Ron McMillan - McMillan Farms
RON MCMILLAN
McMillan Farms
McMillan Farms was started in 1950 and in 2004 the family moved into agri-tourism. What began by growing 100 pumpkins for the neighbors has evolved to thousands of pumpkins grown every year and a wide range of fun and educational experiences offered including hayrides, a corn maze and self-guided tours.
- I am proud to be a farmer today because due to the change in our world, farmers are looked at as essential to feeding a growing population that is increasingly urban. In the case of my family, we are proud to help provide a bit of that bridge between urban and rural worlds and some insight into farm life.
- A good day at the office includes meeting people who have been to the farm, hearing how they enjoyed their experience and learned something while creating great family memories. My favourite thing is meeting people who have never been to a farm before or had the opportunity to pet a farm animal, smell hay, see a tractor or pick a pumpkin. Wow!
- A hard day at the office is when mother nature has some unpleasant plans for you in the form of crop-affecting adverse weather. It can also include equipment breakdowns at the most inopportune time such as when you’re planting or harvesting. Having a long line up of people waiting for a hayride while you fix a flat tire on the trailer is also not fun.
- My great inspiration comes from my grandfather. Once when I was in my late teens and long after my grandparents sold off the farm’s dairy herd, my grandfather asked me what I would do with the farm if given the chance. I always searched for an answer to that question and when my family saw our first pumpkin patch, I knew I had found it.
- My advice for others looking to operate a farm business today is be patient, do your research, be prepared to spend a lot time working, talk to other farmers, be adaptive, have a plan and don’t stress.