Haybury Farms in Ontario: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Haybury Farms Inc. of Jarvis, Ontario, operated by DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman, farms 3,200 acres, and its related organic business, Claybank Organics, farms another 1,000 acres of organic crops. The partners were named Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024 after building the operation from rented land.
| Location | Jarvis, Haldimand County, Ontario; timothy hay land in Algoma District |
|---|---|
| Founded | Partnership grew from rented land farmed in 2018 |
| Sectors | grain and oilseed crops; organic corn and soybeans; timothy hay for export |
| Scale | 3,200 acres (Haybury Farms) and 1,000 acres of organic crops (Claybank Organics), as published |
| Why it is elite | 2024 Ontario Outstanding Young Farmers; large crop operation built in a few years |
| Ownership | Partnership of DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman |
| Official website | Farms.com report on the 2024 Ontario Outstanding Young Farmers |
History of Haybury Farms
Matt Bergman grew up on a dairy farm and began farming on his own at 23 while holding an off-farm job. DJ Wassenaar grew up on a beef farm, started in livestock and then moved into crops. Together they built Haybury Farms.
In 2018 the partners were farming 500 acres of rented land and trialed 25 acres of organic corn. That trial led to Claybank Organics, which by 2019 had 400 acres of organic corn and soybean rotation. In 2021 they bought a farm in Algoma District to grow timothy hay, and they now own and maintain their own equipment fleet.
What Haybury Farms Grows and Raises
Haybury Farms is a large crop operation in Haldimand County, one of Ontario's major corn and soybean areas. Ontario grows 54.4 percent of Canada's soybean acreage and 59.9 percent of its grain corn area, according to Statistics Canada's 2021 census summary.
Claybank Organics grows organic corn and soybeans in rotation. Organic production in Canada requires certification, a transition period and documented management, so the move from a 25-acre trial to hundreds of acres was a deliberate step.
The Algoma property produces timothy hay for overseas buyers, giving the farm an export crop that suits a different climate and land base from southern Ontario cash crops.
How Haybury Farms Makes Money
Conventional grain and oilseeds
The 3,200-acre Haybury Farms base grows commodity crops sold into Ontario grain markets. Specific crops beyond corn and soybeans were not detailed in the sources reviewed.
Organic corn and soybeans
Organic crops are marketed at a premium to conventional grain, which is why the partners expanded the trial into Claybank Organics. Exact prices and revenue are not published or estimated here.
Timothy hay for export
Hay grown in Algoma is sold to overseas buyers, adding a separate market and a second region to the farm's portfolio.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Haybury Farms
The story offers a path for beginning farmers: rent land, test a premium crop on a small block, and scale only after the trial proves out. Second, owning and maintaining an equipment fleet gives control of timing, which matters in both organic weed control and hay harvest.
Third, geographic diversification, with southern Ontario grain and northern hay, spreads weather and market risk. Operators considering organic should budget for the transition period and the added labor, and talk with a certifier early.
Organic corn, conventional soybeans and timothy hay bound for overseas make a surprisingly varied menu, and farm.FM is delighted by it. Our farm satire team likes any story where a 25-acre experiment becomes an empire without losing its sense of humor. Farm humor says the corn is always taller on the other side of the road, and ranch humor, being a livestock matter, only asks who is feeding the hay. The farm jokes stay gentle, because organic transitions are no joke.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
How to Contact Haybury Farms
No official website or direct business contact details were found in the sources used for this page, so the link above is the best verified public page about the operation, checked November 2026. Confirm any visit, purchase or partnership enquiry directly with the operation.
Haybury Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Farms.com: Jarvis farmers named Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers 2024 - Independent report on the farm and its sectors.
- Farms.com: Ontario region names Wassenaar and Bergman - Second news report on the award.
- Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers: Ontario region - Program page for the Ontario region of the national award.
- Statistics Canada: Ontario in the 2021 Census of Agriculture - Official 2021 Census of Agriculture figures for Ontario farms, greenhouse area and sectors.
- Ontario government agriculture census page - Provincial summary of Census of Agriculture data for Ontario.
Haybury Farms FAQ
Where is Haybury Farms?
It is based in Jarvis, Haldimand County, Ontario, with a timothy hay farm in Algoma District.
How big is Haybury Farms?
Published coverage reports 3,200 acres at Haybury Farms and 1,000 acres of organic crops at Claybank Organics.
What is Claybank Organics?
It is the related organic operation, growing organic corn and soybeans in rotation.
What award did the partners win?
DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman were named Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers for 2024.
Haybury Farms shows how fast a well-run crop partnership can grow when it tests carefully and scales with discipline. For soils, programs and credit across the province, use the Ontario farms guide and browse the other operations profiled below.