fascinating,” he said. “As we do live in Alberta, our growing season is short. We have to get things started in advance, sometimes almost a full year in advance.”

Seeds and bulbs need to be ordered well ahead of time, especially during the pandemic, when there are a lot of people wanting plants and flowers.

By late January, the Cherdarchuks are in the greenhouse, seeding those varieties that need extra time to germinate or require an extended period of growth. In March, the family grows plugs and then pots them, and when the May long weekend rolls around, it’s time for transplanting.

“When we’re finally getting them into the ground after the frost, we’re able to see blooms on them within a month,” said Christopher. “Without this, a lot of the blooms that we love wouldn’t really flower until the end of August or beginning of September.

“Because our weather can always be so temperamental, we can always have a little frost at that point.”

In mid-July, Birchwood Meadows opens up to visitors, who can come and pick their own flowers until the fall. Many are annuals such as snapdragons, sages, amaranthus and lavatera.

“We find things that need a little bit of heat — and will take a little bit of cool — are also helpful as we head into fall,” he said. “Last year, we got a light frost in the middle of September and our heavy frost wasn’t until Thanksgiving.

“We were really able to expand the season in ways that we haven’t been able to in past years. We were able to see more fall-inspired things like grasses and wheats and things like that, which people could also add into their arrangements.”

The farm also offers a flower subscription program during the summer.

“Because our weather can be inconsistent or the season can vary from the previous years, that gives us a surprise as to what can be available,” he said.

But what is really changing, especially in the past year, is how people, and especially families, view an operation like Birchwood Meadows.

“They can get flowers anywhere, but to say they went to a farm and had an experience — a lot of people are looking for those engaged experiences,” said Christopher. “I think the millennial generation is being very mindful of how they are spending their time and their money.

“They are looking for those experiences that don’t always result in a product, but something they can feel that they’ve learned from or grown from.”

The post New enterprise blooms on former grain farm and tree nursery appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“In the ag sector, we’re in a lot of international markets, and being able to deal with all sorts of different people in all sorts of different situations is going to become a skill that’s really necessary in the future,” said Geoff Brown, dean of agricultural and environmental sciences at Lakeland College. “It’s something we’re really focused on.”

The lack of diversity is an ongoing challenge in a sector dominated by men, mostly from European backgrounds, said Brown.

But as the industry changes, so too must the faces that make it up, with a greater number of women, people of colour, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and other underrepresented groups being welcomed into the industry, he said.

“We’re going to need some really innovative ideas coming out of this (pandemic), and that doesn’t speak to traditional thinking — that speaks to having people come in that challenge the status quo.”

Businesses that do that will have a competitive advantage, Brown added.

“You’re not really paying attention if you’re not looking around and seeing the way business is moving out there,” he said. “It’s turning into an international marketplace, and there are all sorts of different people making up these companies.

“I think if you choose to embrace it as an advantage, you’re going to have a significant advantage over your competitors going forward.”

Part of that comes from having different perspectives at the table, said Michelle Derbich, incoming chair for the School of Business at Lethbridge College.

“Differences in perspective, world views, and the way that you might problem solve lead to the one word I just love that comes out of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and that’s innovation,” said Derbich.

“Right now in Alberta, we need innovation more than we ever have with the challenges our oil and gas industry has experienced.”

Diversity efforts

Lethbridge College was one of five colleges chosen to participate in the federal Dimensions pilot program that focuses on eliminating obstacles for under-represented groups.

“When we’re talking about transformational change, that starts with us re-examining and evaluating what Lethbridge College already does to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion, and then identifying the areas within the institution that we can improve,” said Derbich.

“Then we can hopefully build action to be able to address those gaps.”

That comes with some challenges.

“You’re asking people to dig deep and tell you about their experiences, so you really have to build trust with them for them to be able to tell you about their experiences in a diverse population,” she said.

Some of those tough conversations are also occurring at Olds College.

“The Black Lives Matter movement last spring was an opportunity for us to hear from some of our students, including some painful stories of things that they’ve experienced,” said Peter Mal, the school’s associate vice-president of students.

“We were able to hear from them, learn from them, and move on together in a really positive way.”

Like Lethbridge and Lakeland colleges, Olds College has seen an increase in international students in recent years, nearly tripling since 2015-16.

“Agriculture and places like Olds have been kind of static for a long time, so when we’re seeing a lot of interest from all kinds of different students with different backgrounds, we have to respond,” said Mal.

