So it should all be smooth sailing.

Or maybe not. After all, there’s a disconnect that could heat up lots of dramatic tension, a lot like having rival siblings on screen. Farmers don’t always like being told how to do their job (who does?), and the situation is further complicated by Canada’s striking urban-rural divide. It’s hard to work together when you live in such different worlds; farmers in the countryside, and climate organizations often based in the city. 

Just like the way farmers have not always been receptive to the ideas of climate organizations, climate organizations have historically not always understood the values of farming and the idea that farmers are often price takers rather than makers.

A lot depends on when you begin the back story. A decade ago, or even just five years, those divides were quite striking. In fact, they seemed to define the interaction. But fast-forward to today and there is most definitely hope.

Country Guide wanted to know: what do climate activists think about farmers? Is there the same kind of divide farmers often have with consumers?

So we asked them, and here’s what we found. For example, climate activists at both the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Environmental Defense Canada (ECDC) are feeling positive about the bridges being built.

So, where are the shared common interests? And where are there gaps the two groups still have to cross? 

Finding shared values

There is a lot written about feuds between farmers and climate activists but at the end of the day, it’s undeniable that farmers and climate activists have a lot in common, including the fact they know they’ll be more effective if they work together. 

“There’s a lot more alignment between the two communities than there are differences,. and I hope we can keep building on that,” says Keith Brooks, programs director of Environmental Defense Canada. 

According to Brooks, it took some time but farmers and climate activists have come a long way and there’s a lot they can work on together. Environmental Defense Canada (EDC) works to facilitate productive conversations with many of Canada’s agriculture groups including Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers and Farmers for Climate Solutions.

At EDC, most members are interested in sustainable food systems, which means they’re interested in supporting their local farmers and driving the charge to eat more locally. Admittedly, for many members, that means a plant-based diet, but Brooks is quick to point out that this is a market that many farmers are cultivating.

Also a connector — both groups want to protect farm land, and as evidence, Brooks points to how farmers and environmental activists worked to protect farmland in Toronto’s greenbelt. Instead of selling to the highest bidders, farmers were focused on protecting their land and keeping it productive. And environmentalists were impressed.

That work to protect farmland from development continues across the country today, often meaning the two groups work together. While it’s not always successful, it often is. 

For Kevin Teneycke, a regional vice-president of Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) in Manitoba, liaising with farmers is a main part of his day-to-day work. Through an agricultural working group at NCC, most of the work they do is on developed land. In much of the country, that means farmland.

For Teneycke, the main shared value that farmers and environmental organizations have to work off of is that aforementioned love for the land and the need to increase biodiversity. 

So what does that sharing look like in practice? There are a lot of partnerships that NCC has with farmers including a conservation agreement program that allows their organization to acquire interest in land from private landowners (usually farmers) so the land can be used for conservation projects without the landowner having to sell the rights. That can look like anything from converting the land to native grasses to draining wetlands and many other initiatives. A lot of times it’s just finding ways to increase biodiversity on working farms.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of making the financial case for it. Farmers have a lot to gain from their land being a healthy ecosystem. “Biodiversity conservation can help support agriculture-based economies,” says Teneycke. He notes that thriving pollinator populations and healthy grazing strategies can boost productivity for farmers. Sometimes, it’s mainly a matter of making it practical, and finding other farmers who are finding innovative options. 

EDC hosts farm tours to showcase best practices in agricultural sustainability and NCC works with a huge range of farmers from mom-and-pop sized to large-scale, nationally-recognized farm productions.

Perhaps the biggest leap for both EDC and NCC, however, is in their ability to work with agricultural groups. While EDC works closely with OFA, Christian Farmers and Farmers for Climate Solutions, it doesn’t stop there. NCC also works closely with many nationally and provincially recognized livestock councils. It even worked as a founding group on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

“There’s always going to be 10 percent on either end that we (farmers and environmentalists) don’t agree on but we try to focus on that 80 per cent in the middle,” says Teneycke. 

Stumbling blocks

Of course, what would this story be without a little tension? While there are clearly many things that the two groups can agree on and goals they can work towards together, there are obviously some tension points. 

One of the hardest is this. While EDC and NCC try to work out effective conservation strategies and policies, each is made up of many, many different people with many, many different attitudes and backgrounds. 

While most farmers are responsible stewards, some are less so. And while not all climate activists have a closed mind, when it comes to farming, some do. 

For EDC, Brooks doesn’t shy away from some things he’d like to see farmers in general work on, but he is clear that he knows many farmers are already thinking and working on these things. Neonicotinoids continue to be a hot-button issue for the two groups. Changes towards protecting water quality in our rivers and lakes are also a flash-point. 

