Since 1826, the Baldwin family has
farmed in Douglasfield. But while Spruceshade Farm is a reminder of a
common past, it is also an example of future trends in small-holding
farms.
Ben Baldwin, a geologist by trade,
returned to the family home twenty years ago and sought to continue
the family’s farming life. Over time, changes have taken place that
have made his farm quite different from when it began, yet have
preserved this farm while others disappeared.
"We’re the only farm in
Douglasfield," said Baldwin, "compared to when I grew up; everybody
made their living on farms."
Like any occupation, the viability
of being a fulltime farmer is linked to the income one can generate
and whether it can provide for a comfortable living. What many New
Brunswick farmers have witnessed is a decline in profitability due to
falling prices and the inability to keep up with larger producers or
foreign imports.
"It’s an economy of scale. You have
to be big to have economic viability," explained Baldwin’s wife, Inka
Milewski who, in addition to sharing the responsibilities of the farm,
is Science Advisor for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
"Family farms are unique, in that
there are few family farms now," she said. "In the 1980’s there were
25,000 farms registered in New Brunswick. Now there are only 2000."
Of farms that remain, she adds,
families are almost always dependant on ‘off-farm income’ where either
the husband or wife has to keep a fulltime job for them to get by.
At first, when Baldwin took over
the family farm, he kept a market garden for the first five years, and
also maintained three large greenhouses.
But declining prices made that
style of operation impractical.
"When I started, tomatoes sold for
$4.50 per pound, but then went down to $1.50 per pound. We just
couldn’t break even," he said. "The price of farm products has not
gone up at the same scale as the rest of the economy."
Marketing boards have been one
successful means by which to protect profitability, but not all crops
have marketing boards.
"Because of marketing boards, like
those for milk and eggs, those products are the most prosperous. Their
prices only go up while the price for everything else fluctuates,"
Baldwin explained.
Faced with these realities, the
Baldwin farm was reinvented. They targeted crops that were
demonstrated to be profitable and remodelled their practices around
sustainability.
Sustainability is a word which is
becoming common in most industries that base themselves around
renewable resources, like forestry or fishing also. The goal of
sustainable agriculture is to treat land as a complete, holistic
system, and work the soil in such a way as to ensure it remains
fertile into the future.
Spruceshade Farm is also now
certified ‘organic’ and it is the only farm in northeastern New
Brunswick that has that distinction. Last year, it was the
Northumberland County nominee for ‘Farm of the Year in New Brunswick’.
Altogether, there are about 60 organic farms in New Brunswick, but
most are near Fredericton or Moncton. It is mildly ironic, but it is
proximity to big cities, and the markets there, that make these
locations more practical than remote, rural settings.
Organic farms practice
sustainability and are restricted from using chemical fertilizers and
insecticides on their crops. Associations, such as the Maritime
Certified Organic Growers, exist and inspect farms on an annual basis
to ensure compliance. Baldwin has been a member for five years.
Throughout Canada, the number of
organic-certified farms is growing, now around 3500 throughout the
nation, with more than a third of them in Saskatchewan alone.
According to the Canadian Organic Growers, it is the fastest growing
sector in agriculture, "with sales increasing at 20% per year," and
utilizing "close to a million acres of land in Canada." [www.cog.ca]
Spruceshade’s main products are now
raspberries and summer savory.
"In my experience," Baldwin said,
"raspberries and summer savory require no chemicals."
Using natural growing methods the
farm generates over two and a half tons of raspberries from just two
acres of land set aside for that crop. With the help of one or two
summer students, they are sold through a U-pick.
Summer savory also turned out to be
a good, sellable crop. The farm produces about a hundred kilograms a
year which is then sold to stores in Miramichi and Moncton. The ten
acres of fields where the herb grows are rotated to keep the ground
healthy. In this process, two acres are set aside each year for barley
which is consumed on the premises by Baldwin’s other cohabitants: five
goats.
The goats, in turn, provide milk.
Two milkgoats produce, on average, about three and a half litres a
day. Everything works in a cycle, which is the key to the
sustainability model. Baldwin jokes that his farm is the "land of milk
and honey" for he also keeps four hives of Italian bees, which produce
about fifty pounds of honey a year. The bees, in turn, help to
pollinate the raspberries and other plants.
In one word, Baldwin describes
organic farming as "satisfying."
"I don’t know why more people don’t
try."
