The Honeys

Loval Farms

Scott & Sandra Honey & Family

Scott Honey, along with his wife, Sandra, and their family, are fifth and sixth generation farmers who own and operate Loval Farms, a large cow-calf, crop and custom cropping farm near Warkworth, Ontario.

While there have been beef cattle on the Honey farm since 1993, the farm was mainly a dairy farm until Scott’s father, Don, sold the dairy cows in 1995. The farm land-base and beef cow herd expanded from there, and today Loval Farms is 1,900 acres of land and includes a 90-cow cow-calf farm, crop farm and a custom cropping business that offers planting and harvesting services to other farmers in the area.

Healthy, clean and comfortable cattle are very important to Scott, and all of the farming practices have been put in place with this goal in mind. Interestingly, many of these same practices have also had a positive impact on the environment – something Scott is very proud of. “What’s good for our cows is also good for the environment,” says Scott.

The cattle at Loval Farms are housed outside year-round, utilizing natural windbreaks for protection from the elements, and are rotationally grazed throughout the year. The cows also spend some time grazing on cover crops and crop residues such as cornstalks, which helps extend the grazing season. Rotational grazing produces adequate feed for the cows for a large part of the year, minimizing the amount of stored feed required and allowing the Honeys to fence the cattle out of the wooded areas. Piping water to the pastures means they can keep the cattle out of the waterways as well.

Scott has been working on the farm for over 25 years and is very pleased with the cattle, crop and environmental improvements that have been made over the years. He is proud that his kids are now involved and taking interest in the farm – a good sign that the Honey family farm will continue to be in operation for at least another generation.

The Honeys are passionate farmers and love what they do. Farming is their business and livelihood, and they are always striving to do the best job they can and produce the best quality food possible. As Scott says, “My family eats the same food I am providing to consumers; I would never sell food that I wouldn’t feed my own family.”

Honesty, transparency and trust are incredibly important to Scott, and as a result, Loval Farms plays hosts to many farm tours and meetings, as well as welcoming urban visitors who want to learn more about the farm.

What is Rotational Grazing?

Rotational grazing is the practice of moving the herd regularly and systematically to have the animals graze on one portion of pasture at a time. This allows downtime for the other sections of pasture to recover and re-grow before they are grazed again.