EDC’s work with the agricultural community on nutrient loading into Lake Erie, for example is coming along but there’s still work to be done. 

Conservation groups say they are trying to see both sides. “The farming community polices itself too from what I understand and will flag people if they think somebody is doing something problematic but there’s still a challenge that there are too many nutrients getting into Lake Erie every year,” says Brooks on the matter.

For NCC, in general, it’s a sign that relationships are maturing and can continue to improve. So, for instance, when Teneycke is prodded on the question of what has historically made it difficult for the two groups to work together, his response is simple: 

“Relationships hadn’t matured and there was a lack of understanding,” he says. “There was this idea that conservation associations were anti-farm but it’s not either/or. Some of that comes from the organizations themselves realizing that the job is too big to be done alone.”

On the next episode…

So, what’s the take away? It’s safe to say there is a lot more common ground between climate organizations and farmers than perhaps was thought. Canada’s climate organizations seem not just open but itching to work closely with farmers. The question is, where can farmers start?

At NCC, they’re encouraged by signs farmers are developing and adopting sustainable practices that are good for the farm and for the environment. They’re also impressed by farmers who are focused on biodiversity on their farms. 

What else would the environmental groups like to see so they will be convinced farmers and conservationists can be allies, not opponents? Brooks and Teneycke encourage farmers to make sure their neighbours and their industry colleagues know that they support climate initiatives, both at the private and at government levels.

The more unified and vocal they are, the more farmers and conservationists can accomplish together, the two say.

For EDC, Brooks suggests farmers get in touch with groups like Farmers for Climate Solutions to see what kinds of programs they can get involved in on their own farms. There are loads of programs and tools available to learn about manure management, reducing neonicotinoids and if financially possible for the farmer, to look at renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the more farmers speak up about land-use planning and how it affects the rapidly reducing farmland in Canada, the more the two groups will be able to work together. 

The future won’t always be easy. Farmers and climate activists will inevitably bump heads along the way. But in a country where agriculture is so poorly understood, there’s a glimmer of hope.

– This article was originally published as ‘Best friends’ in the March 29, 2022 issue of Country Guide.

The post Farmers, climate activists share a love of the land appeared first on Country Guide.

When Country Guide first reached Lovell, for instance, he hopped off his tractor and continued doing chores wearing a hands-free headset to keep the conversation rolling, and when we phoned McKenna she had just finished a round of harvesting while simultaneously watching two kids. Neither surprised us. Other farmers wouldn’t have been surprised either. 

Nor is it a surprise that both are very good at what they do. Lovell was named Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year at the national level in 2016 and McKenna was named one of Canada’s Influential Women in Agriculture in 2021 for her work as a carrot and turnip farmer as well as manager of East Prince Agri-Environment Association.

Another shared trait might be a bit more surprising, though. The two firecrackers, in addition to being trailblazers with their respective farming practices, each have a professional business degree, and those educational programs have largely shaped the trajectory of their careers and in particular, the way they make business decisions around the farm.

For McKenna, it was an MBA from the University of P.E.I. in biotechnology. For Lovell, it was a newer Entrepreneurial leadership program from the Wallace-McCain Institute. 

While these programs were different in many ways, there were also a lot of similarities. They featured group work, case studies and an approach that put a number of people from all kinds of different industries in one classroom to provide insights and feedback to one another. 

About the programs

McKenna’s MBA in biotechnology from University of P.E.I. came after she had moved to P.E.I. to live and work on a potato farm with her husband. With plenty of experience of her own in the human resources side of the agricultural industry, this degree opened her eyes to evidence-based research and informed decision-making. 

It also introduced her to evidence-based management structures. In fact, the program was created with the growing medical and pharmaceutical industry on the East Coast in mind, but she is finding the benefits are easily transferred to the agricultural industry and that there are connections between the two. 

The program itself was completed on evenings and weekends and consisted of a lot of group work. Matched up at the beginning of the program into groups of five, participants worked on case studies and with their focus on presentation-style project work instead of exams.

The program wasn’t easy. McKenna says there were definitely many classes and subjects that challenged her, although it was juggling the program on top of work and raising a family that challenged her most. 

The Wallace McCain Institute, was founded in 2006 by the school’s namesake, co-founder of McCain Foods. This program is based on the East Coast and has a class size of about 16 selected business owners in each cohort. The year Lovell went, there were 24. They met 12 times in a year, and classes were moderated by entrepreneurs. 

