“Originally roads and transportation made this the ideal location
for our manufacturing facility. 28 years later we're here because of
the people. We've got good people, and that's what makes us a
success in Southeast Alberta.”
Organic Farm Utilizes Heritage Wheat to Profit off of Global Trend
Published on August 3, 2010
August 03,2010, Medicine Hat Alberta...A profitable global trend, organic retail sales in Canada continue to have an annual growth rate of 20% per year. Back 40 Organics Ltd, owned by Bernie and Kary Ehnes and their children Christopher and Ashton, grows crops of: spring wheat, barley, peas, soy beans, emmer, rye and Red Fife. Red Fife is a fine milling and baking wheat, suitable to southeast Alberta’s climate and soil since the late 1800’s. Co-owner of Ehnes Organic Seed Cleaning Inc, Ehnes is involved from seed to end product using an innovative approach to meet Canada’s new Organic Product Regulations and market demand for exporting.
“It’s not necessarily a new technology, however to ensure that Back 40 Organics Ltd meet national regulations and can export their product to international markets stringent rules are followed. For example, they use organic nitrogen for crop production- they grow peas to be used specifically as natural nitrogen in fertilizer during crop rotations,” said Pete Loignon, innovation facilitator for the Economic Development Alliance of Southeast Alberta. “Nationally, this industry grosses sales of approximately $2 billion annually and there’s export potential. Ehnes produces both the organic soy beans and wheat that goes into soya sauce sold in Japan; it’s an industry that continues to grow on a global scale.”
Back 40 Organics Ltd along with Canadian Prairie Organic Ltd, owned by Brian and Christine Ehnes, and their children Tyler and Tennille, farm 4800 acres of certified organic land in Etzikom, Alberta; Bernie and Brian also own and operate Ehnes Organic Seed Cleaning Ltd-focused on custom cleaning cereal grains, pulse crops and oil seeds for organicproducers and buyers.An industry supported by the Government of Canada, organic farming received $170,000 on March 6,2010 to give producers and processors a competitive edge and the abilityto meet consumer demands locally as well as abroad; for more information on this savvy sector go to www.edalliance.ca.