Richard Froese
South Peace News
A commercial cattle operation south of Faust was featured in the annual Alberta Open Farm Day on Aug. 17-18.
Hedibuilt Farms owners Joe and Tara Hedrich welcomed about 330 visitors on the first day and about 250 on the second day, Tara Hedrich says.
“We were very happy with the turnout,” Tara Hedrich says.
“Everyone had a great time, even with wet weather on the first day.”
It was the only participating farm in the High Prairie, Peace River and Slave Lake regions.
Hosting the event for the third consecutive year, it was the first time the Hedrich opened for two days. Last year, the farm welcomed about 600 on one day.
“We like the idea of Alberta Open Farm Days, to encourage people to visit farms, meet the operators and find out where food comes from,” Hedrich says.
The event featured tractor rides to view the beef cattle in the fields, barbecued hamburgers, and hotdogs, a maze of round hay bales, a display by the Kinuso Lakeside 4-H Club, photos in the sunflower patch and a farmers’ market that featured about 16 vendors, more than last year.
The farming operation has been in the family since 1926.
They encourage more farms in the region to participate next year since the program promote Open Farm Days is an event to promote agri-tourism and rural sustainability.
It’s an opportunity to bring people together through educational and experiential agricultural-based initiatives to learn about where food comes from.