In these sessions, business owners set goals and reported back on ones made in previous sessions to meet new targets in their business and run them more efficiently. Lovell likens it to an executive MBA in that you’re working on making better business decisions with people from all kinds of different fields.

In the McCain program, too, these peer groups continue meeting quarterly past the first year, and each student is matched up with a successful mentor in their field. Past mentors have included David Ganong of Ganong Bros. and J. Scott McCain of Maple Leaf Foods.

Soon Lovell found the frequent phone calls and access to proven, successful professionals to be a huge perk and a frequent source of keen insights.

The benefits

So what did these two learn from their respective educational experiences? As it turns out, quite a lot. Here’s the inside scoop on what was revealed, including the power of identifying and becoming adept at exploiting the power of evidence-based, data-driven decision-making.

When McKenna began her MBA degree, her previous history had included working in human resources and looking at training gap issues in Newfoundland’s ag industry via the College of the North Atlantic, and then working and living on her husband’s farm in PEI.

Determined to go even further in an already successful career, she committed to the MBA in biotechnology.

“The focus of my MBA is on evidence-based management structures, and that’s what I do today,” says McKenna, referring to her work as manager of East Prince Agri-Environment Association where she connects farmers with a wide variety of researchers to drive business-related decision-making and environmentally responsible farming.

“I learned to use evidence to make decisions as much as possible … the degree was helpful because it really went into the science of decision-making.”

Living and working on the farm while simultaneously doing her degree, McKenna was constantly able to relate what she was learning to the day-to-day decision-making on the farm too. 

“In the agriculture industry, a lot of decisions are based on experience and trial and error … when I realized the importance of getting as much realistic and scientific data as possible, I came to see that as my opportunity to help these farms (the growers she helps through East Prince Agri-Environment Association) and our own farm.”

On farms, of course, opportunities for growth raise questions of revenue and income. As a result of the program, she says, “I see lots of opportunity for growth … no one can survive without food so as farmers we need to continuously grow and adapt to changes. Most importantly we need to figure out how to do more with less because the world’s population is growing but the land we have to work with is finite.”

Setting business goals

For Andrew, his introduction to Wallace McCain came in 2017 for the one-year program. At the time he was running a successful orchard but was dealing with a huge need for recovery after deer damage caused a 50 per cent loss of his crop in 2014. Looking to diversify his revenue stream, McKenna expanded his orchard to more of an agri-tourism venture to make up some of that loss in the meantime.

However, while the strategy proved very successful, Lovell also found himself being pulled in a lot of different directions.

Enter stage left, a degree that would provide him with focus and goal-setting, with 24 people in his class and 12 sessions. Each session looked at a different topic: financials, human resources and dealing with staff, for example. 

Lovell is quick to say that he got a lot out of each of these sessions and that he was able to implement a great deal of it, but the best part was setting goals and specific targets to reach in his business each month 

For example, as a result of the program’s goal-setting and strategies, Lovell increased the size of his orchard but also focused on a lucrative snow-removal opportunity. In essence, Lovell began directing his time and investment to parts of the business that would fund and drive his recovery efforts. 

Another strength of this goal-setting was that it inspired Lovell to talk with neighbouring food producers about how to sharpen their focus on netting higher prices. It’s a topic he’d often thought about, of course, but now, with goals set in the classroom, he could see opportunities for concrete action. 

“Every month, I wanted to achieve the goals I’d set with my group,” says Lovell. “They’d tell you if you were sandbagging it or setting your goals too low. There was no beating around the bush.” 

The strengths of different perspectives

Ask practically anyone with a business degree what aspect of their degree delivered the most value, and they’ll say it was the connections they made with fellow students.

That’s what McKenna and Lovell say too, but they also define it a bit better.

While it’s obvious they value their individual connections post-grad, what really came through right from the start was the strength they got from having different perspectives in the room. 

As Lovell has come to think of it: “If you’re a business person … you can learn from anyone,” and he also gained insight into manufacturing, transportation and other sectors that, while essential to farming, operate at arm’s length from it. 

For McKenna, there were several people in the pharmaceutical and medical community in her program who provided her with different viewpoints and ideas for ways she could apply data to her decision-making on the farm. Not only that, but it helped her see the important connection between farmers and the health care industry and the vital impact they could have working together.

To push that a step further, McKenna noted that getting better at listening and communicating were two byproduct skills she picked up from the program as well. 

“I find no matter what the job is, you need to be a good listener to succeed,” says McKenna. “Whether it’s managing my farm and our employees, designing research pro-jects with farmers and researchers, or as a student, listening and learning from others is very important.”

