Growing Up on the Farm, a look into local agriculture, sponsored by Protyre Sales and Service, also fueled by Kubota.
Time has flown fast at Jockbrae Farms, where Mark Foster works together with his parents, Jim and Lynda, and sister Melinda to oversee four unique businesses from their Carleton Place headquarters, including a dairy farm featuring around 120 cows, a sprawling cash crop of grains and grass, a small custom planting and spraying service, and a high-yield seed development and wholesaling business through DeKalb that tends to customers from Highway 43 up into Renfrew County.
Mark went through the succession process with his family just over a decade ago, but he shies away from being considered the head of the business; both parents are still actively participating and Melinda has been a key figure in handling the day-to-day dairy operations. That succession has allowed him to find new ways to grow the farm’s reach within the Ottawa Valley, something he says is important to the continued success at Jockbrae.
Looking ahead, Mark says he’s not sweating the task of planning to pass the farm down to the next generation just yet as his oldest kid has just entered their mid-teens. He says it’s moving target that requires constant adjustments based on which of the kids takes a shining to the farm and who steps into the role as a leader as they get older.
