A local farm known for making agriculture accessible to youngsters and urbanites will soon be moving their operations to a more rural location.
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The Pate family has been farming since 1891, and the current generation also operates a bakery, shop, and variety of agricultural experiences for the public — such as educational programs, strawberry picking, and a cut-your-own flower field — out of their Brantwood Farms location at 251 Powerline Rd.
But, according to a presentation at the County of Brant agricultural committee meeting on July 29 the family plans to move operations — including the market, bakery, children’s play area and corn maze — to St. George.
The farm is on a stretch of Powerline Road where city and country meet — with urban development running along the south side of the road, and farmland hugging the north.
But that’s set to change — the area is part of 2,720 hectares of settlement expansion lands annexed from the County of Brant in 2017 with future residential designation, according to the City of Brantford website.
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Construction for a new Catholic high school has already begun in what the city is calling the Powerline central block.
In the next block over, Powerline east, plans show residential development where Brantwood Farms currently is.
While the new location on German School Road brings Brantwood to the County of Brant, it’s only about eight kilometers up the road, and not far from their strawberry-picking fields at 89 St. George Rd. south of the village.
A timeline for the move was not addressed at the agricultural committee meeting, but the presentation did say they plan to grow on the new land — and already planted an apple orchard in the spring of 2023 — and continue with similar experiences that they currently offer.
Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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