Rocky View County (RVC) is accepting nominations for this year’s Master Farm Family Award, an honour first presented in 1989 to Cochrane’s own WineGlass Ranch.
Edith Wearmouth and Lindsay Eklund of WineGlass were not only the first to receive the award, they are the only Cochrane-based ranch to be named the Master Farm Family.
Wearmouth and Eklund have since passed the ranch on to their son, Travis Eklund, who runs the property with his wife Kara.
Memories of winning the Master Farm Family Award remains one of pride for Wearmouth, who continues to work on the ranch to this day.
“In 1989, we knew that the land and the creek were important, but environmental issues and concerns were just starting to be discussed,” recalled Wearmouth. “The Master Farm Family Award helped confirm some of things we were doing were right.”
Wearmouth became part of a group called Cows and Fish in the mid 90s and established three goals for the WineGlass Ranch: to see a healthier creek, be proactive in ranch and environmental issues and achieve healthier grass on the ranch.
“To this day,” she said, “some 20 years later, those three goals still are foremost in my mind when I am making decisions concerning the ranch.”
Wearmouth also helped start Ranchers of the Jumpingpound Watershed group and the Agriculture Service board for RVC.
Travis and Kara came back to WineGlass to ranch in 2010, and though Travis was quite young when his parents won the award, he knows how proud each were to receive such an honour.
“Now that I am running the ranch with my wife Kara, I can appreciate how hard my parents and grandparents worked,” said Travis. “Every day I see the results of their labours on the ranch and contributions to the agriculture community, and it’s nice to know that they were recognized for that.”
Travis and his family have continued to be sensitive and caring of the land around them, winning the Environmental Stewardship Award from Alberta Beef Producers in 2004 for their work to protect riparian areas on the ranch.
“That was a real surprise and a real honour,” said Wearmouth. “I worked with some good neighbours who helped me along.”
Progressing from a rancher’s wife, to a rancher and ultimately to a rancher’s mother was not always easy for Wearmouth.
“I knew for the succession to be successful, I had to move out of the way,” she said of handing the reins to her son and daughter-in-law. “I knew that it would be tough to let go, particularly if we all lived in the same yard and I could see every movement that he made.”
So, in 2010, Wearmouth had a home built about one mile away from where Travis and Kara lived, in an effort to give the pair some breathing room.
“I like to think that I have a voluntary amount of involvement on the ranch,” said Wearmouth, “but I know that when Travis phones up and says, ‘What are you doing today, Mom?’ my answer is, ‘What do you need me to do today, son?’ ”
For Travis, the future of ranching is not a simple venture. Though he points out that farms now are more efficient and cost effective than they were 20 years ago, it remains a hard way of life.
“Ranching is hard, hard work and the financial returns are minimal,” he said, “so the focus is always on trying to do more with what we have in a shorter period of time.”
Wearmouth sees a lot of changes from when she ran the land, such as challenges being next to urban centres like Cochrane, the hazards of moving equipment on the roads and incidents of trespassers and damage on the land.
“My concern is that more and more of the population look at an open field and think it is doing nothing,” Wearmouth explained. “They do not realize all the work and education that goes into keeping that field healthy. They do not realize that that field grows their food.”
Despite the hard work, Wearmouth is pleased the way it all turned out.
“We have six generations on this land and I am very happy to see the traditions continue,” she said.
Travis hopes those traditions will carry on.
“I look forward to continuing on with their legacy,” he said of the standard his parents set. “With any luck, our kids will be able to continue on the WineGlass Ranch.”
Moving into its 128th year, WineGlass Ranch continues its traditions of picnics, skating parties, brandings and barn dances.
Travis’s father, Lindsay, has since moved on to work another ranch.
Nominations for the 2013 Master Farm Family Award are being taken until Feb. 15. Visit rockyview.ca for more information.
