Canadian dairy farmer Ben Loewith on living next door to dairy

Being a farmer on the edge of suburbia involves some work, dairy farmer Ben Loewith says. But he has a few helpful hints for agricultural neighbourliness.

Canadian dairy farmer Ben Loewith leading a farm tour.

Barry Crocker famously sang about good neighbours becoming good friends.

But if you’re a farmer next to suburbia like Ben Loewith, it takes more than Crocker co-operation — you need to put it the work to avoid a potential soap opera.

The Canadian dairy farmer was a keynote speaker at this year’s Australian Dairy Conference and has spoken to primary producers worldwide about the importance of outreach in an industrialised world increasingly unfamiliar with agriculture.

“Our farm is located less than an hour’s drive out of Toronto — that’s one of the largest cities in Canada with a population of nearly 3 million. So we have a lot of neighbours!” Mr Loewith said.

“We are located within the city of Hamilton’s boundaries, which has a population of 600,000 and we worked out that within a half-hour drive of our farm, there’s probably about 750,000 people. The story of our farm has been influenced by that population density, how we interact with the city and a little education about what we do goes a long way.”

Working alongside his father Carl and uncle Dave, Mr Loewith said their Copetown farm has more than 450 cattle in a barn-style operation, commonplace in wintry Canada.

“We’re about 44 kilograms of milk per cow per day at 4.6 per cent butterfat. Our focus on farm is always kilograms of fat per cow per day. Like any farmer, we work to a financial bottom line but we also want to be positive contributors to our community.”

While there are often agri-phobic residents in suburbia, the Loewith family have developed a popular way to engage rather than alienate nearby dwellers.

Just after Christmas each year, Mr Loewith and his wife Jennifer Howe host an open farm day, with the 2023 event attracting more than 1400 attendees.

As part of the fun, Mr Loewith leads a farm tour and offers free poutine — Canada’s snack of choice involving hot chips with cheese curds and gravy liberally poured on top.

“It’s about breaking down barriers and having fun at the same time,” he said.

“When people who haven’t had connection to farming come along to the open house day and see how we work, they get to understand the work that goes on and there’s more understanding in the community.

“Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a free hot chocolate or free poutine?”