Farms likes Jameshill Farms Inc. have been the backbone of the Quinte economy for decades. Brothers Ben and Charlie Sandercock (7th generation farmers) bought the farm in 2020 and share ownership with their father, James.
Jameshill Farms Inc. grows mainly 3 types of crops: corn, soybean and wheat. In the past few years they have expanded into the straw sales market, where they buy wheat straw from other farmers, bale, pick-up and store it to sell to farmers across North America. Other services offered by this family farm are custom farming operations such as: ground tillage, rock picking, planting, harvesting and hauling of product from field to storage facility.
Farming is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is often a balancing act, requiring dedication, knowledge, passion, and a whole lot of time. Markets too can often be unpredictable: marks will climb and climb and then dive without notice. Knowing when to sell to get the best out of your product is the never-ending gamble.
“Our biggest challenge in our business has been trying to keep on top of the administration side of owning a business. With Ben and myself working full time jobs in a hands-on position since we have been out of high school, the balance of farm and family is sometimes hard” Charlie explains. “The accounting and administration side of things has also been difficult.”
Despite these challenges, the Sandercocks have put their best foot forward to become innovative leaders in the farming community. They are always looking into what’s new and how they can grow Jameshill Farms by growing their own knowledge and implementing new technology.
Speaking on the changes the family is looking to implement, Charlie shares, “We have purchased some automatic guidance systems for our equipment. The GPS systems we use helps us determine which areas of land have what type of yield potential and we can use the correct amount of crop input to maximize our year end profit. We are always willing to try new things to see how well it profits for us at the end of the year. We focus on doing what we know works but trying some new things to see if that specific way will work better if we do more.”
Charlie, Ben, and James approached Trenval after being referred by their accountant following a conversation about building a new storage facility for straw. It quickly became apparent that the farm fit the criteria to have the chance to work with Trenval, whose support allowed for the build of this new and much needed indoor storage facility. Being able to store their straw in an indoor facility allows them to be able to sell it in a peak market at a more profitable price.
Jameshill Farms Inc. has had a significant impact, not just within the community, but worldwide. They have widened their customer base to more Western and Eastern locations as well as some products getting shipped out to the US.
“With the growth of our business, we are currently in the process of hiring our first non-family full time employee. With making this step we know that we need to keep growing to keep employees busy and employed. We are and will continue to drive onward and upward to make the next step. Our next step in this entrepreneurship is to hopefully make this our full time jobs that our families can all grow up on and enjoy together.”
