County Sustainability bursaries support chicken tractors; bee breeder

Don Ross with Hans Ning, of Paper Kite Farm

The winner the 2025 County Sustainability Group Ecological Farmer Bursary will be adding chicken tractors to their farm this year.

Hans Ning, of Paper Kite Farm in Black River, has been a past winner, “who continues to impress us with the outstanding work they’re doing,” said Don Ross, the the County Sustainability Group. “They are so deserving of our support and that of our entire local community.”

Ning explains the need for chicken tractors.

“While the soil is great for growing our crops, it’s also filled with really spent pasture. Adding chicken tractors will help us in many different ways:
1) Help refresh the pasture through scratching and manure. Our pastures turns out to be pretty old, and not particularly producing. The scratching will make sure our bail grazed seeds are well fertilized and dug in.
2) Provide an additional revenue stream. Small scale chickens don’t make a lot, but they will pay for the tractors within three years. Having a diversified offering will help our farm stand compete more with grocery stores.
3) Provide food sovereignty. With the rise of bird flu, chicken raised on small farms like ours are far less susceptible to the flu, as they will have stronger immune systems. They’re not invulnerable, but many small farms tackling the supply is far better than a giant one.
4) Education for our summer camp kids The chicken tractors we are purchasing are light enough to be pulled by eight-year-olds, which was an important factor into why we didn’t just build our own.

Andrew Burkinshaw is grafting locally bred queens for his nucleus colonies of bees he supplies to hobbyists and commercial beekeepers

Meanwhile, Andrew Burkinshaw is the winner of the CSG 2025 local Organic Pollinator Bursary sponsored by Julie White, of Long Point Honey.

“At Morrison Point Farm I am busy every spring grafting locally bred queens for my nucleus colonies of bees that I supply to hobbyist and commercial beekeepers,” said Burkinshaw. “Many of these beekeepers supply bees to farms for pollination from apples to blueberries to canola.”

“Having locally supplied bee colonies creates resilience within our bee community and ensures both honey and pollination needs are met from within our community. Through bee sales, honey sales and interactions with landowners I have opportunities to talk about the importance of pollinators in our local food supply and the natural landscape. I strive to manage my bees in ways that support them in doing what they were designed to do and promote practices that promote pollinator health.

“In the shoulder seasons, we have recently started a native and permaculture plant nursery. This has dovetailed with our bee work by supplying customers with diverse plants that require and benefit from pollination. Many of our customers are eradicating buckthorn and other invasive from their properties, favouring a diverse native planting which aids the ecosystem and its pollinators. Thank you for considering me for the pollinator bursary.”

Ross notes the recipients were considered most deserving of the $500 awards which honour farmers committed to the principles and practices of organic farming and who illustrate sustainable practices to protect, preserve, and promote pollinator health.