Open Farm Day
N.L. residents get chance to see operations during Open Farm Day NL activities
Public invited to see how farms operate
How many people understand what it takes to get meat and produce to market?
Better yet, do you know where it comes from and how it gets to the marketplace?
Open Farm Day NL, hosted across the province on Sunday, allowed residents an inside look at the various livestock and agriculture operations that produce a variety of products sold at Newfoundland and Labrador locations and provide the public with fresh, made-right-here products.
A wide range of farms participated, including vegetable, berry, greenhouse, honeybee and livestock operations.
Michael Dinn, owner/operator of Woodland Farm Inc., a livestock farmer in Goulds, has been a hobby farmer most of his life and a fulltime dairy farmer for five years.
He has 57 Holsteins that produce approximately 1,700 litres of milk daily.
“Events like this show people where their food is made. Some think it just shows up in grocery stores, but those who come out to events like this get to see how everything is made,” Dinn said.
“I have always wanted to do this and when the opportunity came up for me, I jumped at it.”
In a time in society when people aren’t gravitating to a life of farming, Dinn is an anomaly. Most farmers have it passed down through their families and the tradition of farming just continues generation to generation.
But to say family doesn’t play a part in this for Dinn wouldn’t hold true.
Many in his family were on hand Sunday for the Open Farm Day event, lending assistance at the stations he had set up showcasing the various aspects of the farm.
“My family is always here to give a hand when needed. Family will always help you out,” he said.
Dinn decided in 2012 to look into an entry program that would help him expand to a fully operational dairy farm and under several government programs was able to get underway with 22 head. That number has gradually grown to his 57 head today.
How many cattle he has is based on a quota system, as there is a cap on per litre basis.
“I am at my production limit right now. It is important government has that in place. We can’t flood the market with product,’’ he said.
Fresh produce
Residents of this province know the limitations of getting fresh produce to their tables due to transportation issues.
So to ensure fresh produce is available, farms across the province have jumped into the fray to help the supply.
“Newfoundland only produces a fraction of its food,’’ Brian Kowalski of Murray Meadows Farm said Sunday.
“We have to do more to get more farmers on the go here,’’ he added as he guided a group of residents through the 2.5acre field located in Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s.
He said government has been helpful to his operation and others, but there is still a need to grow more food here.
“If the ferry stops, it cuts off our supplies. Any amount we can grow here definitely helps,’’ he said.
Kowalski said Murray Meadows doesn’t grow the traditional crops seen in other operations in this province. In addition to his 2.5-acre field, he has approximately 20,000 square feet of unheated green houses and several more which are heated.
This helps him to produce crops such as lettuce, beets, carrots, herbs such as parsley, and cilantro, chard and kale. In addition they grow many varieties of peppers, basil, cucumbers and tomatoes.