Brent Royce of Listowel, Ont., grew up around dairy cows, but 20 years ago he decided to make the switch to turkeys
Brent Royce makes a point of snapping photos as he goes about his daily checks on his Ontario turkey farm.
When he has another moment, he posts the photos on Twitter along with some information. He does the same thing during the cropping season.
“Keeping an eye out, I try to keep a broad spectrum of followers,” said Royce.
It was this focus on promoting agriculture that earned him this year’s Farm & Food Care Champion Award.
Royce supplies 15,000 turkeys a year to Canadian homes, mainly in the Toronto area, for the festive seasons and fresh markets.
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He also grows 400 acres of winter leeks, corn, soybeans and white navy beans.
Royce, who was born and raised in Listowel, Ont., grew up around dairy cows. However, he decided 20 years ago to make a change and raise turkeys. Today, his farm operation consists exclusively of turkeys and crops.
Royce made the switch because his barns were getting old.
“At that point in time, we were fighting a losing battle with technology and science,” he said.
“It’s amazing what happens in 20 years.”
He tried raising chickens, but the barn’s ventilation wasn’t good enough.
However, it would work well for turkeys.
Royce said he is happy to receive the award.
“It’s an award that is based on people that stand up and support agriculture, who try and do the best to promote agriculture and raise issues.”
Royce was chosen by the Turkey Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for social media, phone interviews, the promotion of agriculture and community involvement.
“With us being the minority one to two percent of the population, in talking with non-agriculture people, you really get the understanding that people want to know more, but they don’t understand,” said Royce.
“They don’t know where to get the right information.”
So Royce set out to fill that void.
“We knew we had good facilities here, a spot to show them, an opportunity to promote agriculture and put it in its true light and not the misinformation that often gets put out there,” he said.
Biosecurity concerns made it impossible to bring people onto the farm was out of the question, so Royce used a cornucopia of technology, from videos to blogs to tweets, to bring the farm to the people.
“We don’t have many people on our grounds at all,” said Royce.
“Because of biosecurity, we mostly service everything ourselves. Very few people come in, as is the case with most farms in the area. I would encourage anybody to do it. If you want agriculture to be seen as it really is, we need everyone to speak up and shout out honestly, in a professional manner.”
Most of his followers are regular, everyday Canadians.
“I post just general family things we do,” Royce said.
“We know it’s not all glamour. We wouldn’t do it if it were all glamour. We enjoy the other part of it. We share the life of a farmer.”
However, Royce advised not over-doing or under-doing it. Instead, keep it simple.
“Soon enough, media will start contacting you and asking about controversial issues,” said Royce.
“Keep it in a polite professional manner. I think that is one thing farmers really have to remember. If they do engage in that, they have to keep it professional. We can’t get into name calling and making ourselves looks bad.”
He said social media is a good way for farmers to promote themselves, but they must also be willing to talk to people, whether at a grocery store or in front of an audience.
“But, after you do it dozens of times, that is where you really have the opportunity to engage people, engaging and informing non-agricultural people,” he said.
“We need to put a face to farming, not hide behind our barn doors or our tractor cabs. Let people really know we are just human, just people. Don’t be afraid to take a challenge.”
