ZEPHYR — When Steve and Lisa Cooper started farming, they ran on the belief that if they couldn’t make a living farming, just northeast of Toronto with such a large consumer base, they couldn’t make a living farming anywhere. They figured that just the value of their land would be a long term generator of wealth.

Married after graduating from agricultural college they started out with beef cattle. They quickly realized that weather, low commodity prices and a diminishing cattle market were not going to provide them with financial stability.

They fed on ideas and diversified. The Coopers were named Ontario’s 2010 Outstanding Young Farmers of the Year on March 30 in Belleville. They beat out 36 nominations. The top six finalists included Smiths Falls dairy farmers Hugh and Arlene Hunter. Eligible farmers must be between the age of 19 and 39. Last year’s winners were bison farmers Jason and Christina Pyke, of Wolfe Island. (For contest info call Karen Daynard at 519-836-2583.)

"I was completely surprised," Lisa Cooper told Farmers Forum after winning the honour. "This is great recognition for what we do."

In the late 1990s the Coopers opened a market garden and a roadside sweet corn stand. It was not new to Steve. When he was 11 his father pushed him to earn some extra cash. He grew some sweet corn and sold it from a red wagon. That year he earned enough to buy a season’s pass to Canada’s Wonderland. He later earned enough to get through college.

In 2000 the cattle were sold and replaced with meat goats. They now have 250 head and sell almost all their meat to downtown Toronto butchers. They own 100 acres and rent another 150 acres and opened an on-farm store and in 2006 an agri-entertainment area with a corn maze, kid’s play area and fall festival. Last year 4,000 people visited the maze. They then added a pick-your-own section.

In 2007, the Coopers entered into a Community Shared Agriculture program to market their fruits and 40 vegetables. Fifty families signed up for a weekly basket of vegetables over 23 weeks. In 2008, it expanded to 235 families. This year they anticipate 600 families each paying $350 to receive half-a-bushel of picked vegetables each week. Families pay an extra $115 for home delivery.

"We see 20 to 30 per cent expansion each year," she said, adding that the community supported weekly vegetable program is their biggest revenue generator. They continue to expand. They built a small greenhouse and plant late spinach and greens in order to extend the growing season. They also added pasture beef and pasture raised broiler chickens to the product list.

As with many successful young farmers, Steve and Lisa understand that education and networking are critical to their success. They are both graduates of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program and have also completed the George Morris Centre’s C-Team program for farm business managers. They also volunteer time to local farm organizations, and Farmers’ markets, and several minor sports teams.

The fruit and vegetable crops require irrigation and the Coopers manage their water supply carefully. They do so using a biodegradable plastic mulch and drip irrigation. The use of a certified crop scout and an integrated pest management plan has enabled them to reduce their use of pest and disease control products by 75% in the past 10 years.

They feel privileged to be able to work together and with their children Cayla, and Trenton, who are active in the operation.

With direct sales, many farmers don’t realize that most of their energy ends up in marketing and dealing with people, she said. "You have to be prepared for people walking all over your farm all hours of the day. Some farmers think they are a people person and find out later they aren’t."

She said she spends 80 % of her time marketing the business, while her husband spends up to 50 % of his time on marketing.