The Hunter Family Farm organichempseed@gmail.com
Taking back the family farm since 2005
We are young farmers from Saskatchewan; two brothers, Blake and Shane Hunter. In 2005, we decided to take back our family farm, Jumping Lake Acres. We are launching an ambitious organic agriculture project in the heart of Canada’s industrial farming complex. Using hemp as a foundation for eco-agriculture in the Canadian Prairies, we are finding solutions to deal with the rapid changes of global warming.
Our farm, Jumping Lake Acres, is located 20 km east of Batoche National Historic Site in Saskatchewan, where our Metis ancestors used to hunt buffalo, farm grain and trade with European and Native people. We are proud of our diverse ancestral heritage which includes Cree, Iriquois, Metis, African, Scottish, French and Norwegian. Each of these cultures have a rich history of gathering, farming and preparing a variety of foods, medicines and natural materials. We honor our mixed ancestry by using successful methods from all cultures.
Jumping Lake Acres was purchase by our parents, Lyall and Bev Hunter in 1978 shortly after they were married. It was here where all of our childhood memories were created. From 1978 – 1996 we dabbled in a few small farming ventures. We raised a variety of heritage animals including cattle, hogs, rabbits, goats, chickens and ducks. In addition to this, we grew premium quality alfalfa on our crop land which was used to feed the animals.
From 1996 – 2000, we went out of agriculture except for our small half acre vegetable garden. Lyall held a career as an electrician and Bev as a teacher. During this time we rented our land out to conventional farmers who grew a rotation of cereal grains, legumes and oilseed crops.
New opportunities in Canadian agriculture
In 2000, our family put the farm up for sale, moved to California and started a family business designing and installing photovoltaic solar energy systems. It was in California that we started meeting more and more successful organic farmers who were making their living producing and marketing food with farms as small as 15 acres. At the same time, the Canadian Government re-introduced industrial hemp, allowing cultivation for the first time in over 50 years. We started to see opportunity in the farmland that we owned so we took it off the market and decided to keep it. In 2005, we began the transition to have our land certified organic.
Hemp has been farmed by Canadians since the first European settlers arrived here, planting hemp for garden wind breaks, and using the fibers to make ropes, clothes, grain sacks, tents and many other useful tools on a homestead. Hemp is the perfect crop for current day organic agriculture and the new pioneers of the agricultural landscape of Canada. Hemp is resilient to weeds and largely avoided by insects, eliminating the need for pesticides and herbicides. It absorbs more CO2 in a four month cycle than any other plant grown in Canada and the fibers have over 40, 000 uses from paper-making to ethanol fuel production.
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In 2006, we grew an experimental crop of hemp and wheat mixed together as a polyculture. The crops grew well and we harvested them together, creating a final product of hemp-enriched whole wheat flour. We also planted the rest of the land to natural, green manure legume crops, which help revitalize the soil. With the hemp/wheat fiber, we created bales and used them for erosion control on our land.
In 2007, we grew 10 acres of hemp and more green manure legume crops. We processed this hemp seed into oil and flour which we are now proud to sell through The Good Seed Grain Merchants. The fiber were again baled and used for erosion control on our land. It was during this year that we began to meet more and more certified organic hemp producers and processors in our region. Using these connections between certified organic farmers and processors, we were able to gain access to certified organic dehulled hemp seed, which we purchase and process following the Fair Trade Principle
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Presently, we are expanding the market for our hemp products on Vancouver Island, BC. Blake lives on Vancouver Island during the winter months, and both brothers live on the farm during the Spring, Summer and Fall. Shane lives on the farm year round maintaining markets there as well as managing the processing and shipping of fresh batches of hemp.
Future plans at Jumping Lake Acres
In May, 2008, we will reunite on the farm and plant our first crop of certified organic hemp. Our parents, Lyall and Bev, are joining us on the farm this spring for the first time in 8 years as we continue working towards our common goal of building a model of eco-agriculture in Canada.