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Incubator Farms

By Charlotte Scott

April 2011 Growing Organic

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A few years  ago,  my  partner and  I started looking for  land where  we could start a full-time vegetable farm  and CSA. Soon enough the reality of the current real  estate market caught up with  the  dream.

It became  obvious  that  we were unlikely  to find arable, affordable land  within a reasonable distance  of our  market. Furthermore, we realized that although we might chance upon affordable land or meet  a landowner who wanted  to rent  or lend  us acreage, the basic financial  investments  required for  vegetable farming would  land  us in more debt than we could handle while  establishing a  business and family.

As luck  would  have  it,  a colleague of ours  was launching a new incubator farm  in the  hills north-east of Gatineau, Quebec. The Plate-forme Agricole de l’Ange-Gardien was designed with people like us in mind: young  and  new farmers short  on cash but full of the desire  to farm,  and  the skills and  experience to operate a small business. We chose to take on the challenge of being  new organic farmers at the incubator farm.  An incubator farm  facilitates  the creation of new farm businesses by providing participants with land, equipment and  infrastructure at an affordable price—it’s like  office  space for farmers. Incubators usually arise out of partnerships between non-profit groups, communities, municipalities and  agricultural  colleges,  and  are funded by government and private grants, donations and  membership fees. Incubators also provide community  and  mentorship to those  with limited ties to Canadian farming culture.

Many  incubator farms  point   to  the  Intervale Center in  Burlington,  Vermont, as inspiration. In 1986,  Burlington citizens  reclaimed and  restored neglected municipal land  and transformed it into an internationally recognized headquarters  for sustainable agriculture. Intervale has an incubator farm,  a nursery, a  compost company and  green spaces. The organization provides guidance to groups who want  to nurture new farmers and  put  fallow land  into productive hands.

Incubators provide a venue for a diversity of new farmers with dif- ferent  needs   and   goals.   Bob Baloch  realized he wanted  to get back into farming after  starting a backyard   garden in  Brampton, Ontario. His kids stopped fussing about eating their vegetables after tasting   homegrown produce.  It was time  to grow more  food,  but he was afraid  that  the investment required would  put  his  family  at risk. Baloch started a small plot on the  McVean  incubator farm  in Brampton operated by FarmStart. “At McVean,  obstacles  can  be tested. I can put  in the  time  and make  it  work,”  says Baloch.  He now farms  four  acres  at  McVean to supply  specialty  vegetables for his  CSA and  local  farmers’  markets. Bob spent  much of his youth at his grandparents’ farm in Paki- stan. Incubator farms create opportunities for new Canadians with informal and/or multi-generational agricultural experience to make use of their skills, and to par- ticipate in Canada’s local food network.

Jolianne Demers and Jonathan Bruderlein of Ferme Mélilot work three acres at the Centre d’Initiative en  Agriculture de  la Région  de Coaticook (CIARC) in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Both have degrees in agricultural science and years of experience on organic farms. “We couldn’t buy a farm  right  away,” says Demers. “Had  we rented land  somewhere else, we would not have been able to benefit from all the facilities and machinery that  are at the incuba- tor. The CIARC allows us to prove the financial viability of our busi- ness so it’ll be easier to get financ- ing  to  buy a farm.  Being  at  the incubator also allows us to test out the region to see if we like it here.” Enterprise-building is central to the  mandate of many  incuba-

tor farms, and farmers often need a  comprehensive business  plan before being considered. “Projects at the  incubator need to be fairly fleshed   out—farmers need  to want to have a business, not a hobby,” says Ann Levesque,  Coordinator at the Plate-forme Agricole  in  l’Ange-Gardien. “If you ask me ‘what should I grow?,’ I can’t  help  you—farmers need the passion  to be convinced about their  products to make  it work.”

Some  incubators, such  as the CIARC in Coaticook and  the Incubateur d’Entreprises Agro- alimentaires de  Mirabel  (IEAM) located north of Montreal, are con- nected to colleges and agriculture programs. A formal education, ide- ally in agriculture, is a prerequisite to farming at these incubators. Ac- cording to Marie-Josée Ferron, the coordinator at the  IEAM, the  key to success is placing greater value on farmer education and training. “There must  be  an  emphasis on developing management skills,” she  adds.  This  emphasis on  for-mal  training plays  into  Quebec’s concept of la relève agricole (the process  of taking  over farms from the older  generation), where gov- ernment funding opportunities are often scaled according to one’s formal  agricultural training.

