How often do you meet females whose favourite thing is combining? A young woman with blond hair and glowing eyes, Nicole Davis is definitely more of an exception in a male-dominated world of farming.
Even though she was never groomed to take over the family organic farm, she was raised with love for nature, land and the lifestyle.
Her ancestor was one of the Saskatchewan pioneers. In 1892 he walked to the Estevan area from Brandon, Man., to start the farm, which was up and running for more than 120 years now.
Back then there was no such a thing as organic farmers since there were no chemicals to use on the land. However, when chemicals emerged and became widespread, this family stayed loyal to farming traditions, set by Nicole鈥檚 great, great, great-grandfather.
Through their lives, both Nicole and her father Gene Davis, who together operate over 2,600 acres of certified organic land by North Portal, had their times away from the farm. And at some point, it was Nicole鈥檚 great uncle, who kept the farm going.
鈥淢y dad鈥檚 dad wasn鈥檛 into it. He (Nicole鈥檚 dad) was learning farming from my great uncle. He had cows growing up, he was in 4H. And then he started a construction company in his 20s and moved out to Edmonton for a while,鈥� Nicole said.
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Yet, farming doesn鈥檛 let people go that easy. And after some time Gene moved his construction company back to Saskatchewan and started getting more involved with the farm. The same thing happened to Nicole later in time.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 ever really think that I was going to be interested in farming. After I graduated I鈥檝e moved away. I thought I needed to go to a bigger city,鈥� Nicole said.
She went to B.C. just to realize that she couldn鈥檛 stand the rain and that she loved Prairies much more than the mountains.
鈥淚 think I had to go away to realize how good I had it at home,鈥� Nicole said.
She came back in 2010, and in 2012 she bought the Daybreak Mill from her father鈥檚 friend, another local organic farmer Alvin Scheresky. Now not only do they grow 16 ancient and heritage grains, but Nicole also mills, packs and sells the product. The opportunity to meet the final consumer makes the work even more enjoyable.
鈥淭alking on the phone with customers that鈥檚 a huge one. I like hearing what they鈥檝e baked with our flour or if they were able to eat bread again after they went gluten-free for a long time. That really brings me a lot of joy,鈥� Nicole said. 鈥淚 also really value personal connections, so it鈥檚 more than just having it as a business, it鈥檚 a lifestyle for me.鈥�
Nicole has three employees at the mill, and her father has one farmhand, but they both prefer a hands-on approach to work.
鈥淏eing out and working with the land, picking rocks, seeding, combining. Combining is probably my favourite, because you see the fruition of all your effort throughout the summer coming together and you get this beautiful crop,鈥� Nicole said.
She runs all the equipment and talks about farming practices with knowledge and confidence that a lot of people have never had. Nicole grew up with ideas of organic farming, however, it could have not been the case if not for the previous generation.
鈥淚 credit my dad and Alvin Scheresky for that (staying organic). I think of them as almost like visionaries of their time. It didn鈥檛 fit right with them and they continued to do it differently,鈥� Nicole said.
Now organic is becoming more common, organic products are popular and can be found almost anywhere. Yet, back in the day, it wasn鈥檛 the case. Organic farmers could be ostracized in their farming communities for not doing things the same. Organic practices are still nowhere close to 小蓝视频 mainstream, however, there are fewer jokes around it now.
Besides attitude, organic farmers face a lot of challenges on their path.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult because we are surrounded by farmers that spray. I do have really good neighbours, but I do have to have 30-foot buffers on all of my land, that is surrounded by chemical land. And I have to take that land out of my own production. I can鈥檛 grow grain on that and certify it as organic,鈥� Nicole said.
Stronger weather dependency and much stricter guidelines also make the life of organic farmers more difficult. Yet, for Nicole, this lifestyle is the best fit.听
鈥淚 guess it鈥檚 a passion for me. I鈥檝e gotten really connected with nature through the years that I鈥檝e been farming, and just really want to take care of the nature that鈥檚 in my care,鈥� Nicole admitted.
Working hard, experimenting with new grains, growing and developing, Nicole hopes to one day take over the family farm to keep it going according to the family traditions.