The college has put in place a number of support services for international and Indigenous students, while less formal groups, like the Gay-Straight Alliance, also provide “safe spaces for students to share their experiences.”

“These are necessary steps for us to lead by example and to really support diversity and inclusion in a meaningful way,” he said.

The main benefit of these types of initiatives is that “students are supported,” he added.

“That’s No. 1 — when students come to campus, they feel welcomed and supported and that they can have success in their program. We’ve moved beyond talking about it. Things are happening. We’re doing it.”

Culture change

That’s the real challenge of creating an inclusive and diverse agricultural workforce, Derbich added.

“You can talk until you’re blue in the face, but it will be the actions you take that will speak louder than anything,” she said.

At Lethbridge College, those actions include Indigenization of curriculums, opening of an LGBTQ+ club space and international lounge, and a stronger connection to the local Blackfoot community.

At Lakeland, there’s a focus on building inclusive communities.

“We’re in a small town,” said Brown. “Usually when students come to college here in Vermilion, the classes are small enough that the students get to be pretty good friends, no matter where they come from.”

While the majority of the students are “farm kids,” the college is working to attract international students, and the student-managed farm is just one of the ways they’re doing that.

“In our student-managed farm model, it’s really heartwarming to watch when you’ve got international students who know nothing about western Canadian agriculture working as part of the team,” he said.

“It might not seem like a lot for a farm kid who’s pretty comfortable driving a combine or handling cattle. But it’s a huge accomplishment for international students and people who don’t have ag backgrounds to come in and see that they could actually do it. It’s a huge confidence booster.”

That’s not to say there haven’t been issues.

“We’re dealing with 18- or 19-year-old students, and if they have been in some of these small communities where there isn’t a lot of diversity, we always have isolated incidents that we have to deal with and coach,” said Brown.

“We try to be compassionate about that, but also really clear about our expectations around ensuring respect happens.”

That’s part of the process of building a more inclusive and diverse workforce, he said.

“In order to achieve that growth and adapt the innovations and technologies that we need to address these challenges, we’re going to need to have all sorts of different people putting their heads together.”

Derbich agrees.

“Agriculture, like every other industry in the world right now, is in a situation where it needs to think beyond what we’ve experienced in 2020 and 2021 and into the future,” she said. “That looks like a future where we see a lot of competition on the global stage. We need a forward-focused mindset as to how we can come out ahead of that.”

The post Diversity more than a buzzword at Alberta’s agricultural colleges appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Many of our retired friends and family are trying to find meaningful ways of spending their time. Some are relieved that they will be able to golf in a socially distanced way. Here on the ranch we’re not searching for meaning. We seem to be filling important roles. Our son, Wade, has even said so.

There is a lot involved with calving 350 head of cows. Wade tags the newborns daily while my husband Ralph does the daily feeding. As the cows calve they are moved out of one field and into a new field, so feeding means moving the feed operation to various fields. I spend a lot of time with the grandkids, Jayden and Tristan, on the days when their mom, Jaimie, works in town. She will be cutting back to two days a week once tax season is past so this may change.

The grandkids and I have a lot of fun together.

Jayden is seven and Tristan is five, and they often are off in an imaginary world of wild horses and unicorns and dragons. Sometimes I’m the wild horse catcher and in my aged way, I chase after them wildly swinging a lariat.

They tear through the pastures and climb the hills dodging cow-pies and gopher holes. I do my best to keep them in sight. They may not be honing their soccer or swimming skills, but they are definitely getting their daily physical education and so am I. (There’s no ‘sit and be fit’ for me and there does not seem to be time for ‘restorative yoga.’)

Some days we ride bikes between their house and ours, bumping over the gravel, dodging the puddles. I get off at the cattle guards and carry Tristan’s bike. His little two-wheel bike has a hard time bumpity bumping over the cattle guards.

They were a big help planting the garden.

Jayden drew a “map” of the garden, arduously labelling all the rows while Tristan ran his Tonka truck up and down between the rows ensuring the pathways were smooth. Their little fingers were excellent at pinching the tiny carrot seeds and Jayden’s reading skills were stretched deciphering the backs of the seed packets. Tristan loved using the tape measure to make sure we placed our rows 30 centimetres apart.

Jayden has learned to knead bread dough and read recipes. Tristan is very compliant at washing his hands now if there is baking he can help with. I haven’t heard complaints about missing their playmates but they do pretend to talk to friends on their imaginary phones. (Tristan is especially humorous to watch as he paces around talking to Travis or Mark imitating his dad to a T.) Jayden is often setting up dates for imaginary riding lessons or horse shows she will attend.

