Matt Bergman (left) and DJ Wassenaar of Haybury Farms Inc. in Jarvis were named Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image supplied by Outstanding Young Farmers
Partners DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman of Haybury Farms Inc., located at Jarvis, were named Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024 at their regional event held near Guelph on August 22, 2024.
Matt Bergman grew up on a dairy farm and started farming for himself at the age of 23, working an off-farm job and using his farmland to pay the farm mortgage. DJ was born a farmer, with agriculture as a major focus from a young age. Coming from a beef farm, his initial interest was in beef, which evolved into growing crops.
In 2018, with 500 acres of rental land to their name, they needed to maximize every acre, so they looked at field management and row crop farming a little differently than traditional farming. Their focus was on profit per acre. They decided the best way to maximize hay acres was through rotation with organics.
They decided to do 25 acres of organic corn as a trial to see if it worked on their ground type and if they could manage and handle the extra workload that went with it. Maximizing the premium on IP beans and acre contracts for organics allowed them to become profitable in row crop farming.
Increasing to 400 acres of organic corn and soybean rotation in 2019 led to the creation of Claybank Organics. In 2021, they expanded into northern Ontario/Algoma District, purchasing a farm to grow straight Timothy Hay for overseas customers.
As of 2024, Claybank Organics is farming 1,000 acres a year of organic corn, soybeans, and hay, and Haybury farms 3,200 acres.
They have gone from farming with borrowed, leased, and rented equipment to having and maintaining their fleet both in Jarvis and the Algoma area. They each use their strengths to run and manage the farm business. Matt manages and makes most of the crop input decisions. DJ is the face of the farm and handles sales and customer relations while constantly chasing new opportunities.
The Ontario Region of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers Program was pleased to showcase two diverse and impressive operations at the 2024 Regional Event. The nominees recognized were:
- Romy & Ryan Schill, Circle R Livestock Ltd./Revolution Wool Company of Wallenstein;
- DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman, Haybury Farms Inc. of Jarvis.
National OYF board member Richard Stamp’s comment on the event was, “Both finalists, Romy and Ryan Schill, along with DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman, are real leaders in many aspects of Canada’s exciting and diversified agriculture industry. The future is in good hands. The event hosted by Barn Swallow Fields at Thatcher Farms was a great celebration with a full house of alumni, family members, and dedicated sponsors. What a great celebration event it was.”
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers program is an annual competition to recognize farmers who exemplify excellence in their profession and promote the tremendous contribution of agriculture.
Open to participants 18 to 39 years of age, making the majority of income from on-farm sources, participants are selected from seven regions across Canada, with two national winners chosen each year.
The program is sponsored nationally by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, CIBC, John Deere (Deere & Co.), Bayer, Sollio Agriculture, Meridian Manufacturing, and CN.
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024 will be chosen at the national event in Lethbridge, Alberta, from November 27–December 1, 2024.