As well, she says, “being a good communicator is important. During the MBA program, we did a lot of group work. Listening and effectively communicating with team members were crucial.”

The post Time for school? appeared first on Country Guide.

Horseradish has been around forever too, although it’s been nearly 20 years since it has been cropped in this area along the north shore of Lake Erie. The agronomics haven’t changed, though. Horseradish loves the sandy soil and warm summers of Norfolk, which make for perfect growing conditions to yield the long thin roots that give the condiment its legendary heat.

What has changed, though, is the market.

Maybe you think of horseradish as something your grandma put on the roast beef. But now, it’s being used on burgers, in potato salads and so much more.

And another big thing has changed too. That’s the business strategy back on the farm.

Horseradish is a niche crop. A quick trip to your local grocery store will likely find one jar or another — probably a store brand product from industrial-type horseradish manufacturers. Although horseradish is associated with a number of global cuisines, you’ll find nothing too artisanal, nothing too fun.

Hmmm … that sounds like opportunity knocking.

Dennis’ Horseradish has been around since 1960 when Dennis Gyorffy founded the company. With wonderful initial success, he was able to get jars selling across Ontario from Windsor up to Ottawa before selling the business 20 years later to the Hantz family, who really honed and polished the recipe.

In fact, through subsequent transitions in 2008 and then again in 2020 to the current owners, Rick Hantz has stayed on, still acting as the all important recipe keeper. 

In 2020, three Marks — Healy, Whitmore and Vandenbosch — arrived on the scene, acquiring Dennis’ Horseradish and aiming to put the heat back in its business plan.

Coming in with a strategic, brand-based focus, the three Marks acquired a firm grasp on the marketplace and developed some clear objectives. So while their’s may be a story of producing and selling horseradish, the learnings can apply to any off-the-wall idea or food product coming to market.

#goaldigging

For the three Marks, it’s full steam ahead. They’ve got new growing partners, diversified grain farmers Lindsay Menich and Drew Patterson, to bring production and the end product as close to one another as possible.

The farm is located right in Norfolk, which is important not only to ensure the horseradish is as fresh as possible when it hits the processing plant, but also to strengthen the brand. The crop needs roots. The company does too.

“That makes a huge difference,” says Mark Vandenbosch (CCO, CFO and co-owner). “If you don’t have a good product, it (your marketing) is not going to matter.”

For Vandenbosch, who has farming roots but has spent much of his life in the business world (including as a marketing professor and acting dean of the IVEY Business School at Western University), bringing an off-the-wall artisanal product like this to market is about planning, and it’s about making sure there’s an appetite for it.

He emphasizes that agriculture is a big-volume industry, meaning that you’d better make sure there’s a market for your idea and test out whether there’s a market for it prior to diving in and growing a bunch of product.

For the three Marks, Norfolk’s unique growing conditions, an increased interest in artisanal condiments and a lack of artisanal horseradish in the marketplace presented a potential opportunity. 

So it’s time to talk about goal-setting. One goal, as you’ve read, is production-oriented. It’s to bring the product closer to its roots. But on top of that, Dennis’s also has one very lofty goal: get into every major grocery store chain in Canada, plus a growing list of foodie shops.

At this point, the company is well on their way. Their horseradish is in 44 Sobeys locations and 42 Foodlands as well as several other single locations of major chains and many other artisan markets.

Hot pressure and hot horseradish

You know what they say: If you can’t take the heat, get out of the horseradish jar (or something like that). Like any niche crop, farming horseradish has its challenges. First, you have to stress the root to get the spicy heat (the hotter the better), but you have to know exactly how far you can go. To state the obvious, stressing it too much and killing the plan is hardly helpful.

Luckily, Menich says, the resiliency of horseradish is one of the best things about it.

They know tobacco and ginseng too, so they know the feeling of farming with risk. Says Lindsay Menich: “With the stress of losing ginseng to frost in the spring and tobacco to frost in the fall, or losing either to disease… it’s nice to grow something that seems to live through anything.” 

What about specialty equipment and treatments, though? “John Deere isn’t going to make any horseradish equipment,” says Vandenbosch, laughing. “But a potato harvester? With a few tweaks, that will work.”

Luckily, as Menich points out, Norfolk County is full of farmers who specialize in niche crops and because of that, they know how to do innovation. Leaning into the community has been a big help. 

“We are very lucky to live and farm in Norfolk County,” Menich says. “There are a lot of innovative, specialized equipment vendors we have been working with to improve existing equipment … The knowledge base of our agronomists is spectacular and we have a strong relationship with all of our input providers.”