Jayden has school work to complete and her parents are diligent in ensuring this is done. She participates in Zoom meetings with her teacher and classmates, which keeps her in touch with a social circle. I have them registered in a weekly Zoom music class which they seem to enjoy. All in all, I think their education is pretty well rounded.

I have been avoiding any serious cowboying. I’m not confident on my new horse. She and I have definitely not bonded. Our neighbour Deb has a line on a gelding that may work out. If he does, I’ll be happy to really get back in the saddle.

Jaimie seems to handle my mare pretty well so I’m fine staying with the kids so she can help with sorting out pairs or moving various bunches to new fields. Our neighbours often come to help as well. All this is done at a safe social distance.

Each day brings a variety of interesting situations. We’ve had to assist very few cows in delivery of their calves. For the most part they seem to get it done on their own. If a cow does lose her calf, we try to get her to take an orphan or a twin. Sometimes an older cow needs to be milked out.

There is always fencing to be done and machinery to be repaired. The pandemic has grounded Uncle Ted, who is a corporate pilot and an ace mechanic. We’re so fortunate to have him attending to most of our machinery repairs and maintenance.

The bulk of the farming is done by a custom operator who has all the latest high-tech equipment. Ralph has been harrowing the fields where the cows have been fed and there is cultivating and hayfield rolling to do. Then there are the ongoing tasks of bookkeeping, bill paying, grocery shopping, housekeeping and yard work. We’ve had phone business meetings and email correspondence with accountants, lawyers and government officials. Zoom has enabled Ralph to attend Rotary if he is in the house at the right time, and I’ve enjoyed my book club in the same way.

When our heads hit the pillow at night we are exhausted and glad to be here on the ranch.

How did we ever fit community and social commitments in before? Retirement is a very fuzzy future concept.

Highwood Valley Ranch is located near High River. This article was written in the second half of May.

The post Life on the ranch during COVID-19 appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Charlotte Wasylik of Chatsworth Farm near Vermilion, made a livestream video tour of her family farm on Facebook Live near the end of March.

“We were originally doing it for friends and family who are in quarantine or who live far away,” she said.

People started tuning in to watch her virtual tours, which feature the farm’s cattle, sheep, ducks, poultry, grains and hay. Wasylik is now doing tours about twice a week, between her work schedule at a credit union in Vermilion.

“Somehow it grew into this really amazing connection of people from all over,” said Wasylik who farms with her two brothers, Nicholas and Alexander, and parents Rick and Johanna.

“So we’ve had viewers from Texas, Ontario, New York and all across Alberta and Saskatchewan. They’re really lovely. Everyone has been so encouraging and very happy to see springtime, even though it’s been really snowy and it doesn’t look like spring outside.”

Still any time spent outdoors beats being cooped up inside, she said.

“The one thing that we’ve always noticed is that when we’re out and about with the cattle and the sheep, it just brightens our day so much,” she said. “We wanted to share that with others who may not have the opportunity to get outside as much as they normally would.

“We just wanted to spread some joy and fun with everybody else.”

The tours take place on Chatsworth Farm’s Facebook page, and then the videos are uploaded to YouTube, so people who are not on social media can enjoy them too. (Wasylik is also active on @chatsworth_farm on Instagram.)

In the tours, Wasylik does things such as walk through the calving pen to show her audience the new calves. She talks about how the family raises its 200 head of cattle, and shows maternity pens. Her brothers have appeared in videos, spreading straw and feeding animals. In one video, a cow calved and had some troubles, so Wasylik recorded herself performing an assist.

The tours have proved to be an educational tool for children.

“Parents have sent in pictures of their kids watching the tour live,” said Wasylik. “They have the computer set up with kids on each side and we can see the animals in the background.”

To help parents out, Johanna created a list of websites and resources from groups such as Agriculture in the Classroom and Alberta Beef Producers and put them on the farm’s website.

“These are wonderful resources, lists and activity books that people can use to teach about agriculture in an understandable and fun way.”

People have been asking questions during the live videos, or emailing Wasylik, to learn more about farming.

Wasylik loves photographing livestock, but it was a new challenge for her to jump in front of the camera and talk.

“I’m not the type of person who does a lot of selfies and live videos,” she said. “But I just wanted to let people come onto our farm and enjoy that with us. Calving, lambing and springtime are just a welcome distraction from the things that life can throw at you, especially now.

