Bert Dykerman
Bert Dykerman was born in Holland, 1928. He began his Canadian story at 27 years of age, when he and his wife Ann settled in Mt. Stewart, PEI. It was there, in 1955 that his life-long passion for agriculture took root. Bert sought employment on a variety of farms, all the while learning of PEI鈥檚 unique climate and soil conditions. Eventually, Bert, Ann and their seven children would come to live in Cherry Valley, where Bert first farmed his own land. This was a mixed farm, producing vegetables, cattle, and pigs.
After selling the farm years later, Bert began work on the Simpson produce farm, where he assisted with production in the summer months. During the winter months Bert focused on the operation of the Simpson鈥檚 seed business, Veseys Seeds. In 1979, opportunity knocked on Bert鈥檚 door when the Simpsons decided to concentrate solely on their seed business. Bert seized the chance to purchase the land and produce business in Brookfield, where his family now lived. Brookfield Gardens was born.
Bert made Brookfield Gardens a family affair when his sons Gerald and Eddy joined him in the operation. In the years since, Brookfield Gardens has continued to grow, now producing 300 acres of mixed vegetables annually and employing up to 30 people during peak production. While a wide variety of vegetables are grown at the gardens, including turnip, beans, lettuce and corn, the principal crop is carrots. Discerning consumers will find Brookfield Gardens products in supermarkets across Atlantic Canada and overseas.
Bert understands that innovation is a key element to success in the agriculture industry. Bert demonstrated his commitment to innovation soon after purchasing his first farm in Cherry Valley, when he became the first Island farmer to use a precision turnip planter. The efficiency of this innovative piece of equipment was instrumental in production. So efficient in fact, that Bert and his sons were able to finish their planting early and spent weeks each spring custom seeding turnip fields for fellow farmers throughout Eastern PEI.
Bert also believes that co-operation and collaboration between farmers is essential, and nowhere is this more evident than in the founding of the PEI Vegetable Growers鈥� Co-Operative. As a founding member, Bert worked with his fellow producers to establish a central desk selling agency in order to achieve higher turnip prices for all PEI producers. The format of the co-operative has changed over the years, but it continues to provide root crops to markets in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, and Scandinavia.
Bert鈥檚 desire to improve the lives of farmers extends beyond PEI to Kenya, where he has been involved with Farmers Helping Farmers since 1989. Bert and Ann have traveled to Kenya and spent weeks working and living on local farms to evaluate programs administered by the organization. The Dykermans have championed this cause in their own region, encouraging others to become involved and engaged in global issues. In June of 2012, Bert, Ann and the Dykerman family were honoured by Farmers Helping Farmers when they were made honorary life members.
Giving back to the community is a belief strongly held by Bert and his family. One program in which the Dykermans have been heavily involved is Kids in the Country, led by the Charlottetown Christian Reformed Church, which the Dykermans were key in establishing. Kids in the Country provides inner-city youth the opportunity to work and live on farms. The Dykermans opened their own home many times, demonstrating farm life and the values it teaches.
Bert and Ann continue to live in Brookfield and Bert is as passionate as ever about agriculture, actively monitoring his greenhouses and fields.
Nominated by the PEI ADAPT Council in recognition of his valuable contributions to agriculture in PEI and to farm families in PEI and abroad, Bert Dykerman is certainly a worthy inductee into the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame.