Honoured at Organic Connections 2016

Cody and Allison own Upland Organics, which is located two miles east of Wood Mountain, Sask. They envisioned and created a family orientated, environmentally and economically sustainable organic farming operation that contributes in a positive and significant way to both the local community and the greater organic agricultural community.

Cody was born and raised in the Wood Mountain area.  He grew up on a farm and completed an engineering degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Agricultural and BioResource Engineering.  After completing this degree he went on to work in the manufacturing sector for several years before returning back to farm in the Wood Mountain area.  One of Cody’s strengths is in machinery design and he enjoys working with and improving the equipment on the farm.   Cody serves as Vice President of SaskOrganics and also sits on the member education committee and is the chair of the research committee.  Cody also sits on two advisory boards for the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative.  Both Cody and Allison also sit on the organic advisory board for the Swift Current Research and Development Centre.

Allison was born in St. John’s, NFLD and grew up primarily in Southern Ontario.  After completing her BSc in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Guelph (Guelph, ON) she moved to Saskatoon, SK to pursue first her MSc and then PhD in Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan.  Like Cody, Allison is very interested in promoting the organic industry; especially through on-farm research.  Allison supports involving organic producers at the individual farm level and believes that it will contribute to the overall applicability of organic research.  As such both her and Cody have implemented several on-farm research projects at Upland Organics.  Allison enjoys managing the research programs for Upland Organics and is always looking for new opportunities to collaborate with research scientists, agriculture industry professionals and other organic producers. 

Allison and Cody met while they were both attending the University of Saskatchewan and got married several years later in 2008.  After working in Saskatoon a few years more they decided to buy their farm in 2010.  Both Cody and Allison believe in being involved in the local community.  Allison serves as secretary on the Wood Mountain Regional Park board and as a member of the Wood Mountain Library board.  She also serves the surrounding region as a board member on the Old Wives Watershed Association. Cody works as a volunteer firefighter in the rural municipality.  They welcomed their first son in 2014 and welcomed another boy in 2015 as the newest addition to their family.