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The conclusion of our conversation with Dana Penrice of Young Agrarians on how new and aspiring farmers and ranchers can be a farm solution that is also a climate solution.
For Ward and Joanne Middleton, organic grain and oilseed farmers, planning for environmental and financial resiliency has become critical to adapting to extreme weather events on the farm. Over the past 27-years, the couple has managed Midmore Farms, an 850-acre certified organic farming operation, located northwest of Edmonton in Sturgeon County.
Today, Ward and Joanne are practicing with a wide variety of climate solutions, including intercropping to reduce soil tillage and integrating livestock on the land through custom grazing. They’re also investing in renewable energy technology and participating in seed saving initiatives. But these solutions haven’t happened overnight. Farming, says Ward, has been a dynamic, evolving process in observing interactions between soil, environment, climate, animal and plant vitality. “We’re always striving for continuous improvement,” he says. “There’s always room for improvement.”
As a fourth generation grain and pulse farmer in Strathcona County, Colin Jackson has seen many changes to the way food is grown on the Canadian prairies. He grew up on the very land he stewards today with his wife, Laura, and their family. They run Jackson Homesteaders Farms Ltd., a multi-enterprise farm that resides on 180-acres of land, located north of Sherwood Park, Alberta. The Jacksons farm around 5000 acres (owned and rented) of grain and pulse production, manage a horse boarding operation, tend honeybee hives, run a community garden and care for a huge flock of ‘rescued’ chickens and ducks.
For Ward and Joanne Middleton, organic grain and oilseed farmers, planning for environmental and financial resiliency has become critical to adapting to extreme weather events on the farm. Over the past 27-years, the couple has managed Midmore Farms, an 850-acre certified organic farming operation, located northwest of Edmonton in Sturgeon County.
Today, Ward and Joanne are practicing with a wide variety of climate solutions, including intercropping to reduce soil tillage and integrating livestock on the land through custom grazing. They’re also investing in renewable energy technology and participating in seed saving initiatives. But these solutions haven’t happened overnight. Farming, says Ward, has been a dynamic, evolving process in observing interactions between soil, environment, climate, animal and plant vitality. “We’re always striving for continuous improvement,” he says. “There’s always room for improvement.”
As a fourth generation grain and pulse farmer in Strathcona County, Colin Jackson has seen many changes to the way food is grown on the Canadian prairies. He grew up on the very land he stewards today with his wife, Laura, and their family. They run Jackson Homesteaders Farms Ltd., a multi-enterprise farm that resides on 180-acres of land, located north of Sherwood Park, Alberta. The Jacksons farm around 5000 acres (owned and rented) of grain and pulse production, manage a horse boarding operation, tend honeybee hives, run a community garden and care for a huge flock of ‘rescued’ chickens and ducks.
