Hundreds of curious citizens from around Temiskaming Shores enjoyed a sunny day outdoors during the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance’s (NOFIA) “A Day in Farm Country” this past Saturday, Aug. 10.
Tour participants spent the day learning how local foods are produced, processed, and distributed in the Temiskaming region, the largest farming centre in Northern Ontario. This year’s tour stops included Breault Family Farm, North Prairie Feeds, and Cornerstone Holsteins.
Now in its sixth year, the annual self-guided tour is part of NOFIA’s initiative to host educational outreach activities for the local community. NOFIA is a non-profit organization that promotes education and community outreach to further its mandate of aiding in the creation of infrastructure for the research, development, and innovation of products and technologies for Northern Ontario agriculture.
Over the years, the tour has had great success helping to raise awareness of the local agriculture industry, which generates $180 million annually and supports over 4,000 jobs.
Breault Family Farm
At Breault Family Farm (BFF), a 110-acre local food hub owned and operated by Nancy Frey and Alain Breault, tour participants got up close and personal with chicks, laying hens, and meat and dairy cows.
Crowds were invited to ask questions about BFF’s focus on giving their pasture-raised beef, chicken, pork, and turkey the highest standards of humane treatment. They could observe how newly hatched chicks are raised, and how fully grown chickens are moved daily to fresh pastures with portable shelters.
Tour participants were invited to ask questions about their sustainable farming techniques, including crop rotation, the use of natural fertilizer, and how crops and livestock can be integrated to create a balanced farm environment.
After a barn fire in 2019, they pivoted to expand from a smaller, cattle-focused operation to a more diverse family farm. Before the fire, Frey said the operation was barely breaking even every year.
“The average cattle farmer in Canada makes only $11,000 per year,” Frey told the crowd.
The farm’s transition from barn-raised to outdoor pasture-raised chickens and cattle has made all the difference for sales and for the quality and welfare of their animals. Living outside in a natural habitat, said Frey, has a range of health benefits for their livestock, and also allows for more nutrient-dense meat.
The Breault Farm Store provided a must-see stop for purchasing beautiful local produce, meat, and farm fresh eggs.
“We can’t keep up with demand,” said Frey. “There’s no middle man; everything is sold through our website.”
Since starting their farm store and selling online, BFF has seen between 150 and 200 per cent overall growth in sales. “It’s been really encouraging,” Frey said.
The farm store also provided free samples of their unique BFF Whipped Beef Tallow skincare balms that have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.
North Prairie Feeds
At North Prairie Feeds, owners Leon and Donna Kramer showed guests the workings of their 330-acre crop-farming operation. The farm plays an integral role in Timiskaming District agriculture by providing and processing livestock feeds for local farmers.
The tour involved an up-close look inside the enormous grain storage silos where tour participants saw unprocessed feeds in raw form. Tour goers could take pictures with impressive farm equipment like harvesters and planters capable of seeding 30 acres in an hour, and compare them to a display of old-fashioned farming technology. Tour groups were also asked to guess their total weight before driving over the farm’s weight scales.
The Kramers established North Prairie Feeds after their son-in-law took over the dairy farm they had previously operated in nearby Thornloe from 2010 to 2021. They decided to pursue animal feed crop farming and processing because they saw a demand for locally grown and processed, high-quality animal feed.
They now grow and process wheat, canola, barley, peas, oats, and soy into animal feed that can be offered directly to local farmers. They also process feed crops from other farmers in the area. Previously, all processed animal feed had to be imported into the Timiskaming District. This kind of community-minded thinking is one of the biggest facilitators behind the rapidly growing successes of the Timiskaming agriculture industry.
Their biggest feed crop, locally grown corn, is in high demand.
“It’s encouraging to know that local farmers want locally grown feed,” said Leon Kramer.
North Prairie Feeds also provided participants with a delicious outdoor barbecue lunch that raised funds in support of Scouts Timiskaming.
Cornerstone Holsteins
At Cornerstone Holsteins, owned and operated by Duane Martin, tour participants took a walk through a working dairy farm where 55 cows are milked twice daily.
Tour participants asked questions about the Lely automated milking equipment, which provides the highest standards of humane treatment. This season’s calves, penned indoors, were a big hit with families with children.
The tour involved demonstrating how cows are cared for by handlers on a daily basis, and how the farm focuses primarily on animal welfare, including nutrition, comfort, temperature control, sanitation, and health.
His biggest daily concern, said Martin, is cattle comfort.
“That involves anything from ventilation to feed to heating. It’s all-consuming. Everything we do revolves around cattle comfort.”
All milk from Cornerstone Holsteins is distributed through the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the dairy marketing organization that represents more than 4,000 family-owned dairy farms across the province that produce $1.9 billion worth of milk annually.
Agriculture enthusiasts are additionally invited to a “Family Fun Day on the Farm,” on Sept. 21, put on by local farmers at Breault Family Farm. Proceeds go to local food banks, and the day will feature live music, another barbecue, and activities for kids. For more information, see www.familyfundayonthefarm.ca.
