Cornell Farms wins prestigious award

Cornell Farms of Devlin, along with Gammondale Farm of Thunder Bay, were recognized Friday morning in Thunder Bay after earning the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence regional awards.
The award was presented to beef farmers Kim Cornell and Pat Clysdale-Cornell for their shift to direct marketing to better respond to consumer demand.
Cornell also developed a marketing approach that included branding, the use of a wireless Visa/Debit machine, and a range of new beef products that incorporate other local products, such as wild rice.
And consumers have responded. Sales have increased by growing numbers of customers and by higher dollar value on individual sales at local farmers’ markets.
The machine, which Cornell bought rather than rented, works like a cellphone, though there were some struggles to get it working because it had to be re-programmed to work on TBayTel.
Cornell had observed that 20- to 30-year-olds—a segment of the market he was interested in attracting—quite often don’t have cheques.
“Often they are more health conscious,” he noted. “They are mostly concerned about growth hormones and BSE.
“We use the term ‘natural’ because we don’t use growth hormones and we only use antibiotics therapeutically,” he continued.
“Most customers want a relationship with the people who raise the food they are eating,” Cornell reasoned, adding that was the main message he delivered when he spoke at Friday’s awards ceremony.
“I also made the point that despite all the efforts of the Wal-Marts and Safeways of the world, they will never be able to take away the relationship between the producer and the consumer,” he stressed.
Cornell believes that if you are willing to do the work, building those relationships represents an opportunity.
As a director of Clover Valley Farmers’ Market in Fort Frances, Cornell actively is involved in the food box program there and sees it as a good means of increasing local food consumption.
Cornell Farms has been selling farm-raised beef for the last 10 years; the first five in partnership with other farmers. He noted his dad, Gordon Cornell, who worked as an electrician at the mill, sold sides of beef “since forever.”
Gordon Cornell is still a partner in the farm.
The farm was homesteaded by Kim Cornell’s great-grandfather, William Pope, back in 1897.
When asked if either of his two children is likely to be interested in taking over the farm, Cornell suggests they may, but that he feels it’s important that they also have the opportunity to do other things.
His daughter, Rebecca, currently is enrolled in biological sciences at the University of Guelph while son, Garnet, is set to graduate from Fort Frances High School this month.
Selling breeding stock still is the biggest part of Cornell Farms’ business.
“I have never sold into traditional markets. I have never sold a weaned calf,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, with sales increasing, Cornell sees the need for a walk-in freezer.
“It’s the same old story,” he remarked. “You build the business and then you have to spend more capital to support the darn thing.
“With a walk-in freezer, we could manage our inventory better and we could give Paul [Peters at Sunrise Meat and Sausage] bigger orders,” Cornell noted.
“And the building of a new abattoir in Emo is an important piece of this whole puzzle,” he stressed.
The Premier’s Agri-Food Innovation Excellence awards are part of a five-year, $2.5-million program (now in its second year) established to recognize innovators who contribute to the success of Ontario’s agri-food sector.
A total of 55 regional award winners are being recognized across the province. They receive $5,000 each for their innovation.
Last year, the same award was won by two local producers.
Pine River Ranch near Pinewood, owned by Amos and Heidi Brielmann, was saluted for its environmental stewardship and green energy options.
As well, Deb Cornell and Bill Darby, owners of the Rainy River Elk Company in La Vallee, were recognized for their marketing efforts in the wake of the BSE crisis that affected their access to the U.S.