Buckler Farm, located just north of Cochrane, had some special visitors on June 8.
A tour group from Japan spent the morning exploring the u-pick fruit and vegetable operation and learning about the agricultural industry in Canada and Alberta. A&E Communications (Interpretation) Inc., based out of Vancouver, organized the tour with the help of the Cochrane Tourism Association.
“I was impressed to learn that, depending on the land farmer’s have, like marshes or dry land, they address the issues to have the best produce to provide to consumers,” said Eiji Manabe, director of Tsubetsu Town Agricultural Co-operative in Hokkaido, Japan, who was part of the tour group.
The tour was special for Manabe, who discovered he had a lot of similarities with Charlie Buckler, owner/operator of Buckler Farm. Both are third-generation farmers for a family-run farm that focuses on using natural growth methods.
Buckler Farm has been operating since 1905 and has evolved into a u-pick operation as well as a source for local grocers to grow their own produce to distribute locally.
The farm also rents out garden plots for those who want to grow produce for personal consumption and focuses on water conservation and not spraying the gardens with chemicals.
“We all do the same thing – they’re organic farmers from Japan. You can always learn new things,” Buckler said.
As Buckler showed the group of tourists around his farm, he explained the challenges he faces with farming in this area – lack of rain and short growing season.
“The climate here is similar to Hokkaido, it’s the same kind of latitude.
“What surprised me was the scale of the operation here,” Manabe said.
Manabe said that an average farm size in Japan is 40 hectares per family, which is small in comparison to Buckler Farm’s 360 acres. Manabe’s operation distributes 90 per cent of its crops nationally while 10 per cent stay in his community.
The tour group spent three days in Canada touring Toronto and the Cochrane area before returning to Japan.