Of course, working with one grower comes with plenty of advantages (such as more control over the end product and creating a great relationship) but it does involve some risk management. Luckily, Dennis’ does have relationships with other growers (as do Menich and Patterson, who regularly network with them for advice) as a contingency plan. 

While all is well and good now, it begs the question: What if the market becomes flooded? Vandenbosch seems unfazed. His business savvy is evident. Pointing out that almost all the other horseradish growers in Canada are in southwestern Ontario because of the sandy soil, he says new entrants are likely to be partners, not competitors. After all, it would be risky business to start up another horseradish brand so close by.

Now we market

So you have a great product, you’ve assembled an awesome team (that’s key) and now it’s time to get this thing out there. For Dennis’s that has started with a great website. They’ve taken the time to write up the farm’s history and tell the story, add recipes and a slick point of sale that allows people to purchase product online. According to Vandenbosch, most of their sales come through the inbound message box on their website. Its success is impressive. They’ve had inquiries not just from Canadian companies but Mexican, Thai and Korean ones as well. 

From there, Dennis’s has pushed out their product on social media as well as through traditional media. A quick Instagram search finds videos of one of the other Marks (i.e. Healy) doing recipe challenges and having fun with the product. They’ve appealed to the foodie crowd with clear imagery of tasty burgers topped with horseradish and other artisanal condiments they’ve expanded into, like their signature horseradish seafood sauce and mustard. 

Most recently, they’ve added a FeastON certification to their list of accolades through the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance — a program that tracks one’s use of local ingredients and authenticates that you aren’t just “local washing” your marketing. It’s also a great way to be seen by highly engaged foodies on social media to boot.

All is fair in love and horseradish

So it seems, Dennis’ Horseradish is well on its way to being the next hot thing in artisanal condiments. According to Vandenbosch, farmers are often price takers, meaning they take commodity price for what they’re growing. The nice thing about getting into artisanal products however, he notes, is that it gives the team the opportunity to flip that model on its head.

It may be a lot more work on the marketing and product development end of things but there’s no real market there yet, meaning price point is a little more flexible. All you need is a great product and a great story to go along with it. Dennis’s, Vandenbosch says, will build on both.

The post A condiment with a dash of heat appeared first on Country Guide.

The goal was clear too — become a self-sustaining community, secluded from the outside world, a place to build something meaningful and to raise children. What could be easier? Or harder?

So maybe they didn’t exactly know what they were doing, and maybe they didn’t really appreciate Amherst Island is known for its hard clay soil and limestone underbelly, but almost inconceivably, what this group started 50 years ago has become a thriving, sophisticated farm, still motivated by its original values.

In fact, in 2021, Topsy Farms has largely reached the vision set out by its founders. Though all the original members except one (Ian Murray) have now left, and the commune has disbanded, Topsy remains a self-sustaining community that the Murray family, now in its third generation on the farm, still embraces.

While the original goal was never financial, Topsy Farms has become profitable. It has bought out most shareholders and has tapped into and developed a vibrant niche market.

The hippies have studied their visitor base and they’ve crafted an impressive online presence that attracts visitors to their farm, drives their online sales, and helps them to gain impressive loyalty.

Hmmm… sounds like the hippies got good at business.

Of course, it wasn’t always like this. There were skills to be acquired along the way, mistakes to be made, hardships to be faced, and a passion driving it all.

In the beginning

“We never would have accomplished what we did if we’d followed any sort of business plan,” says Ian Murray.

Perhaps this anecdote describes it best. It’s about how the group fell “accidentally” into farming, because the group did have a germ of a plan from the very start. They had pooled their resources to form the commune and get a mortgage on the farm, with its house and barn, and their thinking was that if they could sell the house, and then knock down the barn and replace it with a geodesic dome, they could take a big chunk out of their mortgage and have their own Eden on earth.

Soon after the five arrived, though, a car pulled in the lane and a local government rep got out, curious to see what these hippies were on about. They met, they talked, but when the hippies pointed to the barn and explained their plan to tear it down, he paused.

In quiet rural fashion, the rep said what a shame and a waste it would be to tear down such a good barn. By the end of the visit, he was even suggesting they save the barn and maybe buy a few of his heifers to put in it. And thus their careers as farmers began.

That also launched what the group says was its slippery slope into farming, because when the heifers arrived, they needed hay, which they decided they should grow, and the hay needed machinery, and the cattle needed fencing. And as the original five brought their young families, they added goats and sheep, and pigs, plus lots of vegetable ground that meant they also needed a big root cellar.

