Dairy farmers Richard and Kristy-Layne Carr have been named as Manitoba's Outstanding Young Farmers for 2022.
The pair own and operate Rich Lane Farms at Marchand in Southeast Manitoba.
The other nominees this year were Tyson Martens of Kola and Harley Siemens of Rosenort.
Richard and Kristy-Layne will now move onto the national competition in Saskatoon in November.
Profile courtesy COYF :
Richard and Kristy-Layne Carr own and operate Rich Lane Farms in Marchand, MB. There they are raising a family of four children, Slade (14), Elora (11), and twins Nate & Isabel (8). They milk 55 Holstein cows in a double 8 parlour. The milk cows are housed in a straw pack barn, and the youngstock are raised outdoors. In addition, they run 60 Black Angus beef cows, calving in April-May and weaning in November. The majority of the feed for both herds is homegrown with additional supplements purchased off-farm. Crops grown include silage corn, alfalfa, millet, forage oats and ryegrass. The Carrs operate minimal equipment and utilize custom operators for most fieldwork and harvest.
Rich Lane Farms began in 2006 with Kristy-Layne’s small 4H beef herd being brought from Portage la Prairie to La Broquerie. They operated as a hobby farm while both worked full-time off farm (Richard as a herd manager at a dairy and Kristy-Layne as manager of the local Conservation District). Gradually they built up the herd to 250 head and farmed over 1000 acres between owned and rented fields. In 2018, Richard and Kristy-Layne were selected for the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba New EntrantProgram which helped them get started in the dairy industry.
With a busy family, their off-farm time is spent at their children’s extra-curricular activities, including hockey, 4H, art, and church clubs. Kristy-Layne is a member of Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives research advisory committee and also sits on the advisory committee for the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba board. Both Richard and Kristy-Layne are active on social media and in 2021 they started a YouTube channel, The Big Small Farmer. They are passionate about promoting agriculture by telling their farm story. It has led them to new opportunities such as becoming a dealer for Horizon Seeds Canada this year.
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