Nikolai Neun-Hornick
Nikolai Neun-Hornick – 2022 Graduate of the UBC Farm Practicum
Job Title
Farm Manager
What is your occupation?
Mixed vegetable and flower farmer
What path did you take after your practicum to arrive at your current occupation?
After the practicum, I collaborated with four of my fellow practicum students to rent 0.4 acres of land in Burnaby and start a small farm business. Together we ran a thirty-share CSA program and grew a wide variety of vegetables for a year all the while working our other full-time jobs. We turned a weed filled plot into a productive vegetable farm in a year with only the knowledge learned from the UBC Farm Practicum and some help from family and friends. During this time, I also started a job in Richmond where I worked as the Lead Field Assistant at a farm. In this position, I got to work through a full farming season, taking part in all aspects of farm work including seeding, bed prep, planting, crop maintenance, processing and much more. Next, I took on the role of Farm Manager at that same farm and am currently still working in this position.
Are you currently involved in any other food or sustainability-related activities
The farm I work at is involved in numerous programs that address issues created by our current food system. A portion of our land is cultivated to provide for the Richmond Food bank and we donate up to 20,000lbs of produce a year for them. We also run a busy volunteer program increasing community involvement in the farm and run food-adjacent workshops throughout the season. I’m quickly finding that farming doesn’t leave much free time, but I do like to spend time I do have towards addressing the systemic issues that make impactful action on climate change and inequality impossible.
What would you like to tell folks who are considering a career in land and food systems?
Farming so far has been at the same time the most time-consumingly exhausting and rewarding job I’ve ever worked. I think if you are considering a career in farming, a program like the UBC Farm Practicum is vital to figuring out if it’s the career for you. Nothing replaces being able to actually work on a farm and experience all the highs as well as the lows that come along with it.