A family farm is not unlike the living, breathing crops and livestock that are raised on it; it takes balance, care and discipline to keep it healthy.

On Oultonʼs Poultry Farm in Lower Canard, nourished by rich soil of the Annapolis Valley and refreshed by the cool salty winds from the nearby Minas Basin, the farm grows through the collaborative and innovative thinking of its caretakers. For 26 years, Krista and Thom Oulton have built and developed the business ‘from seed,’ so to speak. Now their son Sam is stepping up and ‘raising the barnʼ to keep the business healthy, vibrant and sustainable.

In 1999, the Oultons were given the chance to farm by Thomʼs grandfather, a life-long farmer who had his sights on enjoying retirement at 80 years old.
“So he put it out to all the grandkids,” says Krista.

“We knew we wanted to farm, but we didn’t know what or how we were going to do it,” says Krista. She and Thom had only just gotten engaged and were both working full time; she as a pre-school teacher and he as a truck driver.

“We decided, well, let’s take this opportunity and buy this quota from granddad and see where it goes,” says Krista. But, on paper, it had to stay in his name for a few years. “So, we took on all the risk and all the debt and all the everything, and it wasn’t even in our name,” Krista laughs reminiscing. “So for that period of time, we were a bit concerned.” Like many young farms, it had very humble beginnings: raising the chickens in an old 1930ʼs barn on an apple orchard wedged between two subdivisions; working three jobs and raising three kids between two people. “So, we had our challenges,” says Krista. While farming is an industry that can sometimes involve taking on a lot of debt to get started or when making changes, Krista and Thom have always been mindful and intent on finding clever solutions and friendly partnerships before taking on hefty loans or signing lengthy contracts. They like to invest with elbow grease and sweat equity wherever possible.

“As granddad would say, there’s a lot of horse trading going around,” says Krista. “If you give me some manure, I’ll give you some labour. Quid pro quo… I think that’s just embedded in every farmer. I don’t know a farmer that doesn’t do that. I mean, you’ve got to be open to working with everybody.”

“Chicken farmers—or most chicken farmers—are pretty innovative.” According to Krista, itʼs that solutions-minded and cost-saving spirit paired with the stability and support of supply management that allows for chicken farming to be consistent and rewarding over the long term.

“With supply management, we’ve been very lucky. You may not always make money, but you at least will make back your cost of production. So you’re not digging a hole,” says Krista. When they took this on they thought, “This is something we can do, and we won’t necessarily have to work off-farm our whole life.”

By 2004, they were able to purchase the land surrounding the old barn and develop it into real estate property: A springboard for Thom to step away from trucking and to make the leap to a larger farm property. In 2009, they purchased the land where the present-day farm is—the classic family farm they always dreamed of. It was then that Thom began milling feed with Gerald Vermulen, a neighbour and fellow farmer. Krista continued teaching until 2014. “What we do on our farm is, we’re trying to be completely vertically integrated,” says Krista. This means owning, growing, and managing as many of the things they need to raise their flocks as possible on-farm. From breeding their own chicks to growing their own grains and preparing their own feed blends, Thom and Krista are doing it all themselves. “For us, it’s the feed thatʼs the engine [of a chicken farm],” says Krista. “Before, we were growing corn and soybeans on our land and then selling it into the open market, which doesn’t make any money depending on the year,” says Krista. What changed for the Oultons was the realization that “if we take that and put it into our own chicken feed, we’ve just taken out a middleman and increased our profitability, hopefully.”

Now growing 500 acres of rotating corn, soybeans and wheat between owned land and rented acres from a neighbour, “we try to grow all of our ingredients ourselves, and if we come up short, we buy from local farmers… That’s always been important to both Thom and I, that the food miles to feed our chickens shouldn’t be from Ontario. It should be as local as possible.“

With this arrangement, Krista says theyʼre saving upwards of 10—15 % on feed for their chickens. With these savings, they have been able to make investments that support this vertical integration such as a corn drier, grain elevator, and a lot more grain storage with powerful automated systems that reduce waste and inefficiencies in both production and labour.

“We have to come up with new ways to keep the farm growing,” Krista says. “Sam also is huge in this area,” she says, gesturing across the kitchen table to her 23-year-old son. “He’s a rare breed,” says Krista. “He has always loved farming. Like, ever since he was little. One of his first words was ‘tractorʼ… We always knew he’d probably end up farming, and we’ve always included all of our three kids in the farm.”

Sam is tall and lean with strawberry blonde hair and carries a consistent tight-jawed grin that shows heʼs enjoying his work. A young man of few words, when he does choose to speak you can feel confident it’s accurate. By nature, he stews over science and economics with an aptitude for financial arithmetic.

Since his early teens, Sam has taken an interest in the business and been keenly involved in the ideas, decisions and negotiations of the farm and its future, from convincing his father to pursue a variety of practices in the fields, to picking out seed varieties for the crops. Samʼs enthusiasm and drive have been a gravitational force.

When Sam completed high school, Krista laid out a few simple rules. “You need to go get a piece of paper, and then you need to go work for somebody else for at least a year.” He went on to earn a diploma in business administration from NSCC after which he immediately landed a job at John Deere. “And a year to the day [later], he came to me with this business plan” to incorporate a broiler breeder system into the family farm, and said, ‘This is what I want to do. I really want to farm.ʼ”

Samʼs plan was simple: instead of buying chicks from the hatchery at a premium with no control of their intakes, letʼs raise our own hens and roosters on our own quality feed. With the help of old friend Gerald Vermeulen’s facilities and mentorship Sam did just that. “I just knew it was going to work,” says Sam. “It was pretty easy math, I guess. And, we had all the pieces to do it.”

“I was pretty amazed at his initiative,” says Krista.

