BRAE, P.E.I. — Justin Rogers says he wants to share the recognition that comes with him and his wife, Laura, being chosen as Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers.
“I have no reservation about extending gratitude and sharing this honour with our family, friends, community and customers, business partners,” he said. “We work hard, and work together, to try and do what we do.”
The Brae, P.E.I. couple that own Picturesque Farms with their children, Luke and Mary, was named winners of the national award with Simon Michaud and Mylène Bourque of Kamouraska, Quebec. The presentations were made in Fredericton, N.B. on Friday during Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers Program’s national event.
The OYF’s national winners announcement describes Picturesque Farms as “a mixed farm that grows pedigreed seed, forages and beef cattle. Justin and Laura’s eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter are the seventh generation of Rogers on a farm that got its name from a remark made by Justin’s great-grandmother during her courtship with his great-grandfather.
The national event brought together seven OYF regional winners from across Canada. Justin Rogers said he was humbled to be among them. He told stories about an Alberta couple that runs a general store, a fertilizer and chemical plant and grows 11,000 acres of cereals; the Quebec couple that grew their dairy operation from 30 or 40 cows to 125; and an Ontario couple who milk 3,000 goats in a 100-goat rotary parlour.
Rogers said he observed how much the families were committed to their communities and volunteer activities.
Steve Cooper, incoming Chair of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers Program, said: “It’s so easy in Canadian agriculture to have the ‘wow’ factor revolve around size and scale of operations.
"In our program its way down the list and our chosen honourees have proven that once again this year. Incredible passion, business acumen, the ability to change on a dime, and taking really tough scenarios and not only surviving them but turning them into real successes. This is the real ‘wow’. This is what makes our farmers ‘outstanding.’”
Laura Rogers said she’s humbled by the OYF experience.
“It was motivational and inspiring to be among agricultural leaders from across Canada,” she said, adding that they will draw upon the experience in continuing to bring improvements to their farm.
“There’s an awful lot of effort goes into food production – top quality, safe, sustainable, those kinds of things. The bar is set very high by so many. It’s quite something,“ Justin observed.
Since being announced as the Atlantic regional OYF winners, they have been in the process of making changes to their farm operation. They have gotten out of the beef cattle business and have started to convert an old potato warehouse into a tie-stall dairy barn. They hope to be milking cows by April. Click here for story on the Rogers family's regional win.
They are maintaining their seed grain and hayseed operations and custom cleaning business, while farming 400 to 450 acres of land.
“We try to be a one-stop shop for the larger farms in our area for their rotational crops feed inputs,” Justin said.
He has no plans on expanding the farm.
“I guess I want to just stay where I’m at and do a good job of what we have and what we can handle,” he said.
Justin also works as a school bus driver and Laura is a high school teacher. Jeff Stewart is their farm technician and they also rely heavily on a former owner of the farm, Justin’s uncle Stephen, and in the support of their parents.
“The kids, from the time they were born, they’ve come to the barn. If they’re not playing farm on the living room floor, they’re playing farm outside with Laura and me,” Justin said, expressing hope the farm will be available to them, should they decide to carry on the proud farming tradition.
“It’s a family farm; there’s no doubt about that.”
