RED DEER COUNTY – An Innisfail-area farm is one of 40 across Canada to be featured in a National Farmers Union (NFU) short film documentary series Depth of Field: Films About Farming.
Produced and presented by the farmers’ association and March Forth Creative, with funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the films showcase Canadian farmers and farm workers, and their sustainable farming practices on and off the land.
Red Deer County’s Davey Creek Ranch is one of three Alberta operations featured.
Glenn Norman, who owns and operates the ranch with his wife Patricia, is a long-standing NFU member who joined in about 2009 and has served on the board in Alberta.
He said he’d received an email from the organization that extended an invitation for interested producers to participate in the project, and that he decided to get involved.
Several hours of footage have been condensed to about 12 to 14 minutes, and the shots that make the final cut “will be as much surprise to me as it is to you,” said Norman prior to the recent release of the Davey Creek Ranch segment.
The short films will be released online and shown via local screenings by community members and other farm organizations during the winter of 2024, according to NFU.
The Normans’ ranch was originally a cow/calf operation that grew all of its own feed but, faced with decades of low cattle prices and aging operators, things needed to change.
“So about 10 years ago they remade the ranch as a direct marketing operation. They reduced their cow numbers and elected to market finished farm raised beef directly to consumers. They also produce and market quality hay and honey,” details NFU in an announcement about the segment release.
The other two Alberta operations featured in the series include Backwoods Buffalo Ranch near Mayerthorpe and the Gathering Pace Co-op near Waskatenau.
The co-operative is a food hub of producers based in northern Alberta who grow food and direct sell to eaters. Additionally, they prepare the ingredients into meals that are sold online or served at their restaurant.
Backwoods Buffalo Ranch was started by Chad and Laurie Trigg at 22 and 23 years old. They named the ranch after their Metis heritage and the bluff of beautiful spruce in the "backwoods.”
“The couple now pride themselves on being a community based around food by offering solace to individuals from around the world through various volunteer and apprenticeship programs. The ranch is not only home to the bison but pastured pork, free-range chickens, horses and milking animals,” NFU noted.
- With files from Simon Ducatel
