Making it Fit

The decline of family farms in Canada is very real. However, as many farmers are demonstrating, it is not inevitable. Cowichan Bay Farms on Vancouver Island is an exciting example of a modern heritage farm, incorporating many new ideas about farming, marketing and sustainable agriculture.

Lyle Young operates Cowichan Bay Farms, a fourth generation family farm, along with his wife Fiona and three children. As a child he visited the farm only sporadically but it made a strong impression on him. “We used to come and visit my grandparents here when I was a kid, two or three times a year. I loved this place. It was just magical for me” he recalls. “They had an enormous amount of respect for every little thing, be it an animal, a bug or an old bent nail. There was no waste in farming, no garbage. Everything had a place in the system and it was respected for that.”

Lyle spent most of his teenage years in North Vancouver with a feeling, which is probably not unusual for teenagers, that he just didn’t fit in there. He when on to pursue a fine arts degree at the Emily Carr College of Art and the University of British Columbia. After university he decided to do some travelling in order to, as he says, “find out the things I needed to know in life.’’ His idea? “I had a cousin who was flying bush planes in Africa. I thought that was a pretty good place to go.”

The farm was on his mind often. “I always kind of expected that at some point I would have a conversation with my grandparents about the future of the farm.” While in Africa he received news that his grandfather had passed away. He became concerned about the future of the farm and started to plan in earnest. He returned to Canada and the farm and “jumped in with both feet.”

Liabilities and Assets

In the first few years he tried many things, always with the idea that whatever he did, it should be sustainable, esthetically pleasing and be appropriate to the land and the scale of the farm. He tried raising livestock but found it difficult to make any money on his relatively small property.

On a trip to England he stumbled upon a farm raising rare breeds of livestock. He was enchanted with the unusual qualities of these animals as well as their incredible histories. Most of these animals had fallen out of favour with commercial growers for one reason or another. It also occurred to him that the liabilities these animals presented to the large scale commercial grower could become assets to the small farmer looking for niche markets. “The sheep that we have take longer to grow a lamb to market size than a commercial one. Instead of seeing that as a liability, we turned that into an asset—we discovered that if it takes longer to grow there’s going to be less fat on it and it’s going to have a fuller flavour.” He can sell these lambs for more money so he runs fewer animals per acre which is better for the land and the overhead.

Cowichan Bay Farms currently raises rare breeds of livestock—cattle, sheep and goats—and has an extensive pasture-raised chicken and duck operation. Lyle has devised a systems for small lot animal husbandry that not only works in the unique climate of Vancouver Island, but is so successful that he received the BC SPCA Farm of the Year award and won an Epicure and Travel Magazine Produce Award of Excellence this year. The farm was also first runner up for Business of the Year award in the Cowichan Valley. “I can’t think of a better time and place to be doing what we’re doing than right here and right now on the West Coast of Canada, doing this kind of farming and sustainable agriculture.”

On a farm with many smaller products and product lines, staffing is also a challenge. In the beginning, Lyle hoped to have one or two staff who would live on the property and be part of the family. In practice it hasn’t worked out that way. The farm is diverse and the animal operations are very labour intensive. “We’ve evolved into a farm that has a whole bunch of part-time people that hone in on their specialties. Some people don’t like mucking out barns or they don’t want to drive tractors because it makes them nervous. Other people might not be really in tune with the animals. Everyone’s got their own strengths and weaknesses. I [used to] hope that one person would have all strengths. They don’t.”

A Centre of Community

Cowichan Bay Farms has developed a strong presence in the community. Lyle sees their name in the paper more and more often. The farm offers gate sales, tours, community activities and an annual art show. This is perhaps the best mark of success for Lyle—a strong sense both of carrying on a tradition and creating something that is relevant to his community today. “My grandparents used to sell raw milk from the farm to generations of people. They were a fixture in this community since 1910. I’ve met probably hundreds of people who have said, ‘Oh, I used to buy milk from your grandfather.’ Our farm gate business is growing and people are taking ownership of the farm again in the sense that this is their farm where they get their food.”

Perhaps as a direct response to his own process of development, Lyle is thinking about a mentorship program. He hopes to make it easier for farmers to develop new methods that are appropriate and sustainable. “You know when I started I went into Buckerfields and asked questions and they just laughed at me. It was pretty demeaning actually. You know, where do you go in a farm community to ask questions?”

Lyle is active communicating his ideas to the agricultural community and general public. “I’m very interested in [the] slow food [movement]. I’m very concerned about the Americanization of our culture and the impact of boxed stores and the disappearance of respect and appreciation for things that are unique and different and natural.” He firmly believes that farming is challenging and rewarding . Cowichan Bay Farms demonstrates that a family farm can be profitable and sustainable. Lyle has hopes that he can help educate and inspire the next generation of farmers on Vancouver Island. This is the next big project to take on. “We have to make farming viable, interesting and fun. Otherwise, our farms are going to disappear by attrition.”

Michael Marrapese,
August 26, 2002