In short, the farm got more and more complex, but not necessarily more and more profitable.

Ian Murray, a civil engineer by trade, took on off-site construction jobs to keep some cash flowing, and he kept the farm’s books to stay afloat, but he looks back now and admits those first days were a struggle.

Things did feel like they might work out, though, and in early 1972, the group formalized into Amherst Island Organic Farming.

But there were challenges, too, including people challenges. With all the stresses they had to deal with, including the issue of endurance for Ian, for example, devoting long hours to the farm, followed by full days on the mainland doing construction jobs, it’s perhaps no surprise the strains began to show.

In June 1975, after three and a half years, the commune was formally dissolved, fortunately peacefully.

But their troubles didn’t all disappear. Instead, in some ways it got even tougher. Commodity prices turned volatile, like in 1977 when beef prices plummeted, and it added to the strain of getting a new farm off the ground.

That year, their bank manager told the remaining partners that they needed to find a way to staunch their losses. They would need to find a way out of the red, and he had a suggestion. It was time to choose. Either raise cattle or expand with sheep? They had to choose one or the other.

With beef worth so little, the decision eventually became easy. The cows were sold off, and it proved a good choice. The farm made more money selling their hay to a neighbouring farmer than they did off their herd. They picked a path and forged ahead.

In the first couple of years, Topsy’s communal lifestyle attracted a number of people to the farm. One of them was Christopher Kennedy, a renowned English shepherd. He brought with him a MA in agriculture, an understanding of how to work with sheep, and a desire to live in a communal setting.

Kennedy’s arrival helped the farm decide to buy its first 50 sheep and to grow from there. Over his time at Topsy, he worked with the staff to grow the flock into the province’s second-largest and, at one time, the largest supplier of lambs to the Ontario Stock Yard.

Enter Sally and a new generation

In 1978, Sally Bowen came to the farm and quickly became an integral part of the Topsy mix. Married to Ian, Sally quickly began helping the farm grow its private lamb sales.

Sally became integral in the development of the farm’s risk management plan too. When stockyard prices plunged, private lamb sales provided security. It wasn’t just sheep that Sally was passionate about though. She brought an impressive background that has benefited the farm enormously since.

Born in Toronto, Sally had spent time in the Arctic and in Saskatchewan, working with low income Indigenous groups and women facing poverty. When she arrived on the island, she brought with her a strong work ethic and a passion for reducing food waste. She worked tirelessly building up Topsy’s gardens, was integral in building the farm’s social media presence, and also created a crafting group of knitters to create pieces from Topsy’s wool.

Another true switch for Topsy Farms came in the ’90s as Topsy looked to focus more on wool. With wool priced at 2 cents/pound at the time, Ian and Sally pondered how they could market their own wool and do it well enough to make it a true value-add to their meat sales.

They converted an old ice house into a woolshed and began selling beautiful, Canadian-made wool blankets. All the while, they raised three kids on the farm, worked with the other partners, and continued to take off-farm jobs.

Times were tough, but as Ian notes, “Humans weren’t meant for an easy life.”

And yet, three of Ian and Sally’s children have decided to come back to Topsy Farms to live and work. When asked about succession planning, Sally laughs. “There was no plan. We just made sure they left for a while so they knew this is what they wanted. I know a lot of people who feel forced into a certain future and they aren’t happy people.”

And so, another nugget of wisdom and a hint at a business plan is revealed, if not in those exact terms.

As Topsy works away at buying out the remaining three shareholders (two of whom are Sally and Ian who will leave their share to the kids), their son Jacob Murray describes what a slow process it has been, but how lucky they’d been that all of the original partners had the same vision.

Importantly, they’re able to work peacefully together. Regardless of the slog, more lessons were also learned. Jacob notes that now there is a clear succession plan and shareholders’ agreement along with a comprehensive business strategy that has been worked on by legal and business professionals.

The first part of their new business model? Figuring out who their market is.

Topsy had been bringing people to the farm to see sheep shearing demos since the early ’80s but it’s with this next generation that they learned to slow down and explore the value of figuring out who was coming.

Now, Topsy does surveys to discover their customer’s values and to see how the farm can connect with them. As an early adopter, Sally handed over an impressive Instagram and Facebook following to Jacob who now manages the accounts and sees them as integral for helping customers bridge the gap with the farm and their food.

The future is now

Has a touch of business acumen helped the dream succeed? By 2017, Topsy had built its flock to 1,100 ewes.

They had also learned how to implement strategic change, deciding their future would lie in agro-tourism and with what the farm calls “Connect to the Land” experiences.

