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No, it’s not a traditional farm, and Ron and Sheila Hamilton are the first to acknowledge that they aren’t like their neighbors, but thinking outside the box is making their farm operation viable.
The Hamiltons bought Sunworks Farm in 1992 near Armena, Alta. Along with daughters Shae and Erin they began a half-section farm, specializing in certified organic and certified humane farming.
When they bought their land, neighbors and friends told them that they didn’t expect the family to be able to survive on the farm, and expected them to throw in the towel within a couple of years. That didn’t happen.
Shae and Erin have since married, and a third—generation family member is expected this year at Christmas, so the Hamiltons have what they are proud to call a multi-species/multi-generational farm. The 3 families now work together on the farm, producing chickens, turkeys, hens, pork and beef.
They began to work to achieve their organic status as soon as they bought the farm, and have been raising certified organic animals since 1997. It takes 4 years for the land to be certified organic, and livestock has to be raised on certified organic land. Producers have to provide an organic audit trail for their livestock.
The Hamiltons started out with chickens, pigs and cattle. They originally took in everybody’s culls which created a motley crew of a herd, but now they are establishing a herd of Galloways, plus one Highland cow. “Now we’re into numbers, not names,” says Sheila.
They sold off one quarter to fund the building of a barn, and cross-fenced the remaining quarter with high-tensile fencing. This allows the family to do rotational grazing, which they do on a time control as well as based on visual control grazing.
Calving is done in May, later than many of their neighbors. The result has been surprising for the Hamiltons. In the fall, their calves were the same size as other producers’ earlier calves, which Sheila attributes to them not having to fight the elements to survive, or expend energy to fight the colder weather of the winter months.
Water is supplied by a 30’ deep dugout, which holds 3 million gallons of water, so water has never been an issue. “We believe in keeping our water clean,” says Sheila, and that has been a critical area of their production.
Their outlook on water is part of their holistic approach to production. They only use holistic remedies, introducing no chemicals to their feed or medications.
To keep their organic status, the Hamiltons had to install a mild chlorination system into their water system when an avian flu came into Canada. “We had to show them we were proactive rather than reactive,” Sheila says.
In keeping with their humane approach, electric netting around their poultry keeps the predators away. Not one bird has been lost to predators this year.
If this doesn’t sound terribly out of the ordinary, it’s not. It’s the diversity and balancing that diversity that makes their operation unique.
In the spring, the Hamiltons graze their cattle on spring grass. Then they rotate their chickens onto that area.
The chickens are housed in 16 shelters that are 16’ by 24’. There are 500 birds to a shelter. All birds get access to green grass, fresh water and fresh air in a controlled, free range operation. As the chickens eat the grass, the Hamiltons use their farm tractor to pull the shelters along on their skids. “Once the grass has been soiled, they will not eat it,” says Sheila, so they more the shelters and fences to offer a continual fresh supply.
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This fresh supply of feed, along with supplemented organic wheat and soy that the Hamiltons buy for feed, means that their death loss is the same or less than that of other, large producers, but the growth rate of the bird is much higher.
The manure pack left by the chickens is high in moisture, and brings fast regrowth to the grass. “The turkeys are great at eating absolutely everything, including thistles,” says Sheila, and their manure brings even faster regrowth.
Once the birds have eaten down an area, they won’t be put back on that location for a minimum of 2 years, she says. This is not only a means to reduce potential impact on the land, but is also a way to control potential disease.
Their land, which is a clay gumbo soil, used to pool water during rains, unable to absorb moisture in its stressed condition. “Now that land is soaking in the rain. It’s amazing the difference,” she says.
The Hamiltons are running 800 hens this year, and are selling out of their eggs. Sheila says, “We’re upping that number to 1,200 hens, and we’ll see how that works.” The eggs, as well as the meat from the livestock and birds, are marketed in 2 farmers’ markets in Calgary and Edmonton. This aspect of marketing is allowing the 3-family operation to succeed where they might not in a regular farm operation.
They used to raise their chickens only in the summer. Last year they raised over 30,000, but their costs increased because they had to pay to store them. Now they’re building another barn which will have fresh air, large rooms, big screens and large windows to reduce stress.
“We use the pigs as a tool. They root,” says Sheila. The pigs eat the broadleaf grasses first and love dandelions, although they are supplemented with chop as well. Sheila’s sister farrows the pigs, and the Hamiltons bring them in as weaners, so they don’t have to winter them. They have found that by keeping the pigs in an open, clean and healthy environment, they don’t get diseases, and they don’t fight and cut each other.
Their marketing has boomed over the years. In 1997, they raised 100 chickens and 5 pigs. This year they’re producing 50,000 chickens, 600 turkeys, 1,200 hens, and will sell 500 pigs as well as marketing 350 lambs that they sell from Sheila’s sister’s operation. They produce over 300 dozen eggs per week. All this is sold through their 2 markets. As a result they have become the largest free-range producer in Canada.
One of their biggest pieces of advice is: “Don’t undersell your product.” The Hamiltons charge $3.60/lb for chickens and $4 a dozen for eggs. “If you’re selling a farm animal, you should never charge less than what it costs in a store.”
Sheila says their production costs are much higher than traditional farming operations. They pay $5 to $7 a bushel for grain, and $1,150 for a ton of soy. Feed and labor costs are way up, and the cost of doing their own marketing has to be considered.
“You never want to set your prices so high that if the prices of your feed increase, you can’t raise your prices,” says Sheila. Knowing where the ceiling is in your market is very important.
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