Canadian Couple: Sharing Farm Hub Concept to Support Local Farmers
- Dave Price
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
A man in one country and a woman from another country who randomly met at a concert, dated long-distance, and started as farmers largely by persistence and the generosity of an older couple, hope that others can replicate their agricultural pathway to profitability. Although, they don’t expect others to follow their exact steps.
The beginning of their farming career together was difficult.
"We had no money, no land, no connections," Nathan Wild told American Farmland Owner as he sat next to his wife, Emily Woody, at their home in Kootenays in southeastern British Columbia.
Most farmers spend years trying to figure out how to grow more. But this couple wanted to sell local food more effectively.
"We didn't know how we were going to do it,” Wild said, “but we figured we better learn how to grow food."
They experimented with market gardening, livestock, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs, and a long list of value-added products. Despite working tirelessly, the numbers weren't adding up.
"Our first year was a horrible struggle," Nathan said. "We were just so burnt out."
Emily Woody and Nathan Wild bio
Confluence Farms – Co-owners
Small Scale Rebellion – Co-Owners
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Struggles as new farmers
Woody remembers how much time and energy went into producing everything themselves.
"We did a ton of value-added products," she said.
Woody had worked at a bakery, so baked goods were an early part of the couple’s business.
"Over the years, we've gotten rid of almost all of them," Woody acknowledged.
Instead of continuing to chase more production, the couple began studying which parts of the operation were most profitable.
Farm profitability assessment
Their most successful customers weren't buying pre-packed CSA boxes or specialty products. They were using the farm's online store and selecting exactly what they wanted.
That realization eventually evolved into what Wild calls a “farm hub.”
What is a farm hub?
"Farm Hub is like a food hub in that it aggregates local food," he explained. "We grow all of the summer crops for our farm hub, but then we outsource all of our winter crops and offer a full diet of hyper-local food."
Today, customers order online and receive home delivery. Rather than trying to produce every item themselves, the couple partners with neighboring farms to supply vegetables, meat, dairy, and other products throughout the year.
For Woody, the biggest lesson was learning that collaboration creates more opportunity than competition.
"The key is collaboration," she said. "We don't do it all anymore. We have more products than ever in our online farm store, but we don't have to make everything ourselves."
That collaboration now begins months before crops are planted. The couple works directly with producers throughout the region, helping them plan for demand long before harvest arrives.
"In January, I go through our Shopify store from the year before and figure out how much of each item I want to buy," Woody said. "Then I reach out to farmers and ask if they'll grow it for me."
Supporting local farmers
Those relationships have become an important economic engine for the local farming community. Last year alone, the farm hub spent more than $100,000 purchasing products from local vendors.
Of course, the model isn't without challenges. Buying inventory months in advance creates risk, and crop quality can vary from season to season.
"We learned to do quality standards agreements the hard way," Wild said. "It's a really tricky thing to tell farmers that you know and respect that their stuff isn't good enough to sell."
When problems arise, Woody said communication is critical.
"We try to be as honest as we can through our email newsletter," she said. "This is farming. The food is still good, and we try to help farmers out and move it as quickly as we can."
The success of their operation eventually inspired the launch of Small Scale Rebellion, a mentorship program designed to help other farmers build farm hubs in their own communities.
Wild believes the traditional local food movement has struggled because consumers often find it inconvenient.
"We feel like local food needs to be convenient and easy to access," he said. "There needs to be more of a one-stop shopping experience."
Woody sees the mission as bigger than their own farm.
"We want to make eating local mainstream," she said.
Together, they've built a model that supports neighboring farmers, serves customers year-round, and creates a more sustainable business for themselves. The future of local food isn't about every farm doing everything.
It's about helping farms work together and making it easier than ever for consumers to bring local food to their tables.
