-by John Gillis
Open Farm Day was a province wide event on Sunday, September 21st that created the opportunity for participating Nova Scotia farmers to open their doors to members of their community.
In Mabou Harbour, the Cox family of Lake Mabou Farms opened the doors of their dairy farm operation to the public for guided tours.
“We felt no trip to our farm would be complete without a wagon ride to the top of our hill,” said William Cox as visitors prepared for the journey which gave everyone a scenic view of the village of Mabou and surrounding areas.
It was a beautiful sunny day and many people enjoyed the opportunity to tour the farm, play with the kittens and the rabbit, check out the cows and some likely even stayed for the 5:00 p.m. milking.
Leo Cox, father of William, plays an important role on the farm and he shared the history of the Lake Mabou Farm with visitors.
The farm house was built by a Beaton gentleman in 1938 who hoped to marry but never did and never ended up living in the house.
In 1958, the Brothers of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, a religious order, purchased the farm and many young men boarded there while attending school in nearby Mabou. The order also ran the Mary’s Hill Home with some 48 residents in Mabou at that time.
The brothers soon had a greenhouse, chickens, hogs and dairy animals.
In 1976, Brother Richard had a massive heart attack and the farm closed its greenhouse.
Brother Camillus (Teddy Van De Putte) continued to run the dairy farm.
Mary’s Hill was turned over for a brief time to the County of Inverness for $1 before closing a few years later with many of the residents moving to the small options homes.
Some of the brothers returned to Holland and few were joining the order. Brother Camillus left the order and purchased the farm.
The turn of the century saw new developments when William Cox purchased the beef farm on Mabou Ridge from Leo Cox and then the Lake Mabou Farm from Van De Putte.
There are about 80 head of beef cattle on Mabou Ridge and William milks about 35-40 dairy cows at any one time at Mabou Harbour.
For the past couple of years the Cox family has also grown corn.
Milk, which is sold to Scotsburn, is picked up every two days and as has always been the case with the Lake Mabou Farm, quality is always a priority.
Across Nova Scotia, 51 farms participated in the Open Farm Day event.
The event, supported by the federal and provincial governments, the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, and affiliated commodity groups, aims to raise awareness about local agriculture and the benefits of buying local food.
"This is a great opportunity for Nova Scotians to meet with farmers face-to-face," said Agriculture Minister Keith Colwell. "I can't think of a better way to learn about our agricultural industry than by visiting an operation first-hand."
In Nova Scotia, there are more than 3,900 farms employing about 4,700 people. In 2013, the industry generated $595.4 million in farm cash receipts. Dairy is the top revenue generator, followed by fur and chicken. Eggs, cattle, blueberries, vegetables, floriculture and nursery, Christmas trees and apples each generated more than $10 million in farm-gate revenues in 2013 according to statistics provided by the Nova Scotia government.
