ON ON0 SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015 TORONTO STAR⎮GT5

SPECIAL REPORT: GREENBELT FUND

In the first of a four-part series, we unearthsome groundbreaking local farming inno-vations supported by the Greenbelt Fund.

Nicholas Schaut has been farmingin Ontario for more than a decade.He’s grown everything from carrotsand potatoes to lettuce and onions —but it’s his latest foray into unchartedfields that has presented his biggestchallenge and, potentially, his biggestpayoff.

The former Toronto chef and veter-an produce grower is not one to optfor the path of least resistance. Whenhe moved his family to Walters Fallsin Grey County a few years ago,Schaut started thinking about whatto plant, realizing that he needed anedge in an increasingly competitiveagricultural sector.

That’s when he got heavily intobeer. More specifically, the plantknown as hops, which gives beer itsessential flavour. That “hoppy” qual-ity can be described as slightly green,herbal or even vegetal — it’s bitter,funky and damn yummy in a tall,cold glass.

“There were already a number of(vegetable) growers up here,” saidthe founder of Bighead Hops. “Andadding to that would hurt everybody.So we were looking at different op-tions, and a family member suggest-ed hops. I became very excited aboutit as a crop. It’s much like growing avineyard . . . it takes a great deal ofattention and thought.”

Schaut is one of a growing numberof Ontario farmers who are findingcreative ways to reshape the busi-ness of food in the province. It’s nosecret that “local” is the hottest buzz-word in food, but being trendy isn’tenough to keep business afloat. Mod-ern farmers need to combine busi-ness savvy, green-thumb practical-ities and high-tech prowess, often atan advanced level.

The red-hot craft beer categorycurrently accounts for about 900brewery jobs, and 3,600 indirect

jobs, in Ontario. Local hops growers,all tiny players with less than 12 acres,are supplying more than 53 localbreweries.

It seems this market has nowhereto go but up. But while Schaut foundhis edge, he’d landed a supreme chal-lenge to boot.

Getting into hops was, Schautfound out, a costly business. Theplants themselves are formidablebeasts. They grow on poles and wirestrained more than 20 feet high. Theyare incredibly vigorous, growing 12inches a day in the peak of summer.Tending them requires specializedequipment — at least two tractors —and a lot of patience. It costs himroughly $15,000 to set up one acrewith poles, wires, irrigation and plantstock.

“It’s easy to put a couple plants inthe ground, but it’s hard to do theother side (processing and produc-tion). That’s my caution to manygrowers.”

He discovered that, in order to gethis hops to market, he needed tomeet the demands of the brewers. Inshort, he needed a pellet mill, a so-phisticated piece of machinery thatprocesses raw hops into compactpellets that can be easily added to abrew.

The costs to set up a full processingfacility can run $200,000. Schaut wasexplaining this to a friend in the in-dustry who suggested he apply for agrant supported by the Ontario Min-istry of Agriculture, Food and RuralAffairs through the Greenbelt Fund.By helping Ontario’s farmers accessnew markets, the Fund is increasingthe amount of local food purchasedin the province. (Visit greenbelt-fund.ca for more information.)

Schaut received a $42,500 Green-belt Fund grant to help buy the pel-letizer. In his application, he pro-posed a co-processing model to allowother hops growers to access the pro-duction equipment—which theycould never afford to purchase ontheir own—and thus open up a newcommercial market to these smallerplayers.

As the founder of the Ontario Asso-ciation of Hops Growers, he knewthat overcoming this hurdle wouldallow other farmers to grow, assured

in the knowledge that they wouldhave access to a secure market. Cre-ating a central processing hub wasthe first step. “We put a lot of thoughtinto it and talked to other growers,and everyone said it’s a no-brainer.”

As soon as the new facility was upand running, Beau’s brewery fromVankleek Hill in the Ottawa Valleyreached out and is now one ofSchaut’s main customers.

He’s since added Quebec brewpubchain Les 3 Brasseurs, as well as localcraft brewers such as Burlington’sNicklebrook, Toronto’s JunctionBrewery, Hanover’s MacLean’s andOwen Sound’s Kilannan, as well as

his own local, Northwinds Bre-whouse in Collingwood.

At 10 acres, Bighead is the biggestorganic hops grower in Canada. ButSchaut still has a ways to go. His wifecurrently works “off-farm” to helpsupport their two children.

“We need around 20 acres to sup-port a full family,” he said. That’s stilla far cry from operations in the U.S.,some of which cover 1200 acres. But

Schaut continues to aim high. FiveOntario hop farms and one fromQuebec have joined forces with Big-head.

“By working together and more col-laboratively with the other growers,they can expand acreage and we cantoo . . . And in a nutshell, what theGreenbelt Fund has done for us isopen up a doorway and that has al-lowed us to grow forward.”

