Hi! We're the Warriner's, Lynne, Nick and Paul. Siblings, friends, and business partners here at Hat Trick Farms. As Canadian farm kids, we grew up with a love for farming and hockey, hence the name "Hat Trick" when we started our business together.
Along with grain crops (corn, soybeans, wheat), we grow a few specialty crops on our farm including: winterberries, daffodils, and tulips, along with making a little bit of maple syrup. Follow us on Instagram, @hattrickfarms to see our trials and tribulations growing those specialty crops and all of our family farming adventures.
Our farm is more than land and crops, it is our family's heritage and future. Our Great Grandpa began farming south of Blenheim, in the "heart of the golden acres" in 1929 after coming to Canada from England as a teenager to find work. Over the years the Warriner family has grown many different crops and raised cattle for many years as well.
Growing up the main crop for Mom & Dad's farming operation was dark-fired tobacco, while they also grew corn, soybeans, wheat and a few acres of strawberries and peppers. Tobacco, strawberries and peppers are all very labour intensive crops...we joke that they really wanted to keep us out of mischief! We learned a lot each summer out in the fields, and although it was hard work, we must have loved it because we are all here farming today.
By the time the 3 of us purchased land from Mom & Dad in 2009 our family was out of the tobacco business and our main crops were corn, soybeans, and wheat. One of the first things we did on our farm was take down the tobacco barn, leaving the lean-to shed standing and then build the other half of the shed to have somewhere to store farm equipment.
We also planted the winterberry field that first year, starting our farm down a new path. Our journey continues today as we try new things and continue to evolve the farm for the future focusing on niche market crops.
Working together everyday as siblings seems unique to many but for us it is normal, because that is what we have done our entire lives. Quite often when we are out in the field or working in the office together there is a lot of laughing and joking going on. Don't get us wrong, we don't always see eye to eye and back in our childhood there were some royal rumbles, but in the end we are family and a team, so we always seem to figure out a way when differences arise to work together. Thankfully those kind of days when we disagree are few and far between.
We are a team and we work together to do a lot of things. We have a picture that hangs on the office wall that says: "Family - in the harshest of situations, it's comforting to know there is always someone there for you", and that is exactly what we feel.
Whether the next generation farms or not doesn't matter, all that we hope is that we can pass along a love for nature, a strong work ethic, and business knowledge that we were fortunate to learn growing up on a farm.
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