VERMILION, Alta. – At Doug Livingstone’s 65th birthday party, he and his wife, Cheryl, announced to their friends and family that they would not retire to a cabin by the lake.
Instead, they planned to borrow money from the bank and build an agricultural retreat and conference centre on a quiet corner of their farm.
“Everybody said we’re crazy,” Cheryl said while taking a break from organizing food for an upcoming event.
Added Doug: “I’m not a beach bunny.”
Read Also
Understand limitation periods if considering civil suit
A limitation period refers to the amount of time a plaintiff has to commence a formal claim in court or lose their ability to pursue it.
Two years later, the Red Feather Ridge dining room, retreat and conference centre is mostly finished and open for business. The lodge is named after the feathers of the red-tailed hawk found on the site of the lodge.
The building can sit up to 160 guests for dinner, but the Livingstones believe the centre overlooking a scenic coulee will be more than a glorified community hall. They’ve already had requests from scrap bookers, quilters, bridge players, hunters, pastors, wedding planners, birthday parties and tourism organizations to book the centre for weekend retreats and meetings.
“There’s something about the facilities, it’s intimacy. It’s almost like a big home,” said Doug, sitting on a high backed chair in one of the building’s wings.
In the farm shop down the road are three partly built cabins that will be used for overnight accommodations once Doug finishes them.
Many producers look at the land only for its grazing or cropping potential.
The Livingstones believe there is value in being able to walk outside at night and see the stars without interference from streetlights. There’s value in solitude and value in beauty that few people are able to experience.
“You’ve got to be able to give people an entertainment opportunity that’s different,” Doug said.
The Livingstones didn’t plan to add a third full-time business to their pedigreed seed and 250 head Val Terra purebred Hereford cattle business.
However, like most cattle producers, the discovery of BSE in Canada made 2003 a watershed year. The value of their cattle dropped from $250,000 to $70,000 overnight.
As well, the red and white cattle that the family has exported to Russia and Sweden were no longer as trendy as black animals that many in the beef business want.
Doug said if cattle producers include labour, depreciation and every fence post into the balance sheet, they would be forced to admit the price they receive for a calf doesn’t pay for the upkeep of the cow.
The Livingstones reduced the herd to 75 cows and no longer register purebred Herefords. They also ended their pedigreed seed business.
Continuing dry years, high input costs and low grain prices dissuaded the former head of Alberta Wheat Pool from shifting into more grain.
Livingstone said the family’s 2,200 acres – half good grazing land and half crop land – leave the family caught in the middle.
“We’re too big to be small and too small to be big.”
That’s when the Livingstones took a look at doing things a little differently by focusing on their strengths.
Cheryl has operated a catering business for 25 years, their son Rob, also on the farm, is a trained chef, daughter-in-law Audra runs a successful embroidery business and their five grandchildren are potential employees.
The family wanted to be involved in agriculture but with a more profitable twist.
“There’s money in agriculture when it leaves my farmgate,” Doug said.
Once the idea for the lodge began to germinate, Cheryl and Doug attended several agriculture tourism conferences to get a feel for what other people were doing. The meetings convinced them they had a good idea.
“It gave us the encouragement to say it’s not such a wild idea,” Doug said.
Originally they planned to convert an existing building and create a teahouse, but if Cheryl was going to continue catering, she needed a commercial kitchen. Like most good ideas, the building expanded along with the budget.
It cost the family $100,000 for roads, power, septic and gas even before construction began. By using their farm equipment and labour from friends and family, Doug estimated the building cost about the same as a new combine.
“We have an appreciating asset, not a depreciating one,” he said.
Since the lodge has opened, Cheryl has catered to about three or four events a week, some at the lodge and some in other locations around the region.
“We’re busier than we ever expected to be,” she said.
The family has managed to attract a steady business by word of mouth.
After a year in business, Cheryl said they don’t regret their decision to build the lodge and are excited about the possibilities to tie it into local tourism and agriculture events.
“We’re following our dreams,” Doug said.