> THE GREENBELT FUND, PART 1

Raising a glass to creative farmingWhen it comes to growingour food, novel partnershipsare the wave of the future

Brewmaster Andrew Bartle, left, and Bighead Hops owner Nicholas Schaut enjoy the brews of their labour.SHAYNE GRAY PHOTOS

Part 2Local food & consumer choiceSaturday, Jan. 17Part 3Local food & our institutionsSaturday, Jan. 24Part 4Local food & our policymakersSaturday, Jan. 31

> THE GREENBELT FUND

DICK SNYDERSPECIAL TO THE STAR

Schaut and his dog Neko in front of his new pellet mill.

For consumers and farmers, “buyinglocal” brings clear benefits aroundhealth, social, economic and envi-ronmental concerns. For two South-ern Ontario farms, both generations-old family operations, thriving in to-day’s competitive food-productionenvironment required a rethink oftheir business models from theground (or the field) on up. Here’show their radical thinking paid off.

Cohn FarmsThird-generation Cohn FamilyFarms in Bradford, Ont., are operat-ed today by Larry and Keith Cohnand their sons Jeff and Brandon.They specialize in potatoes, carrotsand onions, sourcing from both theirown two farm properties and alsosurrounding farms in the Greenbelt.

Around 2010, the Cohns began tocontemplate a new challenge: how toget more Ontario produce into in-stitutions such as hospitals, govern-ment facilities and schools. Most in-stitutions require a certain amountof processing — washing, peeling,portioning — in the products deliv-ered to their doors. Smaller farmscan’t afford the equipment required

to meet these standards, and so theyhit a wall in terms of growth poten-tial.

Realizing this dilemma, the Cohnsapproached the Greenbelt Fundwith a proposal to create a co-pack-ing line that would allow smallerfarms access to state-of-the-art pro-cessing technologies, opening up awhole new market. At the same time,the Cohns realized economic and en-vironmental benefits of redesigningtheir processing systems. By increas-ing the number of farms they wouldsource from, they could ensure thetrucks leaving their facility wouldcarry full loads, thus reducing thenumber of partial deliveries. Theyalso purchased a German-built high-tech waterless potato peeler, whichreduced their water use by 40,000litres a day.

The Cohns have become a one-stopshop in Bradford, meaning food ser-vice companies can have all theirproduce needs serviced by one pointof contact. One purchase ordermeans less tracking and administra-tion costs, which makes the orderingprocess more efficient.

“Between what we save with theenvironment and the water, and tak-ing full trucks off the road . . . it’s awin-win all the way around,” saidLarry Cohn.

Geissberger Farmhouse CiderSince the 1960s, the Geissberger fam-

ily has been the go-to for Durhamregion apple farmers looking to turntheir crop into fresh-pressed cider.Their farm in Clarington had the re-gion’s only cider mill, a custom-maderig built by Swiss immigrant HansGeissberger and his cousin using

found parts and the hydraulic cylin-der from a 1930s dump truck.

In 2011, Garry and Gord Geissberg-er, grandsons of Hans, realized thatthe original cider mill was on its lastlegs. They set about designing a busi-ness plan for the future, centred onacquiring a new mill and processingfacility. They ended up with a cidermill on wheels, custom-built in Brit-ish Columbia using Austrian tech-nology. They hit the road with theirnew rig in the fall of 2012, and havesince visited dozens of apple or-chards across the province, bringinga brand-new revenue stream tosmaller farms that had never beforeprocessed their apples into cider.

“With the old mill, we always hadfarms come to us. Maybe three orfour other orchards would come by,”Garry Geissberger said. “But one or-chard was 45 minutes away, he’ddrop (the apples) off, go home, comeback for the cider . . . and he’d do itseveral times. And he only had somuch refrigeration space, and wouldhave to freeze it.” All of this used uptremendous time, fuel and energy,said Geissberger.

The mobile unit can turn 20 bush-els of apples into 500 litres of juice inabout an hour. The juice is packagedusing bag-in-a-box technology thatrequires no refrigeration and can lasta year unopened. According to Gord,the economic impact on small farmsis profound. Their apples used to beworth about eight cents a pound onthe market. “But now they can carrytheir own line of apple cider, andafter our fees, for those same apples,they’re getting 40 to 50 cents perpound,” said Geissberger. “So it’s abig benefit. It gives them anotherrevenue stream, and brings peopleout to the farm.”

The mobile unit cost about$150,000 including a truck and gen-erator. After just two seasons in fulloperation, the Geissbergers are con-sidering purchasing a second rig —but they’ll need to add some man-power too. “As it is, this thing keepsthe two of us busy from Septemberinto December.”

Two family farms stay true to their roots while adapting to changeCollaboration, new modelsbring enhanced revenue to generations-old businesses

DICK SNYDER SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Garry Geissberger takes his mobile cider mill to farms all over Ontario.FRIENDS OF THE GREENBELT FUND

“Between what we save with theenvironment and the water, andtaking full trucks off the road. . . it’s a win-win all the wayaround.”LARRY COHN COHN FARMS

Let’s support Ontario farmers

You and your familydeserve fresh, deliciousfood. Ask your grocerif their shelves includelocal food.

#ontariofresh greenbeltfund.ca