BARRHEAD — Two family farms with more than a century's worth of history in the Bloomsbury and Mosside areas were recognized at the 2024 County of Barrhead Appreciation Dinner, which was hosted April 23 at the Summerdale Hall.
First, the Mohrmann Family were presented with the Alberta Century Farm Award, which recognizes farm families who have continuously owned and operated the same land for 100 years or more.
Coun. Walter Preugschas, who presented the award to the Mohrmann family, said the Bloomsbury area where their farm is located was first populated by settlers who began trickling in around the start of the century.
The Mohrmann farm itself was originally homesteaded by William and Gertrude Kilshaw, who moved to Canada from England. They initially settled in Ontario in 1907, but took the train to Edmonton in 1910 and then came up to Bloomsbury along the Klondike Trail.
Preugschas said William and Gertrude raised six children on that farm, one of whom was Patrick Mohrmann's grandmother. The homestead was then passed through the generations, remaining in the family as a mixed farming operation.
"You've actually been there 114 years," noted Preugschas. "Amazing."
Farm Family Award
Second, Paul Meunier & Sons Farms (which is operated by Chad and Stacey Meunier) were presented with the Farm Family Award, which is given to an agricultural operation that best represents the values of the family farm within their rural community, both in terms of business practices and community involvement.
Reeve Doug Drozd, who presented Chad and Stacey with the award, said their children are now the fifth generation of their family to farm the land in the Mosside area.
Drozd said the Meunier operation was started over a century ago by Chad's great-grandfather as a mixed farm, but transitioned from a dairy to a cattle operation in 1990s. The operation now consists of a cow/calf herd, feedlot and cropping enterprise.
He said Chad and Stacey have adopted the motto "Thriving Plants, Animals and People" for their operation and try to base all of their farming practices with this motto in mind.
"In this way, the Meuniers make the health of the land, animals and people a top priority," Drozd added.
Drozd noted that Chad is a board member for the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association and the Barrhead Feeders Association, while Stacey is a treasurer for the Mosside Community Centre and a board member for the Barrhead United Church.
As well, their children are actively involved in the farm and side projects such as horses, pigs, sheep and chicken, as well as the Freedom-Naples 4-H Club, fun hockey, minor ball, soccer and a local horse club.
“The Meunier family is proud to be farmers and strive to keep improving their farm by being stewards of the land, providing excellent animal care and valuing the people around them," he said.
When given an opportunity to speak, Chad said they were privileged to accept the award and were "extremely proud of what they do" while also acknowledging the contributions of the "dedicated staff" they have on the farm.
He noted that his great-grandfather actually homesteaded in the Mosside area in 1899, having come up from St. Albert. He started out raising horses on lake hay, and by the early 1910s, he had well over 100 horses.
“He made a good living selling teams of draft horses to all the settlers that come up into the area," Chad noted.
City Slickers & Pond Days
Adam Vanderwekken, communications and special projects co-ordinator, also gave a presentation on the county's annual City Slickers and Pond Days program.
Vanderwekken said City Slickers is hosted every fall, with the last such program involving 105 students from Grade 4. The 2023 event basically consisted of a tour involving four stops at a local dairy, livestock operation, KNM Sales and Service and Barr-North Veterinary Services.
Along this tour, students learned about caring for dairy cattle, the operation of a cattle feed lot, how veterinarians care for animals and what equipment is involved in turning a hay field into bales.
In past years, Vanderwekken noted, the tour has also included presentations at grain farms, milling operations, poultry farms and swine farms.
“Farm safety has (also) always been a big aspect of the ag tour," he said. “Programs in previous years have included safety demonstrations to help students stay safe around tractors, chemicals, horses, dugouts and other hazards on the farm.”
Meanwhile, Pond Days is an annual two-day program hosted every spring at Thunder Lake and Lac La Nonne where the county promotes the "responsible use and protection of the environment and natural resources," Vanderwekken said.
In 2023, 136 Grade 5 students from five different schools within the town and county of Barrhead took part in this event, rotating through multiple stations where different presenters talked about subjects related to ecosystems and conservation.
For instance, one of the presenters in 2023 was the Alberta Trappers Association, whose representative taught students about the mammals that live in the area and about responsible trapping.
Another presenter from the Athabasca Watershed Council presented on the importance of the local watershed, how pollutants can affect drinking water and invasive species within the province.
Other presenters included Klondike Trail Search and Rescue, who talked about wilderness safety; Farming Forward, which had a presentation on sustainable agriculture; the Alberta Lake Management Society on water quality and lake conservation practices; and the county itself, which ran a station devoted to aquatic invertebrates.
Vanderwekken said these programs align with the county's strategic plan, which is administration's primary guiding document and which outlines council's key priorities.
“Pond Days and City Slickers both help the county promote our rural lifestyle by helping to educate young people on the vital role that agricultural operations play in our community and better understand and care for the world around them," he said.
Vanderwekken noted that in the fall of 2024, the Pembina Hills School Division will be transitioning to the new Alberta science curriculum, and thus the county will have to adapt its field trip programming to align with that new curriculum.
“We’re excited for the chance to adapt our existing programming to the new curriculum, and to continue meeting the needs of local students through education about our agricultural community and inspiring students to care for the world around them," he said.
Hemp Works
Colleen Stein of Alberta Hemp Works, which is based in the County of Barrhead, also gave a presentation about her business and the hemp industry in general.
Stein said she got into the industry about 10 years ago after meeting a man at a business meeting who had a suitcase made entirely of hemp fiber and resin, which opened her mind up to the opportunities that can be found within the hemp industry.
“Personally, I feel like it’s God’s gift to help us heal this planet, and I’ve been given an opportunity to maybe participate in a small way," she said.
For instance, hemp fiber can be made into rope and cloth, as well as building bricks, panels and insulation. Hemp oil can be used like any other edible oil, while hemp meal can be refined into a highly-digestible protein for animals.
Stein said the Alberta hemp industry has been very strong in the last number of years, though she acknowledged that it is still an "emergency industry" even after 20-plus years of existence.
Her own operation began with growing hemp as part of a contract, but eventually she pivoted to processing hemp seed. Currently, Alberta Hemp Works produces health supplements for the equine market, though they are also working on getting it legalized for poultry.
Admittedly, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. "We’ve had economic downturns, then COVID hit, then the flood, and drought," she said.
That said, Stein said they have been very fortunate to stay afloat through all that turbulance. About six months ago they signed on with a national distributor that resulted in them distributing products at 30 retail outlets to over a hundred locations across Canada.
“So it’s .. been crazy," she said, noting that their products can be found at the Back 40 and the Neerlandia Co-op.
Noting that her operation is based just a couple miles east of Barrhead, Stein indicated they would like to expand and branch out to the rest of the community, taking advantage of other existing buildings and facilities
"We would like Hemp Works to become a centre of activity for hemp producers, processors, and manufacturers, supporting value-added product development," she said.
Stein thanked her family, friends and neighbours who have helped the business along this path. "We’ve kind of been white-knuckling it for a while, but I think we’re good to keep going for a little while longer," she joked.
The event also featured speeches by several 4-H speaking award winners, including Owen Miedema and Cyrus Pena-Anderson of the Freedom-Naples 4-H Club, Vivian MacKenzie of the T&M 4-H Club and Grace Nikkel of the Camp Creek 4-H Club.
