For the last century, Ashley Brown’s family has continued to build Browndale Farm into a respected and community-focused farm.
Brown, who really hit her stride in farming as an adult, explained her family’s farming history.
“I am a fourth-generation dairy farmer and fifth generation farmer. My grandfather started milking cows in about 1947 and my dad has grown up here his entire life. We have very strong ties in the community, and that’s always been very important to our family. And throughout his lifetime, my father won a lot of awards in the industry for breeding cattle. He’s won multiple awards at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Royal Winter Fair. He also won grand champion, as well as supreme champion a few times back in the 1970s. So, we have a long and proud family history when it comes to dairy farming,” she said. “But my siblings and I didn’t grow up on the farm. We grew up in town, but we went to visit my dad when he’d work on the farm. But since I was the only girl in the family, I didn’t actually work on the farm because it just wasn’t really an expectation. But my family wanted us to have a really good childhood, and it was lovely.”
However, Brown and her husband started to become a part of the farm when her father needed help.
“My brothers didn’t really have an interest in taking over the farm, and I didn’t know that I did either, to be honest, until I started working with my dad after I was about 30 years old. I didn’t milk a cow until I was 30 years old, but my husband and I saw that my father was a bit distressed [in] trying to run a farm [as] some of the helpers just couldn’t do it any longer for various reasons including health issues,” Brown said. “So, watching my dad struggle and trying to do all the jobs by himself, living on about two hours of sleep at night…my husband and I decided to step in. We really didn’t know what we’re doing, but we’re willing to learn [and] we were the help for a few years, because we didn’t really have anybody consistent coming on. Working on the farm was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, physically, mentally, and emotionally.”
Brown, who at that point was an esthetician by trade, made the decision to modernize the farm.
“I was still working full time off the farm while working full time on the farm. I’m an esthetician, and did that for over 20 years….but I fell in love with working on the farm when we started to help my dad. I loved the cows, the family history and my dad’s legacy….[and] we decided to grow the operation. We were at a pivoting-point where we either needed to build on the old barn and expand it, or needed to modernize it. Now, knowing that I wanted to start a family and grow that part of our lives we opted to do something a little bit more modern,” she explained. “We stepped away from milking the cows as it was very labor intensive and we built a new facility for robotic dairy milking. Right now we have two robots that each accommodate about 16 cows each and milk an average of 90 cows. It’s still very labor intense…my husband’s still out there….doing all the feeding and the maintenance, and my father is still very much active on the farm, working with the herd and keeping them healthy. While I’ve been able to step back to have a daughter, raise her and be present with her, which has been wonderful. It has been a great way to raise her around the animals and enjoying the country air and the space and the very family-oriented lifestyle.”
Brown would also take a step back from her esthetics business because of COVID, and looked to expand the farm in another way.
“We really had to pivot and make some changes, so we started a store on the farm. We saw a need in our community at that time. There was no beef in the grocery stores…and we had a couple freezers full of quality meat. We started with one freezer…and eventually bought several of them to keep up with demand. Five years later, we have a full-fledged store which started organically from a place of wanting to help our community [while] helping our family too [in] creating another little business for us,” she noted.
Nevertheless, the on-site store has continued to offer an array of products right from the farm including high quality meats.
“All the beef that we sell in the store has been raised on our farm. We use regular premium beef as well as Wagyu beef. Our beef is very high quality and is about 70% to 80% grass fed. We focus on the health and well being of our animals, rather than the end result. But what that does is it creates a very high-end result for us…the beef has very good marbling, and very good flavor. Everything is dry aged, so it’s nice and tender…[and] we have everything from regular cuts, steaks, roast ground burgers…to pepperettes, to dried and summer sausages,” she said.
Along with their own meets, Brown explained that their store has continued to offer locally-sourced products.
“We really try to focus on mostly local products, but at least Canadian products, if anything. We try to have as much from Brant County, Norfolk County, and Haldimand County, as we can. We carry the Farm Girl Cereal, and Muskoka Mornings that are simply egg whites as a protein replacement,” she noted. “We are very focused on offering high quality products [and] trying to find new products that are hard to find for families that are looking for something that is more whole food, and more natural with no preservatives, no colors, nor dyes. We’re very conscious about what we eat…so, we’re very conscious about the food that we sell and even what our animals eat. We’re very conscious about not using unnecessary antibiotics, or hormones on our animals here at the farm. We’re very focused on the health and well being of our animals and giving our customers that best products that we can offer.”
However, Brown has also spearheaded events like the Christmas Market, which has become very popular with locals through the years.
“We saw a gap in the community when it came to Christmas events, and really wanted to bring the magic back into the season. We have an annual Christmas market that we do every year, and we’ve grown it to be almost 30 vendors that we have in our space once a year around Christmas time. It’s been wonderful to work with so many small businesses, local vendors and artists. We handpick everybody [and] everything they offer at the market is very unique,” Brown stated. “We’ve started doing events…like breakfast with Santa…and also having a professional photographer there to get photos done with Santa. We do crafts with the kids too [and] we bring in local milk from Markhoeve Dairy, cookies from Cake & Crumb and we have a hot chocolate bar by Altitude Coffee Roasters. We work with local companies in the area to make these experiences feel even more magical and very intimate as well.”
Although Brown has taken a step back in offering many tours to focus on time with her daughter, there are opportunities for the public to explore the farm.
“Basically, you come into the store, have a nice welcome from one of our employees that are working there. And they will tell you to walk through the glass doors [and] you’re welcome to go see the cows. It’s really great for the little ones to be able to see where their food is coming from. There’s no separation there… it’s really bringing back that urban culture to agriculture, and allowing kids to see and know where their food comes from. And when parents show that to their kids here….for example, how we are getting the milk from cows…and where cheese and ice cream is coming from…its very special, “Brown noted. “The kids and families have a chance to physically see the cows and what they’re doing and how they live in such a great environment…[and] being able to see how these animals are raised, how they’re fed and how they’re cared for is really important for the generation coming up. There are so many people in the community that had an uncle or a grandparent or somebody that they knew that had a farm, and I think that we’re getting so far away from that now that with a lot of kids having a disconnect as far as where their food comes from. This gives them a good opportunity to see it first hand.”
Going forward, Brown is focused on continuing to grow the business while acknowledging her family’s extensive and rich history in farming.
“I think every generation brings a different aspect to any business…I think every generation has a different idea of where they want to take a business, and it’s been really interesting to see and look back at our family has done. My grandfather wanted to build a farm around cows, and so they bought cows, and had a lot of success. And then my father carried on the tradition, and now we are here building on that great history,” she said. “We’re fortunate to do what we have been doing here and with a lot of community support. And when you have a goal, especially when it’s something that’s rooted in wanting to provide for others, I think that’s something beautiful.”