To get there, the farm would build on digital strategies to expand their customer relations.

In late 2019, Topsy Farms was setting up for their best year yet. Visitors were regularly coming to the farm (it’s worth noting this involves a ferry ride) for experiences like yoga on the farm, sheep shearing demos and to buy wool products.

Enter 2020, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they thrived.

With 18 people employed on the farm, not only was Topsy able to keep their staff, they hired more.

With a focus on social media that connects to the customer in real ways, Topsy was able to drive online sales of their yarn and wool blankets simply by telling their story. Knitters bought their wool and shared finished projects on Instagram.

Community gardens built across Amherst Island inspired others to start their gardens using Topsy’s wool pellet fertilizer and again, share the fruits of their labour online. They showed the beautiful parts of farming (adorable highland cows, gorgeous fruitful gardens) but also the bumps and bruises of losing animals, ruined plants and the struggles of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Farmers have taken the boot camp of tough times,” says Jacob, pointing to the struggles of daily farm life. “We’re the leaders of this time and I think farmers are in a really great position to lead people out the other side of this.”

Looking towards the youngest generation (Jacob’s own two sons), it’s easy to see that the work ethic instilled by life on Topsy Farms is there and new ambitions are too.

That blend of hippie values and their respect for business skills continues to grow too.

As Topsy sees 2021 laid out, there are major plans in the works. A re-wilding program will help them recreate ecosystems of native plants on Amherst Island. Community gardens will help Amherst Island build up its own food security. And it will all unfold online as Topsy continues to share their story.

Jacob’s youngest, Michael, is clear-eyed about it. “I want to leave the island for a little like my dad did, but I also want to learn more about things like accounting so I can help to grow our sales. I want to see the farmland stay in the family.”

The post Turning Topsy right side up appeared first on Country Guide.

[UPDATED: Mar. 23, 2021] The past year has shone a sometimes not very flattering light on Canada’s ailing food system, but it has also revealed new challenges and exciting opportunities to bring about long overdue changes for the farming and foodservice industry.

For Rebecca Mackenzie, president and CEO of the Culinary Tourism Alliance, it’s time for a fundamental paradigm shift based on increased transparency and meaningful connections between farmers, chefs and consumers.

Her goal is to grow the role of the Culinary Tourism Alliance at the forefront of it all, leading the charge.

Is that good news for farmers?

The non-profit alliance’s mission is to make farming and the food sector a tourism destination by using history, heritage and culture to create a package that attracts consumers to the places and the people where their food is produced.

It’s little wonder Mackenzie is where she is. She’s no stranger to agriculture, the culinary scene or tourism. *She is studying global management at Royal Roads University and has a background with the award-winning Taste Trail in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, including managing membership, their visitors guide and much more. She also sits on a variety of professional boards from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario to the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Gastronomic Tourism Network.

But what is the Culinary Tourism Alliance? And do farmers know about it?

Established in 2006, the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance (OCTA) was created as part of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport’s 10-year strategic plan. “They were very forward-thinking in that they recognized there’s only one thing every consumer does at least three times a day when they travel, and that’s eat and drink,” says Mackenzie. Food was seen as a way to create meaningful connections and have a positive impact on Canada’s visitor economy.

The alliance doesn’t just provide marketing, it also helps build relationships between farmers and chefs so they can better understand each other’s operations, work more collaboratively, and increase profitability. To date, its Feast On program has 159 certified restaurants, 34 certified purveyors and numerous industry partners including Foodland Ontario, Ontario Pork and Dairy Farmers of Ontario, among, other commodity boards.

It’s also posting some significant numbers. In 2019, Feast On-certified restaurants reported $30 million in Ontario food purchases from farmers, artisans and distributors who source locally grown and produced products. This number has steadily increased over the program’s six-year history. 2019 also saw Feast On restaurants spend an annual average of $193,000 on local food (a 2.6 per cent increase from the previous year).

In 2016, the Culinary Tourism Alliance dropped Ontario from their name and set their sites on loftier goals, expanding their services to destinations around the globe. Registering as a non-profit organization, they generate revenue from membership fees, certification fees and fees for professional services.

The Feast On program fees for operators are being waived through to December 2021 with the help of funding support from the Federal Regional Relief Recovery Program and provincially from Ontario’s tourism and agriculture ministries. With initiatives from Saskatoon to Scotland, the Culinary Tourism Alliance helps to create innovative culinary tourism strategies with sustainability and capacity building in mind.

