Agriculture-related degree - Christine has a BSc. Agriculture. Emmo completed the farming program at Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School
Farm management (3 years+) - Christine has managed 3 different vegetable farms for a total of 5 seasons. Emmo was the Head Farmer at the TWN Farm School for one season (veggies and mixed livestock)
Apprenticeship - 2 year apprenticeship at a mixed veggie, livestock, and flower farm
General farming (3 years+) - Christine is in her 9th season of vegetable growing. Emmo has been involved in farming since 2014 including 2 years at TWN, one year at Spray Creek Ranch and for the past two seasons has been running our livestock operation. She started butchering in 2018 and now butchers all our animals.
Do you have a business plan?
Yes - We are currently in our 2nd year of business and keep strict financial and production records. We have a 3 year financial strategic plan.
Do you have financial resources available to start your farm?
Yes - We have already started our farm and have a great inventory of moveable infrastructure. We will re-invest our profit from this year back into the business
Do you have access to other financial resources (such as a financial partner, loan, etc.) to start your farm?'
Yes - Grants and investors will enable us to grow our business so we are certainly open to financial resources.
Project
Farm Name
Matriarch Meats
Farm Project Description
At Matriarch Meats we prioritize land stewardship, animal welfare, and flavour. We want to be able to supply our community with delicious and nutritious food that is raised-well, all the while having a positive impact on the land. We practice rotational grazing and supplement our animals' diets with certified organic feed.
This season we raised 12 pigs, 400 broilers, 90 laying hens, 40 turkeys and have a flock of 13 sheep. We sell eggs, whole chickens and turkeys and then cuts of pork, lamb and chicken, which we butcher all ourselves. We also produce value added items such as fresh sausages, broth, and rendered lard.
We are flexible in what we produce as we know that the land we end up with may be better or less suited to certain livestock. But we really love raising pigs.
Our big dream is to start a a co-operative so that farmers can share the load of distribution, marketing and maybe even take a vacation. We have many connections in the farming world and the dream dream would to be to bring other experienced farmers onto the same land. Though our livestock operation is our number one priority.
Preferred Arrangement
Registered Lease on Title -
Lease -
Transfer / Succession -
Sale of Land -
Duration of the desired agreement
A lifetime!
Ideal date to obtain land by
February 2024
Participant in BC Land Matching Program
Yes
Land & Features Desired
Total Land Size (acres)
10-100 acres
Wooded Area (acres)
Yes - We would love to get into silvopasture!
Cultivable Area (acres)
Pasture land is our priority but 1 acre of cultivable land would be great.
Possibility to expand area currently available (acres)
Yes - More pasture or cultivable land would be great!
Zoning
ALR
Preferred current state of the surface of the cultivable area
Deer fenced!
Open to landowner residing on property
Yes - That is no problem for us! And will help us grow our relationship which is one of our top priorities.
Need farm buildings
Yes - Barns for livestock and feed storage would be amazing.
Need fenced land
Yes - Perimeter fencing on pasture is ideal. But we come with all our own moveable electric fencing.
Need farm machinery and tools
Yes - Not a necessity but always a bonus (i.e. tractors). We come with our own 6x6 to move houses and feed.
Need established water source and infrastructure
Water is something we think about a lot as the world continues through the climate crisis. Drinkable water for livestock is a must and ideally water to irrigate the pastures. This ideally would be from a natural water source such as a river, lake, or creek as wells can be unreliable and may not provide the volume we need.
Need on-site housing
Yes - We would love a home but could potentially purchase a tiny house or trailer for the right farm.
Production type
Vegetable - We would like a small veggie patch to be able to produce ingredients for our sausages. And in a dream world would have our veggie farmer friend on the same land so we can collaborate and share the work load.
Livestock - Pigs, broilers, layers, sheep, turkey
Hay & Forage - If we could produce our own hay for winter feeding that would be awesome! Though we currently do not have the machinery to do so.
