Our

Story

Imagine. It’s 1981.

You’re 29 years old with 4 children under the age of 8.

You leave your herd of 250 cows to hop on a plane and fly to a country where you do not understand nor speak the language.

You purchase a small, 140-acre farm with 24 cows, fully financed at a time where the interest rates were sitting at 16%.

You have to start from scratch in every way.

 Welcome to the humble beginnings of New Care Farms —

Upper Canada Creamery.

Imagine. It’s 1981.

You’re 29 years old with 4 children under the age of 8.

You leave your herd of 250 cows to hop on a plane and fly to a country where you do not understand nor speak the language.

You purchase a small, 140-acre farm with 24 cows, fully financed at a time where the interest rates were sitting at 16%.

You have to start from scratch in every way.

 Welcome to the humble beginnings of New Care Farms —

Upper Canada Creamery.

Fast forward a few years to 1989 when New Care Farms began using organic farming practices — long before this niche market began to take root.
Following a barn fire in 1995, our parents were able to build a new open concept greenhouse style barn with a composting bedding pack where cow comfort was a priority and fell in line with the transition process to the certified organic program. They certified the cash crop and dairy in 1995 & 1998 respectively because they wanted to farm in a more self-sufficient, economically beneficial and health conscious manner.

As all industries evolve over time, so has the farm. Together, with our parents, we found a number of ways to improve the productivity and quality of our operation both in the cropping and the dairy. We took an intensive and active role in creating an environment on the farm that fosters nutrient dense growing conditions and sound management practices that have allowed us to find time and energy to continually expand our vision of a sustainable, nutrient-rich, holistic farm.

In 2011, we purchased the farm and have taken further steps to once again improve and grow our business opportunities while still maintaining the organic principles our parents instilled in us. Since 1981, we have slowly increased our land base to 400 acres, milking 50 mixed breed cows on a 90–96% grass-fed diet, influenced by the time of year. In 2013, we felt it was time to consider the future of the farm and to make another move in improving the efficiencies of our farm. By 2015, we were well on our way building a new, energy-efficient, 24-stall rotary milking parlour where we could manage more cattle at once, and reduce our chore time by 1.5 hours per milking.

Since 1981, we have slowly increased our land base to 400 acres, milking 50 mixed breed cows on a 90–96% grass-fed diet, based on the time of year.

In addition to the parlour came the dream for an added-value project that would allow us to share our passion for high quality food with our community and beyond. In 2015, Upper Canada Creamery opened. We now have a Certified Organic, federally inspected, state of the art, modern dairy processing facility with a second story viewing area located a mere 250m away from our milking parlour and barn, allowing us to complete the journey from Farm to Fridge. We are proud to offer a variety of simple, yet wholesome, Organic Grass Fed products that boast a smooth, creamy texture, with unique yet traditional flavours using minimal ingredients.

Upper Canada Creamery has given our family the ability to connect the consumer back to the farm and really see agriculture working from start to finish. Each member of our family now has the opportunity to participate in all components of our Agri-Food Industry from cropping, to milking, to processing, to marketing & business administration. Even the little ones take part in feeding animals and building boxes.

It has taken a lot of hard work, time and dedication to grow our business, but with vision, passion & support networks in place, we have made our dream a reality and continue to develop a plan for product line growth and integrating our local community into our lifestyle. As a result of our determination, we have been recognized for our hard work and innovation by receiving the Regional Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence (2016) and being 1 of 4 finalists for the Ontario Outstanding Young Farmer Program (2017).

 

Come and visit, share in our adventure, and taste the difference.

This is our journey. This is our story.
… so far.

New Zealand Tumble Wheel fencing system.

Rototilling the fields.

Our alfalfa crop.

What the cow gives…

…is what you get.

Our process leaves as much of the original taste of the cow’s milk in our products as possible. 

Order our products online!