What We Grow
Grain, oilseeds, sugar beets, cattle and a garden big enough to feed the whole colony.
Southern Alberta gets plenty of sun and very little rain. With irrigation, the land around Taber and Cranford grows crops you won't find much elsewhere on the prairies.
From Our Fields
Wheat & Grains
Spring wheat, durum and barley make up the base of our rotation. After harvest the grain goes into our own bins, and we haul it to the elevator when the market is right.
Sugar Beets
Southern Alberta is the only place in Canada that grows sugar beets for sugar, and they are refined at the factory in Taber. Beets need irrigation and a lot of care, and the fall harvest is a race against frost.
Cattle
Our cattle eat the hay, silage and feed grain grown on the colony, and their manure goes back onto the fields. Keeping cattle alongside crops is one of the oldest habits in farming, and it still makes sense.
The Colony Garden
The big garden feeds the colony kitchen: potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots and more. Whatever we don't eat fresh in summer gets canned, pickled or stored in the root cellar for winter.
Also in the Rotation
Canola
An oilseed that breaks up the cereal rotation
Corn
Taber corn country: grown for silage and grain
Alfalfa & Hay
Winter feed for the herd
Poultry & Eggs
Raised mostly for the colony kitchen