A 35-acre farm dedicated to apples, tender fruit and vegetables has served as a lifetime endeavor for Doug Balsillie and his wife Leslie Huffman. Their interest in niche markets, particularly cider apples, is their new venture on the picturesque farm near Harrow, Ontario.
Tree fruit growers Elly Hoff and her brother Fred Meyers serve coffee to their Mexican workers Eduardo Bautista and Victor Lugo. In January 2023, the workers moved into one of the five new units that Meyers Fruit Farms built to accommodate 40 temporary foreign workers near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Farmers never retire. They transition. That’s the case with grape grower Bill Schenck and his son Brian who are in discussions with other family members about the next chapter near St. Catharines, Ontario. ‘The Great Succession’ is relevant to about 60 per cent of farmers across Canada, because they’re at least 55 years old.
An Alberta potato grower is reducing use of synthetic fertilizers by brewing his own biological fertilizer with five strains of live bacteria that aid plant growth.
The ambition of the Feenstra family – Rich, John and father Peter – continues to grow for Mountainview Orchards, Beamsville, Ontario. It’s a story of how to pitch the farm lender on a new packing line that not only improves efficiencies but the work environment for employees.
