Silvia Manders – My Story

Silvia grew up in Arkona as the youngest of six children in a family that owned a hog farm. Her parents were hog farmers and at one point were contemplating chicken quota, but they held the same beliefs about government rules—preferring to be free from them. Her husband Joe, the second youngest of nine children, grew up on a beef farm. After selling the family farm, Joe’s parents moved to the town of Watford with Joe and his younger brother. Joe’s dad drove a bus and his mom had a craft business in town. They held the mortgage for their neighbors who wanted to start a dairy farm. Around that time, milk quotas had just been introduced; they also didn’t want to be controlled by the government. It was what they believed at the time, as they were immigrants looking for freedom in Canada.

Both Silvia and Joe come from farming backgrounds, with European heritage and a strict upbringing. They were in the barn before school and as soon as they got off the bus. Both our families taught us the importance of working hard. Farming is in our blood—we both love it, even though it’s a lot of hard work and long days.

We married in 1990 and lived in Watford, right by the roof truss factory in a small house Joe’s dad owned. We rented to own, and Joe worked eight-hour days and still found the time to work on Silvia’s dad’s farm after work and on weekends, while Silvia worked as a hairdresser. We welcomed our first son, Tyler, in 1991. Silvia’s dad helped us start our very own farm in 1992, and we moved to our farm in February of that year. Our second child, a beautiful baby girl, was born on March 10, 1993.

While 1994 was a year of gratitude as we welcomed our second child, it was also a little sad, as Joe had lost his dad and his mom a few years before we were married. We always had beef cattle, and Joe’s dream of farming came true, though he thought he’d never be able to farm when his dad sold the farm. I guess it was fate.

In 1996, we had our third son, and in 1997, we welcomed our fourth and final son. Our family was complete with one daughter and four sons.

Silvia’s dad and brother died. An accident happened in November that changed our lives forever. Silvia’s dad, brother, and Joe were working in her brother’s barn when methane gas killed her brother and dad. Joe was narrowly spared.

Despite these tragedies, our farm continued, even as we struggled with the loss and the guidance of our mentors. We carried on with our young family, having no choice but to keep the farm going. We are grandparents to five rambunctious little ones. We can’t believe how fast they grow—it didn’t seem like time moved so quickly when we were young.

We love our family, our farm, our animals, and our land. Our family asks all of you to remember where your food comes from and to protect our small family farms by buying local. Farming is the backbone of our great country and for future generations to come.