McVean farm  takes  a different approach to new farmers, helping farm-curious newbies,  as well as those with more experience in ag- riculture and  business.  Two acres of land at McVean are set aside for “test  croppers” who experiment with a quarter-acre before moving on  to the  “start-up” and  “enter- prise”  stages,  which  come  with more   acreage  and funding opportunities. Monika  Korzun, McVean’s New Farmer Coordina- tor,  saw three of last  season’s  six test  croppers continue farming. “The  point  of test cropping is to experience farming in Canada and help  you determine whether it is for you. If you decide by the  end of the season  that  it is not, that  is great. Now you know.”

Since we were part  of the  first generation of farmers at our incu- bator (which had been fallow land with no buildings), we had  many opportunities to  decide whether farm  work  was right  for  us.  We helped build the high tunnels and wash  station; tinkered with  old tractors and  cultivation tools; ob- served the installation of wells, septic tanks and underground irrigation networks; and waged an ongoing battle  with  quackgrass and  thistle  (which  spread with great  enthusiasm after  the  fallow field was plowed under). The experience provided us with a realistic  idea of the time, energy and money  that  would be required to build  our  own farm—something you can’t learn  from books.

Joyce and Stanley Ramnarine  were  test croppers   during  the 2010  season  at McVean. Both had done small- scale  farming in  their native Guyana.  At Mc Vean,   they   tested crops such as bora, seim, poi,  karella and  other produce little  known  to conventional Canadian markets. “We both  have full-time jobs,” says Joyce. “We both wanted to farm and were fortunate to have the opportunity. This made it easier  for us and  we were happy  just to be on the  farm.  We have gained marketing skills, and now are  more  knowledgeable in working  with the  soil, weed  control and crop rotation. Sharing with 18  other farmers is a truly  wonderful and  remarkable experience.”

Coordinating multiple, overlapping projects on the same land is one of the greatest challenges at incubator farms. Land needs to be managed carefully  to avoid  misuse, especially for those practicing monoculture, or with limited experience with crop rotation. “Farmers need to build  the  soil on  the whole parcel,” says Ann Levesque. “If you plan  on using  three acres over three years, you need to rent it  all  now and  plant  green manures.”

Land  is already becoming scarce at some incubators as established  farmers require more  land, and  the  model  gains  popularity with new farmers. As Bruderlein and  Demers discovered, this  can

result  in  unwelcome challenges like  being  assigned heavily  compacted soil next to a busy road.  At Intervale, limited space and a saturated local market for vegetables means  that  new projects must  can

result  in  unwelcome challenges like  being  assigned heavily  compacted soil next to a busy road.  At Intervale, limited space and a saturated local market for vegetables means  that  new projects must  can result  in  unwelcome challenges like  being  assigned heavily  compacted soil next to a busy road.  At Intervale, limited space and a saturated local market for vegetables means  that  new projects must  cater  to  niche  markets with value- added products and specialty produce.

Problem solving is an especially important lesson of the incubator experience. From  coordinating tractor bookings to  alternating days  at  the  wash station, respect and cooperation between  farmers is essential to  the  smooth functioning of any incubator project.

“Everyone has their own (some- times crazy) ideas and you all have to coexist  with the  innate differ- ences of approach,” says Bruderlein. “You have  to be able to trust  the  other people.” Most incubators have regular meetings where  coordinators consult  with farmers to determine priorities.

More often  than  not, cooperation  is also financially  beneficial. “When farmers take their produce to the  farmers’  market that  is located in front of the McVean Farm, they all set the same price for the produce, rather than competing with each other,” says Monika Korzun. Having multiple farmers in a concentrated area also means savings on shipping and bulk orders, and opportunities for crosspromotion.  Elmarie Roberts, who operates Sunbird Farm at the Haliburton Community Farm in Victoria, B.C., contributes to— and partakes in—a collective CSA program, and collaborates on transportation and marketing costs.

Intervale recently developed a productive way of dealing with tractor and equipment rental and maintenance, a perennial sore spot at many incubators. A group of mentor farmers created the Farmers Equipment Company and purchased most of the farm’s equipment with a small business grant. The company rents equipment to individual enterprises at
Intervale while taking care of maintenance and repair. They use their profits to purchase new equipment after consulting with other farmers to determine what the centre needs most.

Farmers need to know they will be in one place long enough to benefit from their investments

The collective character of incubators also reduces feelings of isolation. “Many new farmers are coming at it from a clean slate,” says Sri Sethuratnam, Start-up Program Manager at FarmStart.  New farmers might not have access to agricultural communities or knowledge networks through family or school. It’s a lifesaver to have someone to talk to on rough days, and to share knowledge about everything from a fussy seeder to accounting. Manmeet Singh, a test cropper at McVean, says his incubator “is a great family-like environment where we can share our problems and concerns, and we share our crops too. It is a great learning environment.”