“Culinary tourism starts with a base ingredient, and that’s agriculture,” says Mackenzie. With this in mind, the Culinary Tourism Alliance’s assessment of a new place always starts with a look at its farms and fisheries. It’s a look at whether farmers are participating in local markets, hosting on-farm experiences or servicing the food industry.

Next, they look at the added-value food and beverage industry like dairies and cideries to see how they’re contributing to consumer education, who they sell to and how they add to the local taste of place. Last, the alliance looks at existing culinary experiences, attractions and events — the full culinary tourism value chain, all of which contributes to a vibrant food system.

Major accomplishments

There are many feathers in the cap of the Culinary Tourism Alliance but Mackenzie is quick to point out their most recent accomplishment: It’s Ontario’s largest tourism recovery strategy, which they’ve named the Great Taste of Ontario, and it is bringing together over 90 partners including everyone from destination marketing organizations to sector organizations like Indigenous Tourism Canada, the Winery Marketing Association of Ontario and more.

The public-facing side encourages Ontarians to rediscover the culinary gems of their backyard, and — when it’s safe to do so — the other foodie delights of the province. Through culinary itineraries and a passport program where people can check into locations, the alliance can get a robust set of metrics to help them look at the way Ontarians are reconnecting with their food. Additionally, those who enjoy the passports are able to enter contests for unique prizes and donate to charities that specialize in food security. It is hoped that CTA can help re-stimulate the economy at a trying time for the industry.

On the industry side, the Great Taste of Ontario program has encouraged more purveyors and restaurants to get involved in the Feast On program by waiving the fees for 2020-21. As a result, 14 new restaurants and two new purveyors have already registered and met the criteria to date with many more in the pipeline. In addition to the extensive marketing of the program which is featured in the Globe & Mail and has caught attention from the media at large, certified businesses will also gain access to educational tools to help them through the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and build more resilient business models.

The third prong of the program also addresses sustainable development goals for restaurants and culinary destinations as well as a cultural culinary diversity program.

The barriers, and the opportunities to knock them down

North American trends are showcasing a significant upwards trend in agritourism at a time when major disruptions in the market are highlighting a need for diversified revenue. Mackenzie doesn’t shy away from acknowledging some of the gaps that exist in Canada’s culinary story but she does see them as opportunities. She sees a disconnect between large-scale farms and their consumers in part because they work through commodity boards who tell their stories for them. For her, now is the time to acknowledge and make a major change towards a more sustainable business model based on transparency.

Like many big farming decisions, it requires a step back. “What do you want?” asks Mackenzie. Priorities become crucial. “Do you want to build something for your kids, the next generation? Do you want to grow something for your community?” It all starts with such questions.

Agritourism can be one way to accomplish specific goals but farmers need to practice due diligence before determining how to get involved.

For Mackenzie, one of the largest hurdles is the inability for Canadians to easily trade between provinces. It’s difficult for a distillery in Saskatoon to get their spirits into Ontario’s buyer and retailer of alcohol, the LCBO, thereby opening new markets and increasing consumer awareness of their taste of place story. However, every obstacle is an opportunity to knock it down and that’s why the homework is so important. Without it, businesses can easily be discouraged by the roadblocks at all levels of government.

That aside, there are options for farmers to use agritourism to create new revenue streams. One of the major financial benefits of agritourism at all levels is to create direct-to-consumer sales that provide an increase in profit. The other is attracting business during a farm’s shoulder season.

Farms and fisheries can consider another revenue stream — selling at their local farmers market. While this is a means of driving sales, Mackenzie points out that the marketing value of a farmers market is also important. It’s a way to tell a farm’s story and connect directly with a new consumer.

Going beyond that, bringing people to the farm to purchase an added value product is another means of diversifying revenue streams with direct-to-consumer sales. A dairy farm that makes cheese may set up a farm store on site to sell their artisan cheese. A winery will do better selling their wines at the vineyard than they will in the liquor store. These producers are farmers first but are entrenched in added value processing and agritourism.

Finally, some farms decide to offer an on-farm educational experience for visitors. When priced responsibly, this can be a wonderful addition to a farmer’s shoulder season revenue and can help tell the food story of the area. It can include anything from a stunning long-table dinner to climbing into some waders and getting waste deep in a cranberry bog. For the consumer it’s a chance to make a meaningful connection with a place. For the farmer it’s a chance to tell their story and get creative while financially stimulating their business.

It’s a chance to get involved in telling Canada’s culinary story and to entice people to eat seasonally and locally. That is what the Culinary Tourism Alliance is all about.

*Update: the article originally stated that Rebecca Mackenzie had a masters in global leadership from Royal Roads University.

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