“It’s important to get that refreshing look at new life, and you can step away from everything that is happening, and it gives you something to look forward to.”

The virtual tours are increasing in popularity.

“We’ve got our repeat and constant supporters, and new people who join in,” said Wasylik. “That’s been really exciting. I’ve been getting people to comment where they are watching from, so we can see the spread of everybody who is watching.

“At this time, everybody has been told to distance and stay safe, but we have this opportunity to share so much, and everybody is able to connect.”

The post A virtual farm walk spreads joy far and wide appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Kathleen Charpentier and Richard Griebel started marketing directly from the farm, near Castor, in the mid-’90s and today its main enterprises are grass-fed beef and pork.

But the operation is also a showcase for how diversity and alliances form the foundation of a new type of farm.

Tourism and food events are also part of the mix at Redtail Farms. Ian’s mom also holds yoga classes and health and wellness retreats on the farm. Following holistic management principles, the couple incorporate diversity and give priority to balancing environment, finances and people. They developed a video series based on the four seasons that is posted on their website, redtailfarms.ca.

“I remember my parents having an on-farm event, where they invited people out, did all the cooking themselves and had 100 attendants,” said Griebel.

The first year he and Blume hosted a similar event, they worked hard and only had about 20 people show up.

But that is changing. Recently, as part of Alberta’s Open Farm Days, the couple hosted 120 people in a sold-out affair. The event was part of the Prairie Farm Project, a collaboration with other young farmers from Lazy T Farm and Lady’s Hat Farm. Participants for the dinner also included one of Alberta’s top chefs, Jason Barton-Browne from SAIT; musician Jason Rovensky; Balzac Craft Brewery and popular videographer Kevin Kossowan.

“The Prairie Farm Project is based on the old ways of collaboration among farmers,” said Griebel.

Their tag line is young farmers producing good food and having fun doing it. Partnering and supporting other farms with similar ideas and beliefs — along with sharing and utilizing skills and talents — opens up many more possibilities. Lazy T Farm produces grass-fed beef and chickens while Lady’s Hat Farm has honey, lamb, vegetables and flowers.

Redtail Farms also has an alliance with the Chartier restaurant out of Beaumont. Earlier this summer they hosted the entire staff to a farm supper to bring awareness and education about their farm’s products and practices. The collaboration is looking at possibilities for using the entire carcass and value adding by developing specialty products.

Adding potential to that relationship is an on-farm butcher shop that is in the works to be operated by Griebel’s sister Tess and husband Callum Morrison (who hails from Scotland).

“The synergies from all the different relationships are hard to believe,” said Griebel. “It is difficult for farmers to create time to develop relationships.”

But it is an integral part of the marketing for the young couple.

“It is very important to educate our customers,” he said. “Particularly with a grass-finished product that many consumers are not familiar with.”

The couple’s vision extends beyond their farm to the community.

“We would like to help revitalize our smaller communities. The place to start is with food and then move beyond that.”

They want to rebuild and restore the environment on their own operation, but recognize profit is also part of the equation, as are the social and human elements.

This spring, the couple planted 1,000 trees and 2,000 feet of shelterbelt with a wide variety of trees and shrubs, including many fruit producers. The goal is to create “a food forest,” where fruits and other edibles could provide future products the farm could sell.

“The annual food production model is hard to sustain so we are looking at building this around the principles of a forest,” said Griebel.

Incorporating grazing livestock is another component of building a more diverse and sustainable operation, along with inclusion of pollinators and native grasses and flowers.

Coming up with new and different ways of working with others is an important element of the succession process as young farmers are taking over from their parents, he said. (Their succession process was sped up with the passing of Griebel’s father in 2014.)

“We need to pay homage and honour those who came before us,” while balancing that with new ways of doing things,” said Griebel.

“We want to have skin in the game but be able to do our own thing, failing and succeeding.”

Regeneration, responsibility and relationships are the values they base their operation on. And with those the momentum is building.

The post A very modern farm based on old ways of collaborating appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Some devote their time and energy to raise funds for a good cause in their hometown or communities on the other side of the world. Some inspire us with their creativity or their words. Others contribute uncounted hours to organizations that benefit everyone in their farming sector, offer eye-opening opportunities to young people, or build bridges to the wider community.

Here are some of the people profiled on these pages in 2017. They are just a few examples of the many, many folks who are the foundation of rural Alberta. — Glenn Cheater, Alberta Farmer editor, glenn.cheater@fbcpublishing.com.

The post PHOTOS: People who make a difference and enrich us all appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.