family background/ Sam is a sixth-generation farmer who is engaged to Lucia Ellis and is the son of Larry and Janice Lutz. Cassian is a first-generation farmer who is married to Emily Lutz and is the son of Jean-Guy Ferlatte and Bernadette Fernandes.
age/ Sam 27, left, Cassian 33
hometown/ Rockland, Nova Scotia
crops/ apples, peaches and pears
role/ Sam is vice president of operations and Cassian is vice president of production
business/ Lutz Family Farm

What were your first experiences on the farm?

Sam
I grew up on a farm. There were a lot of nights watching Dad come home from work and then immediately eat supper, go out and hit the farm. I got roped in at an early age to plow snow and mow orchard blocks — little jobs that he could pawn off to me wherever he could. I did not have the intention to come home on the farm. I thought I’d go and be a biologist or a scientist or a pilot. I had a lot of big ideas and none of them involved the farm. Also, the thought of putting all this work into a really great crop and then having weather come along and dash your work was really scary. However, as soon as Cassian got involved with the farm, I became a lot more comfortable with taking it on. I have since gone away to Dalhousie University to pick up more of the technical and business side of things.

Cassian
I didn’t grow up in a farming background and it was never part of my early plans. I married into it. At the time, I think I wanted to impress my future in-laws and I remember pulling weeds around some young trees when we were visiting for the weekend. That was my first introduction to it. Over time, I became enamored with the idea of farming and thought I’d give it a shot, and I never left. My education has been very hands-on, learning from the people in this industry and my in-laws. I’ve been doing it for more than nine seasons now.

What are you doing now? What are your roles on the farm?

Cassian
I’m responsible for everything production-related. I’m in the orchard a lot and deal with the spray program and food safety program. Basically, growing fruit from start to finish and doing that with our crew. We grow apples and peaches, but we also grow our own nursery trees. We don’t purchase very many trees, and we’ve been planting a lot the past few years. The nursery has been a big part of our operation as well. I’ve learned that growing trees is not the same as growing apples. To do nursery trees, you need to learn different sides of the business. That’s where I spend my time, and I enjoy spending it with the trees, the fruit and the crew.

Sam
I’m learning the big picture of preparation for turning our land into orchards. I’m looking at fertilizer recommendations and what every block that we will plant will need. I’m starting to take on a little bit more of the integrated pest management and surveying insect populations to help Cassian with the spray plans and programs. I have a small accounting background, so I’m starting to look at some of the financial books. My mom is our chief administrative officer and administrates the payroll and much more. I’m starting to take on our grant proposals and some of the financial side of the business.

What has helped you grow the farm?

Cassian
Since I started, our farm has doubled in terms of productive acreage. So that’s been a big challenge to grow exponentially like that. When the farm was about 60 to 70 acres, Sam’s parents were farming in the evenings and weekends, because they both worked full time. Bringing me on full-time, we needed the farm to support more than one family, and the solution was to grow. We also didn’t necessarily want to farm these old blocks that’ve been here for 30 years. Talking to other growers and visiting other orchards and seeing new systems is exciting. One of the great things about growing tree fruit is the minute you think you’ve got it figured out, you go on another tour or visit and there’s a better, more efficient way to grow apples. That’s part of the fun. Just trying to find what you like best and what’s going to work for your operation, increasing your fruit quality and having an orchard that looks like something you’re going to want to work 20 years down the road.

Sam
I think our practices of not hiring out jobs and not buying brand new gear for every job has helped us grow. Dad monitors the auctions, we buy affordable gear that we can put the work into making work, and we’d like to own everything ourselves. We like to do that kind of work. We’re not beholden to anyone else’s schedule, anyone else’s gear, we’re not on the hook for anything. We work at our own pace, and it enables us to save a lot of money. Also, if you’re growing your operation, your labor demands are going to grow as well. And your team’s going to grow. Establishing a strong work culture and a system of leadership that can grow with you is very important. I don’t think we would see anywhere near the growth that we’ve had on our farm if we didn’t have some guys who’ve been with us for more than a decade who have the experience running these kinds of jobs.

What advice do you have for other young growers?

Cassian
It’s a lifestyle, it’s not a job. It’s important to have buy-in from your partner to get into something like this, because it’s not your typical 9-to-5. And your partner, whether they work directly in the business or not, will be a part of it. Maybe that’s actually taking on a little bit extra at home during certain times of the year so that you can be available to do the things that you need to do. It’s a decision that you need to make as a team before getting into farming. It’s not just you going to your job every day. Farming is a team effort.