Alberta has a long, rich history of agricultural – deep roots in farming. People of all ages have an opportunity to have fun down on the farm at the 14th annual Alberta Open Farm Days Aug 15 to 16 to celebrate local agriculture and producers. Much of the province’s history was based on farming – basically family farms. Many family farms extend over many generations. Hedibuilt Farms south of Faust has participated in the fun farm event for the past four years. Operating since 1926, it has been the only farm operation in the High Prairie, Falher-McLennan and Peace River regions to participate in Open Farm Days the past few years. The Hedrich’s encourage more farms to participate because everyone who visits their farm that weekend has a fun time. Alberta Open Farm Days showcases agri-tourism. The event also brings people together to learn and experience farming and understand more about where food comes from.
It’s an opportunity to taste local foods direct from the producer, experience the diverse farms and many products created in Alberta. The goal of the event is to showcase Alberta’s agricultural industry in a fun, engaging and meaningful way to people of all ages. At a time in history when Canadian-produced food and products are being promoted over imported items, Open Farm Days serves a vital role to support Canadian producers. You don’t have to go too far to see Canadian-grown products – literally right in your own back yard.
About 20 years ago, about 10 operators in the Falher and Nampa area opened their farm gates for a similar event to promote farming – particularly family farms. A bus tour of the region was organized from Falher and about 30 people of all ages boarded the bus for a daylong excursion. That would be great if more farm operations in the local regions would participate in 2026 and a bus could be arranged for a tour. Local regions have such a diversity of agriculture to promote – including honey and bees, bison, grain, sheep and much more. It’s not just about the producers, agri-tourism also includes retail – selling and buying final products – from the farm to the table.
When I was a young boy, my grandparents owned a dairy farm nearby and it was always fun to go to visit Grandpa and Grandma Froese to play in the back yard, or field, watch grandpa milk the cows by hand and feed the cows. I also enjoyed times when my older sister and my younger brother would ride with Mom to see Dad help picking up hay bales – the rectangular ones. During my younger years, Dad worked on the Agassiz Research Station where he milked cow by machine. It was always a thrill to watch Dad milking cows with modern equipment. In the early 1970s when I was around 10 years old, our family travelled to Saskatchewan when both my parents were born. We visited my Mom’s cousin who was a grain farmer. I remember going with him, Dad and my younger brother into a wheat field for the first time in my life. It was so exciting – even when we got caught in a brief rain storm. Hopefully, more operations join Alberta Open Farm Days so people can have more memories down on the farm.
Commentary by Richard Froese