Tom Manley, the driving force behind Homestead, believes strongly that certified organic should mean local as well. They purchase 2/3 of their grains within a two-hour drive of their farm. 1/3 of their grain comes from Western Canada.

Homestead customizes feed for animals. Different animals have different nutritional needs like humans at different stages in their growth cycle. For example, broiler chicken feed starts at high percentage of protein of 24% which gradually decreases to 18% and then16% as the chicken matures.

 13 years ago when they started, their strategy was to grow big fast in order to maintain viability in a commodity-based business. Homestead wanted a leading market share in order to resist competition

Tom believes that a company can grow too big, too fast and it has to be managed. A major success is that Homestead Organics is still in business and thriving. Tom knew that there was a market for custom-made organic feed because of the work his parents did on the farm. The local bank would not initially support Tom, even though he had a strong business plan. Today Homestead Organics is assisted by the Business Development Corporation

 Homestead works to achieve sustainability in its operation, both environmentally and financially. They buy and sell locally, mostly within a two-hour radius of the farm. Within Canada, the Soya nice milk product has Homestead Organics’ soybeans shipped by rail to Vancouver. On the financial side, they try to achieve sustainability by using appropriate cost control measures, capital planning, margins that give a fair return to lenders and investors, and fair take home pay for their employees.

 Homestead is currently bursting at the seams. Their new project is called “Organic Central.” They are teaming up with other businesses to move into a common facility. Both government (IRAP) and private sector has helped out financially with funding for this project’s development. Other partners that will be operating under this one roof include a flour miller, food distributor, seed processor, and soya bean roaster and extractor. They are recruiting a local organic vegetable processor. Homestead is currently looking for support from private investors

 Tom believes that the organic food industry must improve processing and distribution of locally-grown organic products. Their Organic Central is unique but there are good examples of companies doing it alone, for example, Organic Meadow, Mapleton’s Organic Ice Cream, Pfennings produce.