Ecological Day GBFW 15

Highlights of Three Organic/Ecological

Operations

Participants:

Tarrah Young, Green Being Farm

Roy Love, Roy’L Acres Farm

Johannes Schneider, Saugeen

Country Dairy

Facilitated by Phillip Woodhouse

Kune Kunes

Kune Kunes

MICRO GREENS & SHOOTS

Roy’L Acres Farm is a small family run

business in Grey Highlands (100 acres).

Our goal is to grow a variety of produce that

is natural, GMO free, pesticide free and

grown completely without the use of

chemicals.

We use only organic practices and strive to

operate with sustainable methods.

Our use of companion planting allows nature

to do what it does best.

Our practices enrich our soil, our plants, our

plates, our bodies and our planet.

Our Mission

We are passionate about growing vegetables

that taste the way nature intended; full of

colour and flavour and that remind us of what

real food is.

As local producers we aspire to have a close

relationship with our community and our

consumers, to provide transparency and

understanding of where food comes from and

how it is grown.

As we continue to grow we realize that being a

small-scale producer is essential in staying true

to our practices, the quality of our produce and

maintaining a personal relationship with our

community.

Our Mission…..Continued

CHEFS FORUM VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXC7C7xtiBI

INTRODUCING ROY’L ACRES

Roy’L Acres Farm

DISCOVERING THE WORLD OF

MICRO GREENS & SHOOTS

RESEARCH

WHAT ARE MICRO GREENS?

MICRO GREENS ARE THE SEEDLINGS OF

VEGETABLES AND HERBS

MICRO GREENS ARE HARVESTED WHILE

YOUNG, AFTER THEY FORM THEIR “TRUE

LEAF”

REQUIRE SOIL & LIGHT

7-21 DAYS OF GROWTH BEFORE

HARVESTING

PACKED FULL OF FLAVOUR

VARIETIES Pea Tendrils

Sunflower Shoots

Corn Shoots

Amaranth

Arugula

Beet

Broccoli

Buckwheat

Chervil

Cilantro

Dill

Fenugreek

Endive

Flax (golden & brown)

Kale (blue, green & red russian)

Kohlrabi Purple Vienna

Mustards

Radish

Red Cabbage

Swiss Chard

AND MORE…

MICRO GREENS VS. SPROUTS

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS

USDA published study in Journal of

Agriculture & Food & Chemistry

4-6 X more nutrients than the

mature leaves of the same plant

Higher levels of Vitamin K, Vitamin

C, Vitamin E, Lutein & Beta

Carotene

CULINARY USES

LEARNING HOW TO

GROW…WELL

PROCESS

• SEEDS

• SOIL

• TEMPERATURES

• CONTAINERS

• WATERING

• LIGHTING

• COVERING

• AIR CIRCULATION

EXPERIMENTING

WHAT GROWS WELL, WHAT

DOESN’T

GREEN HOUSES VS. INDOOR

CUTTING & STORING

TRICKS & TIPS

CHALLENGES

ROT

BUGS

WILTING

SEEDS NOT GERMINATING

CONSISTENCY

EVOLUTION

GROWING DEMAND The Tremont Cafe

Cabin Bistro

Collingwood Co-op

AzzurraTrattoria The Cheese Gallery

Simplicity Bistro

The Georgian Bay Club

The Bruce Wine Bar

Sisi on Main

Culinary Design Catering

Black Angus

The Lily Pad

Village Greens

Bicycle Cafe

Flesherton Bakery

Lesliville Cheese

The Flying Spatula Diner

The Flying Chestnut

Creemore Kitchen

100 Mile Store

EVENTS

Try some….

THANK YOU!

On Farm

Processing At

Saugeen Country

Dairy

Our Operation

Really two businesses: an organic Dairy farm with about 65 Holstein cows on 400 acres (and 300acres rented) operated by the Huesing Family, Ingo and Sabine and their son and daughter in law Hauke and Jenna.

The processing plant is owned by Sabine and Ingo and myself, we started that business about 20 years ago when we were farming together. I was always a little more involved in the dairy, so now I manage it. We have 1 full time and 5 part time people working there. Sabine and myself are included in the 5 part time.

Our Operation

The dairy is located close to the cow barn

and milk is transferred via a pipeline.

The plant processes the milk that the

farm produces into yogurt and kefir.

Saugeen Country Dairy was established

about 20 years ago.

Our Operation

When we began we processed 500-1,000l

per week, now it’s more like 10,000l.

We market our products mainly through

distributors to stores across the country.

During the last two years we have been

processing about 550,000 liters of milk

per year.

Our Operation

We chose yogurt and kefir because they

are relatively simple products to

manufacture. We did not choose organic,

we have always been organic- it is who

we are, we would not do it any other

way.

Marketing

Marketing is the most important part

of on farm processing.

Organic obviously helps to stand out a

bit.

Every company must find their own

way of marketing but: Unless the

product sells it’s not worth your

while.

Marketing

Establish a product in the

marketplace that people want to

buy:

It should taste good

The price should be reasonable

People should feel good about buying it

(healthy, local , organic, animal friendly

etc.)

It must be consistent in quality

Marketing

There is the practical aspect of marketing:

We use distributors for most, approx

95% of our sales. It would be simply

impossible to market it directly to

the stores. Stores don’t like it (too

much traffic at their loading dock and

in their office) and it would cost way

too much.

MarketingWe only take our products to the local

stores in Durham, Markdale and Hanover.

Some farmers think distributors are bad because they charge a lot just for delivering their products to the stores. We think we need them, we gladly accept the cost.

One can only do so much: farming and processing are full time jobs, distributing is yet another job and it is better outsourced in my view.

MarketingWe took the slow approach: mostly

word of mouth advertising. We were

determined and able to keep our

debt under control so nobody could

force us to meet impossible sales

targets.

It does take time and patience to

establish a brand in the marketplace.

Marketing

On farm processing comes in many shapes and sizes, in our case it would be impossible to sell the amount of product locally because we specialize in only two items.

We always stayed away from the big chains because we feel it is a bad match. We a very small and they are very big.

We prefer to deal with small independent stores and chains through our distributors. The result of this is that our products are sold throughout the country, mostly in health food stores.