Grimshaw producer marks 20 years of organic farming
Posted on July 19th, 2009
The following article was Published in the Peace Country Sun on 10 July 2009.
Peter Lundgard and organic apprentices, Rachel Cullingham and Graham Petty, ready nesting boxes for leafcutter bees. The boxes will be set out in shelters in the field for the bees to occupy. Leafcutter bees pollinate the alfalfa flower and increase the seed set of alfalfa, ensuring a better crop.
It’s never easy to run against the tide of conventional thinking. When decades of family farming tradition are also involved, it’s even tougher. But as Peter Lundgard faced the biggest decision of his farming career 20 years ago, he knew something had to change.
That decision? Switching to organic production on the farm he and wife Mary operate near Grimshaw. “The other way of farming wasn’t working, so I didn’t see a long-term future for it,” says Lundgard. “I was looking for a simpler way to farm.”
Today, Nature’s Way Farm is a grass-based, certified organic farm, producing beef, sheep and lamb, alfalfa seed and leafcutter bees for pollination. As an organic producer, Lundgard uses no chemicals for pest control, no man-made fertilizers for plant nutrition and no growth promotants in his livestock.
Instead, he uses what he terms a holistic system, designed to achieve optimum balance and nutrition in the soil itself. This approach, in Lundgard’s view, improves the quality of the grass his livestock eat, resulting in meat products that are more nutritionally dense. Lundgard believes this way of farming makes his products more nutritious and his operation more sustainable.
A big part of the reason for Lundgard’s move to organic production related to his frustration at producing a commodity. “Our markets were commodity driven,” he says, “and the buyers were generally able to set the prices. You had to take the going rates. Another approach is to grow a unique product that you can market directly to the consumer, who will see the value in what you’re providing, and be willing to pay accordingly.”
Lundgard had a unique product; all he needed was customers. By the early 1990s, Nature’s Way Farm began to sell its products direct to consumers. This involved lots of knocking on doors to introduce his product to people who would appreciate how it was raised and how that influences its nutritional profile. Orders came in, slowly at first. Over time, Lundgard secured listings on websites where lovers of grass-finished beef find product to buy. He also joined forces with other producers to sell at farmers’ markets or to retailers and restaurants.
Admittedly, it took awhile for consumer tastes to catch up to Lundgard’s pioneering vision. Today, his innovative approach is much closer to the mainstream. Concepts like the 100-Mile Diet and the slow-food movement are seeing consumers take a greater interest in what’s in their food, how far it travels and how it’s prepared. Lundgard applauds this changing mindset.
“Consumers are becoming more aware of their food,” he says, “and more aware of the environmental footprint of food production. Food that comes from across the world is costly in terms of the environment, and so more people believe it is better to buy local products more often.”
During the journey from price-taking commodity producer to market-making brand, Lundgard has benefited from lessons learned from other producers, and has reciprocated in kind. As recipients of the Agripreneur Scholarship Program offered by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, the Lundgards were able to attend an organic industry conference in Saskatoon in November 2008. More recently, they visited Italy to participate in a slow-food event.
“At the slow-food conference in Italy, there were 7,000 farmers, chefs and consumers in attendance,” he says. “The consumers were being called ‘co-farmers’, because they take a true interest in how their food is grown and raised. That is an example of how our thinking needs to evolve and I’m very excited to be part of that.” These experiences, along with a growing reputation among Alberta consumers, suggest to Lundgard that his decision of 20 years ago was the right one for his business.
Proudly Peace Full is co-ordinated by Karen Goad, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development 780.538.5629 (dial 310.0000 first for toll free access). This article was written by Kieran Brett
Peter and Mary Lundgard of Natures Way Farm are members of the Alberta Sustainable Agriculture Apprenticeship Program (ASAAP).
