FarmStart - an incubator for wannabe farmers

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Started a decade ago, this non-profit organization has struggled to meet its goals. But its organizers hope that new and creative approaches will enable it to help more would-be farmers realize their dreams

by MIKE BEAUDIN

On a warm spring afternoon in early May, Audrey McDonald is busy tilling her vegetable farm in the shadows of one of Brampton's newest subdivisions.

McDonald is among a group of new farmers toiling on small acreages on a 45-acre urban farm operated by the non-profit FarmStart organization. They call it an "incubator" farm because the group is trying to hatch a new generation of farmers.

Started in 2005, FarmStart began with the noble goal of helping new farmers, including many new Canadians, learn the basics of farming so they could start their own farms.

But after almost a decade, the people behind FarmStart have been forced to admit that the program has failed in its primary goal and are grappling with the same realities facing most agriculture newcomers. The price of land and machinery is too expensive for startup farmers. Of the 51 farmers accepted into the FarmStart program since it began, only two have started their own farms.

"We have not been successful in transitioning people onto their own parcels of land," says Sri Sethuratnam, FarmStart's program manager. "The two major barriers are access to land and access to money. Until we figure out that piece of the puzzle, everything we have done here in the past six years has been almost wasted. We realize that and for the past three years we have been working on it."

He says the group has been searching for creative ways to find venture capitalists, angel investors or deep-pocketed philanthropists. They're also exploring a concept they call "condo farms" which would see properties of 50, 100 or 200 acres subdivided into 10-acre plots that could be leased to new farmers. But that would require changes to most municipal zoning plans, says Sethuratnam.

"The next step is anybody's guess," he says. "A lot of players have to come around the table. We don't have buy-in from government."

FarmStart, comprised of a board, volunteers and sponsors, is based out of Guelph and operates two so-called incubator farms. The McVean Farm near Brampton is owned by Toronto and Region Conservation and leased to FarmStart on a long-term lease. Its farmers produce a variety of vegetables. The Earth to Table farm near Hamilton has 50 acres on privately owned farmland and this year, for the first time, it will begin producing some livestock.

Applicants must have worked on a farm in some capacity. They must be serious about becoming farmers, not hobbyists, says Sethuratnam. FarmStart provides shared facilities and equipment. A full-time farm manager helps with plotting and soil preparation.

Startup farmers are allowed to work one-quarter of an acre in their first year. If successful, they can move up to larger acreages in subsequent years, to a maximum of six. After their third year, they have to prepare a business plan to prove they're viable.

"Farmers get nothing for free," says Sethuratnam. "We charge them $1,500 per acre. They pay for all our services except for the farm manager's time."

Farmers are given complete freedom to grow whatever market crops they choose. They are encouraged to experiment and most sell their vegetables at markets in and around Toronto. Incoming farmers must also take technical workshops sponsored by the organization in the winter.

"We try to prevent people from making mistakes but people don't have to take our advice," says farm manager Saulis Tribinevicius. "The biggest challenge they face is trying to get the farming knowledge and learning to run a business at the same time."

Although FarmStart's farmers have struggled to start their own programs, some have scratched out enough profits to make a full-time living. Sethuratnam says some more experienced farmers gross more than $5,000 an acre.

Two of the program's most successful farmers, Paul Stewart and Shira Katzberg, grossed more than $60,000 last year, producing organic carrots, beets, onions and garlic on two acres at the McVean Farm. Their numbers convinced a bank to loan them enough money for a small start-up farm of their own.

Sethuratnam says FarmStart is exploring a plan to convert a large portion of the incubator properties into co-operative farms to allow farmers in the program to lease land while they look at ways to help them start their own operations. He says FarmStart is looking for new properties in more rural parts of southwestern Ontario.

Meanwhile, the wannabe farmers toil on with a sense of optimism. McDonald, who markets her organic vegetables under the name The Green House Eatery, says she developed an interest in farming from her grandmother in Jamaica. She joined FarmStart in 2011 in the hopes of one day starting her own farm.

"That's the dream," she shrugs, adding, "If you know anybody who wants to help, send them my way." BF