Glacier FarmMedia – Agricultural entrepreneurs had the chance to step into the spotlight at this year’s Manitoba Ag Days, sharing their stories of challenges and successes in running homegrown businesses.
“Produced on the Prairies” was the theme of this year’s farm show.
Entrepreneurs and business owners Arron Nerbas and Chris and Lindsay Raupers spoke about their businesses during an event at the Brandon show.
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Nerbas runs Nerbas Bros Angus, a multigenerational farm with 5,000 acres of perennial forage and around 550 head of cattle in the Assiniboine Valley near Shellmouth with his brother, Shane, and their parents Gene and Cynthia. Last summer, Nerbas also opened the E Butchery on Main, a cashless, automated, self-serve meat vending machine business in Russell.
The idea for the new business came to Nerbas from other agricultural entrepreneurs on social media, including a business in Indiana, a farm in Australia and a meat vending machine in the United Kingdom.
After a lot of planning and research, Nerbas came up with the concept of the E Butchery on Main, hoping it would help connect local people with local food. He also hopes that having local meat products available will help to weaken the disconnect that some people in the modern world have between the food on their plate and the farm it comes from, along with the producers who grow it.
“We wanted an option for customers in our community to buy local beef,” he said.
“Things like this, and more local food, are needed as the world moves forward.”
This summer, Nerbas plans to review his business model to see where it can be enhanced and possibly expanded. Until then, he will continue to connect members of his community with beef raised on his farm’s pastures.
The Raupers, who run the Cardale Grain Corp. and farm in southwestern Manitoba, have been incorporating regenerative agriculture practices into their operations since 2017. Along the way, they wanted to provide their customers with products that were more nutritionally valuable than many flours currently on the market.
“Better flour starts with better grain,” Chris Rauper said.
After a visit to the Canadian International Grains Institute in Winnipeg, they felt even more motivated to make their dream a reality. The Raupers began experimenting with milling small batches of their own grain and having their family, friends and neighbours try their flour out in their baking,
Eventually, the Raupers invested in a stone ground mill from New American Stone Mills in Morrisville, Vermont. Now, they mill and sell their flour across Canada. They’ve also partnered with Chez Angela Bakery and Café in Brandon and La Belle Baguette in Winnipeg. Their online store also connects home bakers with their flour.
“The ultimate reward is when people sent us a picture of what they’ve made and enjoyed,” Lindsay Rauper said.
