Historic rain ‘nail in the coffin’ for organic farm north of Edmonton

Sundog Organic Farm on July 7, 2026. (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton)

An organic farm in Sturgeon County says the fluctuating weather patterns, and especially recent heavy rain, have made its future uncertain.

Jenny Berkenbosch and James Vriend have been farming at Sundog Organic Farm since 2011. Eight acres of the 14-acre operation is used to grow 180 varieties of certified organic vegetables, as well as perennial grasses, alfalfa and clover cover crops, the majority of which is sold at local markets.

“The cost of growing this way is very high, because it’s dependent on human labour,” Berkenbosch explained. “It’s a lot of work, and we don’t end up making a big profit from it.

“It’s a human-scale operation. Things are harvested by hand, washed and packaged by hand. … We sell everything that we grow to the customers.”

She and her team of about 10 are used to challenges and slim profit margins. In 2019-2020, for example, heavy rain meant the land was too wet to work during the summer and weeds took over. By the time the world retreated indoors for COVID-19, already low sales began plummeting.

Berkenbosch says her family isn’t sure the farm can handle a repeat.

“We were on a knife’s edge while that rain was falling,” she recalled of last month, during which Edmonton and surrounding areas saw record-breaking rain. “We really believed that things would turn around. … We dug trenches, we aerated the soil with broad forks, we did what we could to support the plants.”

Then, more rain hit.

• Farmers estimate 10 per cent of their acres lost to flooding

“While it was happening, (James) and I were sitting on the couch holding hands, and he said, ‘Well, that’s the nail in the coffin,’” she said.

The couple has started a GoFundMe, but not to save their farm. The donations would allow them to pay off refunds on pre-orders and keep their employees solvent while Berkenbosch and Vriend consider their options.

She added that the provincial and federal governments don’t often have programs aimed at supporting smaller farmers like Sundog.

“(It’s) partly because of the productivity of our land. We grow so much more value on a small scale than large fields of commodity crops.”

University of Alberta agriculture professor and wheat breeding researcher Gurcharn Brar says agriculture funding is needed across the board for situations like these.

“We don’t realize how much effort it takes to grow food. A lot of people … they or their kids think the food in their plates falls from the sky,” he told CTV News Edmonton.

“It literally takes a lot of effort from growers. Resources, fertilizer, herbicide, water to grow each pound of grain. … Whenever there are any budget issues, governments hit agricultural science first.”

Brar believes Sundog could also be struggling with crop recovery because organic farms don’t use synthetic materials to get nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil after heavy rain.

“If this is not an organic farmer, they can, of course, apply more nitrogen or fertilizer. But that will also come at an extra cost.”

Whether crops are wiped out, slightly leached of nutrients or capable of recovery in the next several months all depends on when they were seeded, he added.

Still, he says there isn’t any reason to be worried about keeping fresh produce on the table quite yet.

“Canada is doing really well, and Canadian agriculture is doing well in terms of food production. We’re a big player. … We play a big role in global food security, and there are excellent researchers in Canada who are doing their share to make our future crops more resilient and higher-yielding.”

In the meantime, smaller-scale farmers like Sundog are making tough decisions: trudge through another soggy season, or say good-bye to their farming passion project.

“My gut reaction is to run. I’m just reeling from the shock of it all. I don’t think I could take another season where I’m in this position,” Berkenbosch said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson