Introduction:
North of 65 Farm is a partnership between Roderick Young and Catherine Young, with the vision to bring commercial orchard and berry farming to the north, far beyond where most would consider the idea of commercial field farming. When operational at full production (likely in 2030), the Farm will be the furthest north commercial field farm in Canada! Situated in Norman Wells, NT - about 142 km (88 miles) from the Arctic cicle - the Farm is at 65.28 degrees north, hence the name - North of 65 Farm.
Some may ask how we can possibly grow with such a short growing season! In fact, we have an abundance of light, starting from the end of March until the end of September, with a particular peak of light in excess of what southern farms can expect happening in April and May. The trick is finding a way to grow when the ground is generally still covered in snow and frozen! We will be using techniques learned from studying Siberian orchards, with large row covers established in late March until late May, and using so-called "step-over" training of orchard trees.
Check out our YouTube chanel for videos of our development, and our experiments on our test site!
Who We Are:
Roderick Young grew up on a vineyard in BC, and has always wanted to farm. He has Bachelor's degrees in forest ecology, and in secondary education, and also Master's degree in plant pathology. Currently working as a teacher for the local school division, Roderick is working on the Farm during the growing season on evenings, weekend, and during the school vacation in the summer.
Catherine Young grew up in Winnipeg MB, and lived there until 6 years ago, working for various companies as an administrator. Currently working as an administrator for the local school division, Catherine is also working on the Farm with the plants, but also from a logistical and social media perspective.
Farm Development:
Development of the Farm started in 2024, when we bought 26 Rig Road, and leased 18, 20, 22, 24 and 28 Rig Road (we bought 28 Rig Road in 2025). In total the Farm is 3.25 acres, with 1.5 acres owned and 1.75 acres leased. We specifically chose the land because the land is slightly sloped towards the river (about 3 degrees) and the slope has a south-southwest aspect. Our trees will be planted in east-west rows, creating a strategic 40-degree angle against the south-southwest slope. By breaking the direct 'fall line' of the land, these rows will act as living dams. This orientation will slow spring snowmelt and heavy rains, allowing water to soak deep into the roots rather than washing away. This process not only will hydrate our trees but also prevent erosion, building rich, stable soil year after year.
Clearing of the land started in March of 2025 with cutting down of the trees. We specifically did not clear the land with a bulldozer because of the fragility of the soil and the discontinuous permafrost in the area.
The soil is called cryosol. a light organic soil with a fair bit of frost churning. However, the land had some large well-established white spruce trees (up to 16 inches in diameter), which indicated that the soil in the eastern end of the farm was less disturbed and richer. The western end had smaller trees and more tamarack and black spruce, indicating more soil cryoturbation and potentially less rich soil. Therefore, we plan on growing the tree crops (apples, pears, and plums) in the western section, and the shallowly-planted more native berries (haskap and saskatoon) in the eastern section.
After the trees were cut down, the usable wood was stacked into piles, and the branches and trees smaller than 3 inches in diameter were stacked to be chipped. Half of the trees were collected for either firewood, or if the logs were large enough (6 inches in diameter and up), they were piled to be milled into lumber for farm construction. That was pretty much it for the first year of development! The autumn was spent milling the larger logs, and then the winter was spent collecting materials for development in 2026.