Atlantic Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Nominees:

Geoff (Class of '95) and Jennifer (Class of '96) Bishop

Geoff is the third generation to farm at Bishop Farms Ltd. The farm was originally established in 1969 when his grandfather, father and uncle emigrated from England to Round Hill in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. Like his family before him, Geoff developed a passion for farming and has fond memories of growing up on a farm.

As Geoff’s interest in agriculture grew, he pursued completing his diploma at the NSAC. Upon graduation he went to work on other dairy farms in both New Zealand and England before returning home to begin working alongside his parents.

Once home, he set many short-term goals such as improving herd genetics, registering the herd with Holstein Canada, official milk recording with ADLIC (now Valacta), improving feeding systems to increase milk production and purchasing more quota.  As goals were realized, new ones were set with the most recent being the addition of a new dairy barn and milking facility.

Geoff realizes that in order to have premium milk production, you must have good feed. For this reason he considers soil management as important as animal husbandry. The soil provides the farm with high quality feed for the animals minimizing the need for purchased feed.  A nutrient management plan is in place help produce higher yields with minimal fertilizer and herbicides inputs which thereby cuts costs for the farm.

As mentioned previously, a new dairy facility and parlor was built with the ability to expand to 200 cows. Energy conservation was important when building the new facility. This resulted in a fabric structure which is naturally lit and ventilated.  The parlor is equipped with energy efficient lighting and geo-thermally heated floors. The newest initiative on the farm is the installation of a soybean extruder. This machine presses the oil out of raw beans. The result is a solid product that can be fed directly to the cows and an oil that can be used in feed mixes or as a fuel. As well, Geoff and Jennifer are exploring the possibility of constructing a bio-gas facility to produce on-farm energy.
Giving back to their community is very important to Geoff and Jennifer. Geoff serves as a director for The Kings Mutual Insurance Company and he is involved in numerous farm associations.  Jennifer is very involved with many community service and recreational activities.

Jennifer grew up on a farm in Prince Edward Island. Throughout her life, she had been very involved in agriculture through 4-H, Agriculture Awareness committees and she worked as PEI’s first Agriculture Education Coordinator. Jennifer and Geoff met at NSAC and were married in 1999. They are currently living on the farm in the original farm house with their four children Luke (10 years), Emma (8 years), Matthew (5 years) and Ryan ( 2 years).

Due to the dedication and commitment of the generations before, Bishop Farms Ltd. has evolved from milking one cow in 1970 by Geoff’s grandfather to 150 cows in 2010. Geoff and Jennifer hope to pass this dedication on to their children and instill in them a love of agriculture and passion for being a steward of the land.

Joseph & Karen Heukshorst, Caper Farms, Milford N.S. have also been nominated for this award. The announcement of Atlantic Outstanding Young Farmers for 2011 will be made at the Atlantic OYF Annual Banquet in Moncton, NB on March 11.

NSAC alumni, Josh Oulton (Class of '96) and Patricia Bishop (Class of '99) took home the award in 2010.