Michael Doelman

Renfrew County
We farm with my wife's parents in the Renfrew County. I am originally from a hog and cash crop farm in Bruce county. Jenn (my wife & I) have been farming since 2008 as farmers but both were raised on farms so have a lot more experience than just 10 years. We farm 2600 acres cash crop including some seed production. Our rotation includes barley, canola, corn, flax, oats, forage peas, triticale, soybeans, sunflowers, spring wheat and hard red winter wheat. We also grow red clover and buckwheat as cover crops. My in-laws were one of the first farmers in Renfrew County to purchase a no-till drill (in the 1990s). Our hard white clay soil is very unforgiving so we have learned that we need to keep it happy by treating it properly. We have been doing about 100 acres of cover crops each year since 2012. Winter wheat is one of our principle crops because our shorter frost-free period limits the ability to plant many cover crops. Since 2016 we have been using Orga-P, a processed sewage product from the City of Gatineau on approx 100 acres per year as well. In 2018 we converted our white corn planter into a no-till unit. The majority of our wheat, canola and soybeans are planted with a no-till drill. In 2018 we also started as beekeepers so have continued to add pollinator crops to our field boundaries, edges, etc