Summer is a relaxing time of year for a lot of people here in the Eastern Townships. All around us, tourists and locals alike are enjoying the beautiful weather, an abundance of lakes, outdoor sports, spas, and fun activities. For the Wilson family, however, summer is absolutely nuts - and that’s the way we like it! Every summer we are super busy with the pigs, chickens, our two  family dairy cows and our latest addition to the family - 4 Shropshire sheep and their lambs! This summer we apparently couldn’t get enough action and we decided to bring pigs and our Kerry cattle to the Brome Fair.

For those that don’t know, Brome Fair is an institution here in Lac-Brome and in the Eastern Townships in general. It is one of the largest rural agricultural fairs in Quebec and it is over 160 years old! It’s been around longer than Montreal Smoked Meat (which is said to have been invented sometime around 1884) and it’s even older than the official country of Canada itself! Brome Fair happens every Labour Day weekend and the kids and I are always looking forward to it all summer long. For those who live in nearby towns like Sutton, Lac Brome, Cowansville, Knowlton, and Dunham, it is a local family tradition. People even come all the way from Montreal just to get a taste of the country.

Brome Fair has always been a place to “show” animals and today in addition to the cattle, horses, goats, sheep and poultry competitions, there are also traditional handicraft and horticulture exhibits. We love the tractor and horse pulls and there’s even a demolition derby. There are fair rides, carnival food stalls, and country music shows all weekend long.

Since we breed heritage animals, we were invited to bring our pigs and cattle to help educate fair-goers about the genetic diversity of Canadian farm animals. We chose to bring a small litter of piglets who were about 2 months old, plus we brought Felicity and her calf Clover. It was so fun to watch people interact with our pigs and answer questions about the breed and our farm. For those who missed it, here are some of the most common questions we got asked and our answers:

Q: Why are they called Berkshire?

A: They originated in Berkshire, England over 300 years ago. They were favored for their high concentration of fat and their medium size.

Q: Why did you choose Berkshire over other breeds?

A: There are a few reasons. We love to be helping to keep a rare heritage breed from disappearing. They are also known for their high quality meat with great marbling and they are well suited for being raised in pasture and forest because they love to forage.

Q: How many piglets do they usually have?

A: Our amazing sows usually have between 8-12 piglets with every litter, and there is nothing cuter than a litter of piglets!

Q: What are your farming practices like?

A: We put animal welfare first and so we allow our animals to live out as much of their natural instincts as possible by moving them regularly through pasture and forest so they can forage for all the tasty snacks they can get while also being fed GMO-free grain. As they forage, they fertilize the soil and leave the ecosystem rejuvenated behind them.

Hopefully we’ll see you at the next Brome Fair!