At McVean Farm, community building and education was an unexpected high point of Bob Baloch’s work. During the project’s first season, he found himself explaining the incubator concept to suburbanites who were surprised to discover the weedy lot down the road was viable farmland.  Open houses and farm tours have had a tremendous response from the local community. For our part, local old-timers often stop in for an impromptu tour of our incubator in l’Ange-Gardien, amazed to see people labouring in the fields. This kind of personal interaction has done wonders for the incubator’s reputation.

While the incubator farm is a fine start, the model poses some significant challenges. Farming is most often limited to market vegetables, as infrastructure constraints, short tenure, and municipal regulations can discourage investments in livestock or equipment for field crops. On-site housing is not an option, which can be quite problematic in the early spring when greenhouse furnaces need tending in the middle of the night, or when a farmer is juggling a day job and child care in the city with farm duties in the countryside. And, because farmers normally lease their land for a maximum of five years, there is always the question of “What next?”

It’s important for Bruderlein and Demers to own their own farm someday. They have a transition plan to make the jump from incubator to permanent land tenure, which includes building their business to a level that can support mortgage payments before buying the farm. Manmeet Singh is also looking for a farm of his own after his time at the incubator. “The biggest problem,” he says, “is that it is hard to find small holdings near cities and then installing infrastructure and buying machinery, which are somewhat expensive steps.”

There is no doubt that the logistics and finances of becoming a land-owning farmer are complex. “The government does provide some money to farmers, but most programs and grants support large, industrial, established farmers,” says Monika Korzun. “In Quebec we are lucky to have [financing] programs,” explains Ann Levesque, but such programs don’t exist throughout Canada.  “The government must take charge of the future of its own agriculture, and take seriously those who prove they can take the risk and succeed.”

“It’s not just the government who is going to oversee the transition of land to new farmers,” adds Line Boulet, the coordinator of the incubator in Coaticook, “We have to work together. We have to have exchanges with our fellow farmers, help each other.” Sri Sethuratnam notes that the momentum for the McVean farm has been local from the start. “The community has been involved at the grassroots,” he says, “It’s been more important than any political relationship.”

Sethuratnam sees the incubator as a stepping stone, and is looking into ways to get more fallow municipal land into production. “At any given time, we have five years,” he says in reference to the rolling lease agreement McVean farm has with the Toronto Land Conservation Authority. “Farmers need thirty to forty years,” Bruderlein says. He stresses farmers need to know they will be in one place long enough to benefit from their investments of time, money and energy.

The experience provided us with a realistic idea of the time, energy and money that would be required to build our own farm.

For others, owning a farm simply doesn’t make financial sense. Bob Baloch would prefer to lease municipal land, and invest his profits in machinery and a greenhouse. “Moving to rural areas is not really an option for some farmers,” adds Sethuratnam. “Some will continue to produce for city markets—this need pushes us to find answers.” He notes that the Intervale Center is asking the same questions after twenty years that McVean Farm is asking after three years.

While the incubator model may not address all the obstacles facing new farmers, the day-to-day challenges are tempered by community support, the development of skills and experience, and the opportunities to cooperate and prosper with minimal financial risk. In spite of the continued gap between farm incomes and the price of land, those farmers who plan to move off the incubator are, on the whole, optimistic about finding their own piece of land— someday. Others count their time at the incubator as essential to making community and professional contacts that may blossom into new farming opportunities.

Many times this summer, I considered what my farming experience would feel like under a crushing debt load with no wiggle room for mistakes or experimentation. I feel lucky to be working hard at building a business while enjoying the luxury of pursuing this colourful, dirty, fresh, farming fantasy.

Charlotte Scott grows organic vegetables with her husband, Richard Williams, at Plate-Forme Agricole de l’Ange-Gardien, in Quebec’s Outaouais region.
fermelevetot@gmail.com; popetski@gmail.com

Resources:
FarmStart: www.farmstart.ca
Plate-forme Agricole de l’Ange-Gardien: www.demarretafermebio.com
Centre d’Initiative en Agriculture de la Région de Coaticook: www.produitsdelaferme.com/ciarc
Incubateur d’Entreprises Agroalimentaires de Mirabel: www.cfam.qc.ca
Intervale Center: www.intervale.org

 

 

 

 

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About the contributor

Charlotte Scott
Charlotte Scott grows organic vegetables with her husband, Richard Williams, at Plate-Forme Agricole de l’Ange- Gardien, in Quebec’s Outaouais region.

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Charlotte Scott

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