Samʼs tenacity, commitment and work ethic is not a rogue quality on the family farm. These are values that the Oultons have exemplified and instilled in all three of their children since the start. The knowledge and the experience that a healthy and productive farm doesnʼt just happen—itʼs cultivated—and from that work can come great rewards. “It’s kind of how they all grew up… They all know how to drive a tractor. They all know how to run equipment… They all know how to run the dishwasher—thatʼs an important one!” Krista laughs.

“I don’t know what we did to get three great kids, but we got three great kids,” says Krista, reflecting on their recent achievements. Their youngest, 17-year-old Alister took home the gold at this past winter Ben Eoin ski competition— a feat she is proud to have been able to watch him achieve. And their middle child, Carmen, currently studying at the Dalhousie Agriculture Campus was recently presented the All-Canadian Award for outstanding achievement in academia and athletics.

“It doesn’t get much prouder than that,” says Krista. And while chicken feed may be the engine of the farm, it becomes clear that pride and determination is the fuel. That and all the sacrifices Krista and Thom made in the beginning—the long hours, the challenging phone calls, the missed soccer games—have resulted in an exceptionally deep-rooted and rewarding family farm that they could have only imagined when they started 26 years ago.

So, in a complicated time of economic uncertainty, climate change and market agitation, Krista says confidently that the commitment, collaboration and collective responsibility she sees in her kids, neighbours and colleagues gives her hope for the future. As long as farmers are confident and proactive in continuing to solve problems, seek new ideas and support one another, Krista knows her children can have a bright future in Nova Scotia. In Sam’s words, “You’re always building something for the next generation. You’re always moving forward. At the end of the year, you look at your financials and, you know, you actually see that you accomplished something at the end of the year.”

Now growing 500 acres of rotating corn, soybeans and wheat between owned land and rented acres from a neighbour, “we try to grow all of our ingredients ourselves, and if we come up short, we buy from local farmers… That’s always been important to both Thom and I, that the food miles to feed our chickens shouldn’t be from Ontario. It should be as local as possible.“

With this arrangement, Krista says theyʼre saving upwards of 10—15 % on feed for their chickens. With these savings, they have been able to make investments that support this vertical integration such as a corn drier, grain elevator, and a lot more grain storage with powerful automated systems that reduce waste and inefficiencies in both production and labour.

“We have to come up with new ways to keep the farm growing,” Krista says. “Sam also is huge in this area,” she says, gesturing across the kitchen table to her 23-year-old son. “He’s a rare breed,” says Krista. “He has always loved farming. Like, ever since he was little. One of his first words was ‘tractorʼ… We always knew he’d probably end up farming, and we’ve always included all of our three kids in the farm.”

Sam is tall and lean with strawberry blonde hair and carries a consistent tight-jawed grin that shows heʼs enjoying his work. A young man of few words, when he does choose to speak you can feel confident it’s accurate. By nature, he stews over science and economics with an aptitude for financial arithmetic.

Since his early teens, Sam has taken an interest in the business and been keenly involved in the ideas, decisions and negotiations of the farm and its future, from convincing his father to pursue a variety of practices in the fields, to picking out seed varieties for the crops. Samʼs enthusiasm and drive have been a gravitational force.

When Sam completed high school, Krista laid out a few simple rules. “You need to go get a piece of paper, and then you need to go work for somebody else for at least a year.” He went on to earn a diploma in business administration from NSCC after which he immediately landed a job at John Deere. “And a year to the day [later], he came to me with this business plan” to incorporate a broiler breeder system into the family farm, and said, ‘This is what I want to do. I really want to farm.ʼ”

Samʼs plan was simple: instead of buying chicks from the hatchery at a premium with no control of their intakes, letʼs raise our own hens and roosters on our own quality feed. With the help of old friend Gerald Vermeulen’s facilities and mentorship Sam did just that. “I just knew it was going to work,” says Sam. “It was pretty easy math, I guess. And, we had all the pieces to do it.”

“I was pretty amazed at his initiative,” says Krista.

Samʼs tenacity, commitment and work ethic is not a rogue quality on the family farm. These are values that the Oultons have exemplified and instilled in all three of their children since the start. The knowledge and the experience that a healthy and productive farm doesnʼt just happen—itʼs cultivated—and from that work can come great rewards. “It’s kind of how they all grew up… They all know how to drive a tractor. They all know how to run equipment… They all know how to run the dishwasher—thatʼs an important one!” Krista laughs.

“I don’t know what we did to get three great kids, but we got three great kids,” says Krista, reflecting on their recent achievements. Their youngest, 17-year-old Alister took home the gold at this past winter Ben Eoin ski competition— a feat she is proud to have been able to watch him achieve. And their middle child, Carmen, currently studying at the Dalhousie Agriculture Campus was recently presented the All-Canadian Award for outstanding achievement in academia and athletics.

“It doesn’t get much prouder than that,” says Krista. And while chicken feed may be the engine of the farm, it becomes clear that pride and determination is the fuel. That and all the sacrifices Krista and Thom made in the beginning—the long hours, the challenging phone calls, the missed soccer games—have resulted in an exceptionally deep-rooted and rewarding family farm that they could have only imagined when they started 26 years ago.

So, in a complicated time of economic uncertainty, climate change and market agitation, Krista says confidently that the commitment, collaboration and collective responsibility she sees in her kids, neighbours and colleagues gives her hope for the future. As long as farmers are confident and proactive in continuing to solve problems, seek new ideas and support one another, Krista knows her children can have a bright future in Nova Scotia. In Sam’s words, “You’re always building something for the next generation. You’re always moving forward. At the end of the year, you look at your financials and, you know, you actually see that you accomplished something at the end of the year.”