A century of continuous farming passed down generations was acknowledged by the province with the Alberta Century Farm Award being presented to the Desmond family, just before Christmas.
"One hundred years of continuous farming is a great accomplishment considering the amount of hard work that is involved in the agriculture industry, then and now,” said Cheryl Desmond, wife to Rodney Desmond, in a written history about the Desmond family sent to the Journal.
The Desmond family was recognized for their contribution to Alberta’s agriculture industry on Dec. 18 at the Vilna Cultural Centre. The award recognizes farm families who have actively operated on the same land for 100 years or more.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken presented the family with the award.
“It’s important to recognize this milestone because this is not easily done,” van Dijken said. “Farming takes a lot of discipline and perseverance.”
The MLA congratulated the family for a job well done and being partners in building the province, making Alberta what it is today.
“This is not a career, this is a lifelong love of the land and animals and family and that is why we do it,” Cheryl said.
The family has seen many firsts in the area over the years.
“We are no stranger to hard times and good times,” Cheryl said. “Bad weather, failed crops, animal births and deaths, good decisions and bad ideas and still, we keep farming.”
Cheryl and her husband Rodney are the current owners and operators of the grain and cattle farm, which they have been operating since 2001. Rodney is a third-generation farmer. Their son, Adam, is a fourth-generation farmer on their original homestead, located in the Boyne Lake area. Adam is also a seventh-generation farmer in Canada under the Desmond name.
The journey, starts with a man who had an adventurous soul and a risk-taker attitude, according to Desmond. Timothy Desmond's family crossed into the then-British ruled North America in October of 1790, and would create a generation of farmers.
"They farmed there with their youngest son until their death. Due to the war of 1812 they left the region but did return to the original homestead. The homestead is located by Lake Erie, Ontario, where the sixth generation still owns and farms the original homestead," explains Cheryl. The farmsite in Ontario was granted to the second son, John. He had a son, William Wallace, who married and lived a short distance from John’s homestead. William then had a son who he named Hart Stanley Desmond born in Ridgetown, Ont., on March 18, 1889.
By 1910, Hart purchased land 10 miles from Saskatoon, Sask., which he sold in 1912, moving to Edmonton to work at the Black Diamond Coal Company at Clover Bar. After three years, in June of 1915, Hart joined the Canadian Armed Forces in Edmonton.
Following his years in the army, Hart returned to wed in 1919 and continued farming. According to documentation obtained from Homestead records, Hart purchased a piece of land the same year.
“This land is located directly across the road from where we are now (Boyne Lake) and it touches the northeast shore of Garner Lake,” explains Cheryl.
In August of 1919, Hart applied for a homestead at Boyne Lake – which is known as the Georgie Harasym quarter, located half a mile north of the Boyne Lake store. Hart and his wife, Dolly, gave birth to their only child, Thomas Stanley (known as Stan) in 1921, who would father four children, one of whom is Rodney.
“By 1928 Hart had acquired more land, so that spring he purchased a two-cylinder model “D” John Deere steel wheel tractor and plow, which we still own today and is in running condition,” Cheryl said.
“How great is it to know there are 100 years of farming history in our family, and possibly 100 years of John Deere equipment use also,” she said. According to Cheryl, each year brought some improvements to machinery.
Then, in 1932, tragedy struck.
"In November 1932 their house burned to the ground. Stan was sent to live with Dolly’s parents in Three Hills until they could provide better living conditions. Hart and Dolly lived in a granary that winter," explains Cheryl. "In 1933, they purchased the house from John Burgess that had been used at the Old Mill on the south shore of Floating Stone Lake. The house was moved and placed south of where the original house was. As there was no power, Hart purchased a power plant to run lights in the house. This house is still standing today in the same spot as it was placed in 1933."
As years passed, Stanley would continue in his father’s steps, purchasing land in 1949 from his grandfather, Thomas Strickland. It would become the land Cheryl and Rodney currently live on.
When the 1950s brought about a new era in farming, it also meant more modern equipment. Stanley, who was farming in partnership with his parents, bought the area’s first combine, a Cockshutt 112 and a swather. He would marry Mary Georgina Grace McDougall, who was working at the Great West Garment Factory, in 1952.
“They lived on this property and continued to farm with Stan’s parents,” Cheryl said. “Mary grew a garden, raised chickens, milked cows and shipped cream until late fall when she would churn butter for winter use.”
There were no freezers back then, so most of the food was preserved by canning, which was time-consuming hard work, said Cheryl.
Following Hart’s death, Stanley ended his partnership with his parents and rented the land from his mother. The passing years would continue to bring many changes and improvements to farming methods from power to new haying methods, and automatic cattle waterers.
"Power came through the area around 1956 and Stan was a man who could see all the advantages this service would provide. He rallied neighbours and together they slashed and cleared the trees so the power poles and lines could be placed," said Cheryl.
In 1967, Stanley and his children built another home with many modern conveniences. The home is still being lived in by Adam 52 years later. The 1970s saw Stanley renting 200 acres of farmland, and following his death, their youngest son, Rodney would continue to rent and farm the land.
"From 2001 to present, Rodney, I and the kids continue to own and operate a large grain and cattle farm. From a very young age I knew Adam was going to be the fourth generation farmer in this family," said Cheryl.
The family prides itself on its long history in the area and for taking risks and trying new things. “In this area, we were the first family to use a mesh baler, discbine, and modern grain dryer,” Cheryl said. “We started growing canola and red lentils, which was never done in Hart or Stan’s time.”
Other crops produced on the farm include wheat, barley, oats, rye, sweet clover, flax and many types of hay. The family has also raised beef cattle, sheep, pigs, milk cows, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, horses, and bees.
