OUR FAMILY
We are the Eric and Josie Neilson family that lives and farms north of Fleet in east-central Alberta. We recently celebrated our 34th anniversary and are a family of five, with our youngest still in school, studying electrical engineering at the University of Calgary. Like virtually all farms today in Alberta, we are busy with both on and off farm jobs and appreciate having our kids helping out as they can. In 2012 we exchanged some summer pasture for my older brother’s herd for three heifer calves. Two of these eventually became the matriarchs of our herd of cattle, affectionately known as Chocolate and Blondie. In January of 2024, we made the difficult choice to sell our cows and then wind down our beef delivery business. In the summer of 2024, we began developing our dream, to operate a low density glamping experience business. As of November of 2024, we are just about finished a Mongolian Yurt glampsite and a bunkie (small cabin) glampsite, which will be ready for the 2025 season, starting in May. More sites will be on the way in 2025 and 2026, including a washroom/shower facility, for sites that do not have water for flush toilets and showers. ERIC’S EXPERIENCE
I grew up on a mixed farm (grain and beef cattle) in East-Central Alberta. In Agriculture, animal science major, being especially interested in animal nutrition and physiology. My first ‘real’ job was at Calgary Masterfeeds where I specialized in poultry operations. This was something I had not been exposed to very much growing up on a mixed beef farm but it will come in handy as we are planning on raising grass fed chickens in the future. Starting in 1993, I was an entrepreneur for 13 years but we were forced to sell the business in 2005 due to an accident that resulted in my broken, dislocated hip. At this point, I sold our business and went back to school to get my secondary teaching degree with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. I worked as a classroom teacher for several years but in 2014 I took a break and for three years and worked as the extension and environmental program coordinator at Battle River Research Group . During this time, we decided to go back to our farming roots because of all the innovative and interesting practices that I was learning about at BRRG and I wanted to begin to apply them to our operations. One of the most interesting experiences I had there was being part of the discovery and identification of a new disease in Canola, called pink root rot. I identified and submitted some diseased plants to the Alberta Plant Health Lab in Edmonton and it eventually led to the publication of this paper: First report of pink root rot caused by Setophoma (Pyrenochaeta) terrestris on canola. In 2017, I went back to teaching part time at the Brownfield Community School so that I would have more time for the farm. After completing two years there, I have resigned and am now substitute teaching and concentrating our glamping experience business, because that is really what I am passionate about. OUR CABIN
In 2003 our family built a cabin on the coulee with a spectacular view of the coulees and the surrounding landscape in anticipation of wanting a family meeting and recreation place after the rest of the family had moved away from the original home location. In 2004, plans changed as we decided to build our home on Josie’s parents home quarter, only one mile or so from the cabin. This left the cabin on the coulee mostly unused near the middle of a whole section (one square mile) of land. As we began farming and building up our beef herd, we often thought of the cabin and what we should do with it. In spite of Covid-19, we renovated and then opened the cabin in the summer of 2020. You can currently book the Cabin on airbnb.ca.
