On the morning of July 1st, Mark Kohan, CFO and General Manager of Vermillion Growers, woke up to calls about flooding at the greenhouse. But he couldn't get off of his own street because of the flooding, and lot of his staff couldn't make it in either for the same reasons.
"Access to the site was pretty restricted in terms of roads washing out and things like that, so we did have a significant amount of water throughout the facility...the balance of the crop ended up being a total loss, we'll get resanitized, recommissioned, and then planted again as quickly as possible," said Kohan.
For Kohan any many other Parkland farmers, that scenario is worse than a nightmare, but it became a scary reality. Despite knowing the crop was a loss, Kohan and his staff have held their heads up and worked through it, getting the greenhouse ready for the next crop.
Kohan said he's very lucky to work with the staff he does. They have been all-in on getting back to normal since the flooding, and have all been positive throughout the process.
"All of the supervisors, but even all of the staff definitely pitched in as soon as it was safe to do so. We've received tremendous support from other local businesses," said Kohan.
Getting back to normal is going to be a tough process, but for Kohan and his staff, it's important to take things one day at a time. Even with the scale of agricultural losses across the Parkland, Kohan said he's happy to see the region supporting each other.
"Every day is a new day, and everybody need to keep moving forward. It's a positive industry, it's very important for us to keep food production local, and working together and getting back to what will be our new norm hopefully as soon as possible," said Kohan.
Though he doesn't yet have a timeline on when he expects Vermillion's next crop to be in the ground, he's been very direct with his staff and stakeholders, and feels the good internal communication has greatly helped.
