Family Farm in Northern Ontario
Background
Mike DeHaan was born and raised in Europe where he found his passion for livestock. He attended agricultural school for 4 years. Upon immigrating in 1985, he helped establish his family farm in southern Ontario. Over the last 30 years, he and his wife, Wilma, have spent much time understanding the basic principles of agriculture on their family hobby farm. Since then, they have made the move to Northern Ontario in 2018, where they began raising quality beef and lamb.
Why Northern Ontario?
We chose to farm in Northern Ontario because of the quality of air and cold winters, which helps reduce the risk of bacteria and diseases. Due to the absence of chemicals in the land in our area, we have the benefit of growing premium feed for our livestock. With many opportunities that are available in Northern Ontario, we will be able to scale our operation over the coming years.
Feed
The feed for our livestock is planted and harvested on our northern farmland. A large portion of our feed is grass hay, which is baled and stored for the winter. We aim for several cuts of hay, giving us premium feed for our animals. Our hay is baled at a higher-moisture-level which is then wrapped in ag plastic. The hay goes through a fermentation process, which gives us the highest quality of feed, adding good growth and flavor to the meat.