Highlights
- In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Dairy Farmers of Canada has produced a book, “Dairy farmers: Deeply rooted for a strong future”.
- Farming on an isolated island with limited land and a shorter growing season comes with many challenges, but there’s nothing else the Walsh family would rather be doing.
Siblings Robert, David and Denise Walsh own Glenview Farms in Kilbride near St. John’s. What began as a small, 30 acre operation between 1830 and 1850, is now home to 450 cows and 560 acres of land.
Much has changed since John Walsh purchased that first piece of land but what remains is the family’s tradition and commitment to providing safe, quality food to Newfoundlanders and Canadians.
One of the biggest changes was the introduction of the supply management system. Robert credits Canada’s supply management system for allowing his family to keep farming, stating that without it, “we wouldn’t survive, we wouldn’t be able to compete.” Today, residents of St. John’s have access to local, quality milk, produced sustainably, right in their own back yard.
The Walsh family has been very successful in part because they are so open to change, which includes investing in new technologies and innovations. “One hundred years ago, everyone probably had their own farm,” says Robert. “Now, only two percent of the population produces food and they are responsible for feeding the country, so you can imagine the technology that had to be implemented to make that work.”
Denise marvels at how much cow comfort and care has changed, and laughs that her cows gel mattresses are more comfortable than what most people sleep on. She notes that farmers and dairy nutritionists have become gourmet chefs, carefully testing different feeds to find healthy combinations to keep the cows happy. The investments in their animals have not only made healthier, more content cows, it has also doubled their production since 1980.
The once rural Kilbride has been engulfed by the city of St. John’s, and Robert, David and Denise now find themselves farming in a heavily populated urban area. Rather than fight urbanization, the Walsh farmers have reached out to their neighbours, inviting them over, answering questions and bridging the disconnect between consumers and farmers.
The family’s biggest hope for farming in the next 150 years is that people feel connected to their food and the animals and farmers who work so hard to provide it.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Dairy Farmers of Canada has produced a book, Dairy farmers: Deeply rooted for a strong future that honours Canada’s dairy tradition and the contributions dairy farmers have made to Canada’s emergence as a nation. Download the book for free.