DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman are Ontario’s OYF

Partners DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman of Haybury Farms Inc. in Jarvis have been named Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024.

Read Also

Smarter bug farming proves possible

Insect farmers face the same challenges with labour, productivity and disease that farmers of more conventional livestock do. It’s still an emerging sector in North America, so not many tools are available to address these issues.

Matt grew up on a dairy farm and started farming for himself at the age of 23 working an off-farm job and using his farm land to pay the farm mortgage. DJ was was raised on a beef farm and agriculture was a major focus for him from a young age. His initial interest was in beef which evolved into growing crops.

In 2018, with 500 acres of rental ground 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 towards profit per acre, and they decided the best way to maximize hay acres was rotation with organics.

They did a trial with 25 acres of organic corn 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 lead to the creation of Claybank Organics. In 2021 they expanded into northern Ontario’s Algoma District, purchasing a farm to grow straight timothy hay for overseas customers.

Now in 2024, Claybank Organics farms 1000 acres a year of organic corn, soybeans and hay, and Haybury farms 3200 acres. They have gone from farming with borrowed, leased, and rented equipment to having and maintaining their own fleet both in Jarvis and the Algoma area.

Each partner uses his 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.

Also nominated for the Ontario Region of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF) Program was Romy and Ryan Schill of Circle R Livestock Ltd/Revolution Wool Company of Wallenstein.

National OYF board member, Richard Stamp, said in a release “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 Ontario regional OYF event was held at Barn Swallow Fields at Thatcher Farms in Rockwood Aug. 22.

Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ program is an annual competition to recognize farmers that 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.

Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024 will be chosen at the national event in Lethbridge, Alberta from Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2024.