Lydia Ryall, owner of Cropthorne Farms, is one of several finalists selected for the 2014 B.C. and Yukon Outstanding Young Farmer Award.
Ryall, a director with the Delta Farmers’ Institute and member of Delta’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, chose not to follow dad David Ryall’s footsteps in the greenhouse industry, instead starting a four-hectare (10-acre) certified organic mixed vegetable and pasture-based poultry operation.
She sells the majority of her crops through five weekly summer farm markets, an on-island farm stand and a 90-member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box program. During the winter the produce is sold through two weekly farm markets and a 50-member CSA as well as some wholesale accounts.
Her farm grows a wide variety of crops, from arugulas to zucchinis, while hens in the pasture provide eggs.
The award’s biography on her notes she is a strong believer in farmland preservation and growing future farmers, helping those looking to get into farming as a career by hiring them as apprentices each year.
She told the Optimist farming has been in her blood from a young age.
“I grew up with my parents talking about farming at the dinner table, so it’s always been a passion,” she said. “For me, it doesn’t really matter what I’m growing or what my neighbours are growing, or my parents. There’s passion for the whole industry.”
Noting farming is a complex enough business made even more so by having an organic certification, Ryall said what makes her operation unique is that it grows up to 50 different types of crops.
Getting land has been described as one of the biggest hurdles for younger people wanting to get into the farming business, but Ryall believes it’s not an insurmountable obstacle.
“I think when you know what you want to do in life, you’re going to find a way to do it. Land is a definite hurdle, but we have apprenticeships and two of our former apprentices are now both farming on their own. They’ve found ways to make it happen.”
To be eligible for the Outstanding Young Farmer Award, farmers must be between 19 and 39 years old and derive at least two-thirds of their income from farming. Nominees are judged on conservation practices, production history, financial and management practices, and community contributions.
The program notes, “The foundation of all industry growth is through youth, thus we believe it is imperative to the preservation of our lifestyle that we encourage the efforts of young people in agriculture.”
The B.C. program has a long list of sponsors, including Bank of Montreal, B.C. Egg Producers Association, B.C. Chicken Marketing Board, B.C. Milk Marketing Board and others.
The winner will be named at the 14th annual B.C. Agriculture Council gala on Jan. 29 in Abbotsford. The winner will represent B.C. in a national competition.
