Four Oak Farms in Kleefeld, Manitoba is utterly unique. A bold claim, but Marcus and Paige Dueck have chosen to shape their third-generation family dairy farm into a mold all its own.
For instance, they have about 900 acres of cropland, not the huge land base typical of the Prairies. They run a dairy, but milk Brown Swiss cows, not Holsteins. They use a robotic milker that goes to the cows, not the other way around. They produce hay that caters to the high-end horse market, not local livestock farms. And they turned manure management into off-farm consulting income.
In everything they do, every decision they make, the Duecks show it’s possible to make your way in agriculture by thinking laterally and maximizing resources. It comes with some risks, yes, but there are big rewards too.
NEW GENERATION, NEW THINKING
Marcus, a professional agrologist, was a sales associate with Marc Hutlet Seeds until deciding to farm full-time in 2009. His parents still actively farm but now leave the decision making to Marcus and Paige.
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