It’s the old way of planting, growing and harvesting crops relegated to the confines of history thanks to tractors, combines and modern technology.
Real horsepower and centuries-old methods and know-how were alive and well as volunteer farmers planted barley at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site over the Victoria Day weekend. Once harvested, it will be used to make a one-of-a-kind craft whiskey.
It’s a labour of love and hobby that brings farmers and hobbyists to join Eau Claire Distillery owner David Farran at the Bar U Ranch each year to plow, plant and eventually harvest the crop. And, it’s all done with horse-drawn equipment.
It’s a hobby that preserves a historic way of life and traditional agricultural knowledge that would otherwise be lost to time, said Farran.
“I think even now, few of our grandfathers are alive who were actually, genuinely using this,” he said. “It really stopped with the invention of the tractor.”
Nine plows and about 30 horses were on hand as the farmers went to work, with animals changed out every few hours for a break. They first set out to plow a 15-acre field before the soil was smoothed and large dirt clumps broken up by horses pulling harrows. Once the ground was ready, the barley seeds were planted using a horse-pulled seed drill.
The teams will return in the fall to harvest the barley crop, this time with horse-drawn binders to cut the crop and tie it into stooks. They are then stacked by hand and left on the field to dry.
“We leave it for about a week or two weeks to dry out in the wind and then we come back and we pick up those bundles and take it to a threshing machine,” said Farran.
The thresher is an antique model but the power comes from a slightly newer power source.
“It is powered by a 1940s tractor, so it’s our one concession to modernity,” said Farran.
Some at the Bar U over the long weekend used antique models, while others like Farran used modern creations manufactured by an Amish community in Ohio.
He said they’re the only ones who still build and regularly use horse-drawn plows.
“They still use them to make a living, so they’re the last preserve of this kind of technology,” said Farran.
The Amish have improved the centuries-old technology, he said. While older models had a tendency to flip over when turning, Farran said the newer Amish-made models are built with weighted wheels making them more stable.
Keven Graham brought his grandfather’s Massey Harris plow from his Innisfail-area farm, pulled by a team of four horses.
“It hasn’t moved for 60 years, it was sitting at home on the farm,” said Graham.
It seized up a bit over the decades, but it didn’t take much to get it working just fine at the Bar U.
“Everything new is a little bit better, but some of these old ones are just as good,” said Graham. “They’re doing the same thing.”
He grew up on a farm and with a love of horses, he was drawn to the hobby roughly 15 years ago.
It is only a hobby, though. Graham said he wouldn’t want to replace his modern machinery with a team of horses.
“I have to work on the farm too, it would be cool to do this all the time but it doesn’t pay quite the same,” he said laughing.
Still, working at the Bar U Ranch over the long weekend with a tangible sense of purpose said Graham. They’re also helping to grow a crop that will ultimately be used to create something unique once its harvested.
“There’s some pride and care going into this, right from us doing what we do to the guys at the distillery,” said Graham.
Farran has been leading a group of volunteer farmers at the Bar U Ranch to grow barley for five years now. The barley is used to create a limited edition whiskey at his Turner Valley distillery.
Once the distillation process is complete, the whiskey is aged for at least three years before it is bottled.
The first batch of Eau Claire whiskey will reach this milestone later this year, however, it may be sometime next year when it is actually bottled and released to the public. Farran said it will be the only whiskey sold anywhere in the world made from grains harvested by horsepower.
“When we think as a craft distillery, we are truly thinking about the idea that it’s hand-batched, it’s hand-crafted and I think it is taking it to the absolute nth degree,” he said.
In addition to the 15 acres at the Bar U Ranch, Farran also planted a barley crop on a 30-acre field on his property near the Three Point Creek in the Millarville area using horsepower.
Farran said the Bar U field yielded 600 bushels of finished and cleaned barley in 2016. It wasn’t a great year, he added, but Farran’s more hopeful this year’s crop will end up being closer to 800 bushels. It could be enough for roughly 1,000 bottles of whiskey, he said.
Back at the Bar U, the work of the volunteer farmers and distillery is an ideal partnership, said Mike McLean, the ranch’s special projects officer.
He said it shows people how farmers once worked without modern technology and keeps traditional methods alive.
It’s also a good way to educate people about where food comes from and how it is, and was, produced, said McLean.
“I think that helps people connect, realizing where the things that we consume come from and get a connection from that,” he said.
