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Welcome to Rosewood Farm
Our Background:
Rosewood Farm is a small mixed farming operation located east of
Winnipeg,
Manitoba,
Canada. It is owned by Chris and Pat Bothe. We began farming in 2003 when Chris retired from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. After thirty four years of transfers and fifteen different homes, we were ready to settle into one spot and wanted “wide open spaces”. The plan was to raise cattle in our next chosen profession as farmers. However, our timing couldn’t have been worse to get into cattle since at that time, BSE was having a devastating affect on the cattle industry in
Canada. So, while Chris continued his research into the breed of cattle we could one day raise, a decision was made to begin our farm operation by raising meat goats.
The property we purchased came with no infrastructure in place for farming, so we had to build everything from the ground up. We brought in a bulldozer to clear forested areas for the working pens and pastures, pounded fence posts, established grazing paddocks, erected page wire and electric fencing, dug water and power lines and constructed windbreak shelters. It was a daunting task, but one advantage of starting from scratch is that we were able to design the layout of everything to suit our operation instead of adapting a pre-existing one to fit our needs. The fact that Chris enjoys attending farm auctions in search of used equipment helped ease some of our set-up costs.
Once the regulations eased a bit with regard to BSE, and our infrastructure was in place, we were ready to establish our herd of cattle. We wanted a breed that was hardy, gentle, had good mothering traits and was easy to care for--and we were rewarded by finding a breed that met all of this criteria. The fact that the breed is also listed with Rare Breeds of Canada as needing conservancy made the decision to raise Irish Dexter Cattle an easy one for us. Because we live in a forested area where there are numerous predators (bear, wolves, coyotes) we decided to invest in the assistance of a guard animal to protect the herd....so we bought a Sicilian Miniature Donkey to protect the livestock. They are incredibly loving and loyal animals, requiring very little upkeep and providing excellent protection. Despite reading that miniature donkeys should not be used to guard livestock because of their size, we have never lost a single animal to predators with our little guardians “on duty”!
Our animals are fed a diet of natural prairie hay during the winter and graze on grass pastures in the summer. They are developed for both the meat and breeding stock markets and receive no growth hormones or routine antibiotics and we do not apply pesticides or herbicides to our hay land. It is our goal to produce as natural a meat product for our clients as possible. The cattle are born, raised and finished on our farm and are never held in confinement. Our management protocol benefits the environment by allowing the land to naturally replenish itself. A balance develops between the animals and their environment. What the livestock remove through grazing they add back through naturally occurring animal fertilizer and aeration of the land. We practice low stress handling techniques because stressed animals make for tough and off-flavored meat.
In an attempt to produce safe food products for our family and our customers, our farm is registered with the "Verified Beef Production" program (VBP) and we have demonstrated conformation to on-farm food safety requirements. This national program is recognized by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. More information on the Verified Beef Production program can be found at www.verifiedbeef.org
We tend a small flock of free range layer hens for our own use. They provide us with a year-round supply of delicious Omega-3 eggs....bringing us back to old-fashioned farm freshness! We have a small customer base and offer the eggs for sale if we have a sufficient supply.
With 74 forested acres on our property, it provides us with opportunities to carry out a variety of outdoor activities—trail making, nature walking, mushroom picking, quad riding, tree planting, and wildlife watching. We feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful woodland Managed Woodlot.
A few years ago we dug a retaining pond in our back yard to contain excess rain water and each spring we stock it with gold fish. Our grandchildren spend countless hours trying to spot the fish and catch the frogs all summer! The pond is lined with hand-picked, (farm-grown!) rocks for drainage and we chose larger, Landscape Rocks to place around the edges....all these rocks form a natural and beautiful backsplash for the fountain that helps to keep the water clear. These rugged, natural rocks also make the ideal natural "boulder play structure" for our grandchildren. We also offer our Landscape Rocks for sale--if you have a trailer and are willing to pick up the rocks, there is a great savings to be realized versus conventional gardening centre prices.
Feel free to browse our pages as you go on a short "farm tour".....
You may contact us at:
Chris and Pat Bothe
Box 60 Group 4 RR 1
Anola, MB. CANADA
R0E 0A0 Phone: (204) 866-4110 Email: pcbothe@nlis.ca
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