Wouter VanLeeuwen Sr. is always trying to find a better, more economical way to farm.
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That unrelenting drive has led to the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce naming him agriculture鈥檚 鈥業nnovator of the Year鈥� for 2020.
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It鈥檚 all about scientific analysis, VanLeeuwen explains, and then taking the data and improving the your systems.
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A native of the Netherlands, VanLeeuwen was born and raised in Holland. He attended agricultural school there and then began farming with his family raising potatoes, onions and sugar beets.
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He and his wife and children decided to move to Canada after visiting his sister who had relocated to Lambton County.
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He began searching for properties and liked what he saw in the rolling landscape of East Kent.
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Now a large-scale player in the hog business, VanLeeuwen had never even seen a pig barn, when he purchased his first hog operation in Chatham-Kent.
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In the past two decades, he and his son Wouter Jr., have grown the enterprise to include 13 sites with 11 barns.听
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Always keen to improve, VanLeeuwen began to delve into ways to create energy for his operation. He hired solar engineer Michael Kozdros and the two came up with a unique electrical system into a new barn in 2018.听
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The south portion of the barn鈥檚 roof is made of panels, and there are two large banks of solar panels located in the farmyard.
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Because it鈥檚 illegal to send power back into what he calls Ontario鈥檚 鈥渁ntiquated grid,鈥� VanLeeuwen and his engineer had to think outside of the box.
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They devised a new unique system, that听 when electricity production from the panels approaches an export position, the computer gives a signal to the systems invertors and throttles the electricity back.
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鈥淚鈥檓 prepaying my hydro for the next 25 years,鈥� he jokes.
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He doesn't know of any others like it in Canada, he adds..
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The VanLeeuwens incorporate other environmentally friendly measures on their farm, which prove to be economical as well, as they attempt to create a self-sufficient closed loop system as much possible.
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Part of the Conestoga Meats Packers co-operative, pork from VanLeeuwen Farms makes its way to Mexico, Japan and China.
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While VanLeeuwen respects the earth, he鈥檚 no tree hugger.
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鈥淚鈥檓 interested in this, but I鈥檓 not a hippy,鈥� he says.听
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鈥淚t has to make economic sense.鈥�
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The Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce will hold it鈥檚 74th Rural Urban Awards event Nov. 25.
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