Kejay Farms is
located in the
heart of the
Chatham-Kent
farming
community. Kejay
is owned and
operated by
Jason & Kevin
Stallaert who
have been
farming in the
area since 1994.
For the 2008
growing season
Kejay will plant
1,795 irrigated
acres of table
vegetables. An
additional 350
acres will be
planted in
partnership with
other growers.
Carrot Varieties
We plant
different
varieties to go
to different
markets. Our
main variety for
retail is Envy
and cellobunch.
Envy has been
one of our
favourites for
all trades,
smooth, uniform,
long, and
tolerant to
cracking and
breakage.
Southwest
Ontario
grows an
early
crop. We
generally
start
packing
new crop
Carrots
and
Onions
by July
10-15
and will
continue
on local
crop
till
April on
carrots
and May
on
onions.
All
surplus
supply
is then
shipped
to
Bradford
where a
large
percentage
of the
pack-houses
often
sell as
product
of USA.
I could
guarantee
you a
savings
of $2-$3
a bag
for both
carrots
and
onions
for the
months
of July
and
August
by
buying
direct
and
because
the size
of our
operations
are on a
much
larger
scale,
our
costs of
production
are much
less
thus
being
able to
sell to
you more
competitively
for the
rest of
the
year.
Growing Partnerships
Sunbelt is a growing partnership
formed by Kejay and Tahagoning,
a native farming operation
located on Whalpole Island in
Southwest Ontario. The
partnership has opened up 250
acres of virgin land in 2007 to
grow carrots and onions. For
future growing seasons,
additional land will be
available as partnership
operations expand. Tahagoning
grows 8,000 acres of cash crop
in total.
Special Projects
For
the 2007 growing season Kejay
planted 23 acres of organic
onions for market trial.
Although the crop was light on
yield, the quality was
excellent! At this time,
we are unsure of the direction
to take on the organics without
a retail outlet to market it
thru.
Investments
Kejay invests capital each
season in order to expand and
maintain equipment that will
meet the demand of farming
operations. The 2007 equipment
list includes tractors,
harvesters, irrigation systems,
GPS equipment, AutoSteervehicle
modules and much more. The total
equipment value invested to date
is $5 million.
