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About Us

Over a Century of Family Farming

Since 1905

Our farm was purchased in December 1905 by James Williamson. He farmed a mixed operation with dairy cows and a fruit orchard. The farm was passed to George Williamson and his wife Lavinia, and again to James and his wife Vera. The current generation started taking over the farm in 1977, when Ron purchased the farm from Vera, and Allan purchased the farm directly behind the home farm. Williamson Farms began in 1985 with a partnership between Allan, Ron, and Vera. The farm store retailing beef and maple syrup opened in 1994.

Since then, the farm has expanded and the farm operation is owned and operated by Allan, and his wife, Chris, and Ron’s wife, Phyllis. You will find Phyllis at the farm store, and Chris at our second location: Williamson Farms Country Store, and at the local farmers’ market. Allan might be anywhere on the farm. He is responsible for the farm crops and livestock. We grow in rotation, food grade soybeans, wheat and corn. We raise beef cattle, cash crops, and make our own maple syrup.

Williamson Farms Country Store opened in 2010 in Forest. We purchased the storefront on King St. on December 31 2009 and opened our doors in April 2010. It is currently owned and operated by Chris, Allan, and their daughter, Gwen. We started by selling our own beef, and maple syrup along with Vandenboer’s pork. We also have picked up some other Canadian Food lines including: the Wicked Gourmet, Crazy Mooskies, Hot Mama’s, Summer Kitchen, Orange Crate, the Garlic Box, Greaves Jams and Jellies, Great Lakes Goat Dairy, Bright Cheese and Butter Manufacturing, the Cider Keg, Delicious and Nutritious Meat Pies, Robinson’s Maple Products, Metropolitan Tea Company, North Hatley Maple Products, Kerr’s Candy, and Barrie’s Asparagus. We also added an extensive gift shop. The store is stacked the ceiling with garden products, kitchen gadgets, home décor, children’s toys, children’s books, puzzles, games, and more! If you are in the mood to browse, we have lots to see!

All our beef is corn finished, with no added hormones or chemicals, and has great flavour! Our beef is fed by our own crops. They always have hay available to them and are fed corn silage and/or grain once a day. We are a small operation and never have more than 120 cattle in our barns. Our pork is grown locally by another small family farm, the Vandenboers. The smoked pork chops and sausages get rave reviews! All our meat processing is done by local abattoirs. We work primarily with Zehrs Country Meats, a family business based out of Bayfield and Dashwood. But the meat we sell is our own local product.

Our maple syrup season runs sometime between February and April. We have over 2500 taps and over 6 miles of pipeline strung through our Maple Bush. We produce on average 1400 or more litres of Maple Syrup annually and sell it directly to the customer at the Farm Store, at Williamson Farm Country Store in Forest, or at selected local Farmer’s Markets.

Maple Syrup season begins in February when we start checking our sap lines, repairing and replacing sap lines and spiles. When the weather forecast is right, we begin to tap the trees. Our teams spend 2-4 days drilling and tapping in the spiles.

We look forward to warm, sunny days and cold nights to produce the sap to make Maple Syrup. Our product is controlled by climate and all our production is dependent upon the weather. When it is ready, it is a fast day by day operation that is co-ordinated by Mother Nature.

Give us a call to see the Maple Syrup being made or to pick up the first taste of spring!

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