Lukas Batschelet is also a licensed chef
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
A cattle farmer from Loch Lomond, N.S., helped raised more than $2,000 that will be used to help the Loch Lomond Volunteer Fire Department purchase new equipment.
Lukas Batschelet, who raises about 40 Texas Longhorns on his 300-acre farm, hosted a barbecue on Aug. 5, and all profits were donated to the community.
The money raised will go towards developing local warming centres and purchasing heat pumps.
Aside from raising money for the fire department, the barbecue acted as a way to show Nova Scotians the importance of locally produced ingredients.
“As a cook you’ll open a box of beef that says it came from Alberta or somewhere else,” he told Farms.com. “It’s important for me that local food becomes part of the provincial culture. There’s been a shift here and people are looking for quality over quantity.”
Some of the Texas Longhorns on Batschelet's farm.
Photo: Bovem Longhorns/Facebook
He believes he’s the only farmer in the province raising Longhorns.
He’s also a member of the local volunteer fire department and a graduate of the Culinary Arts program from the Nova Scotia Community College.
The 26-year-old chose to raise Longhorns because they can withstand the winter months and because the beef is high quality, he explained.
Batschelet spent most of his childhood in the countryside and around farm animals.
But now that he’s a producer himself, he’s gaining an understanding of some challenges cattle farmers can face, especially where he’s located.
“Cape Breton isn’t really set up for farming,” he said. “There’s almost no farms here anymore and everything you need can be very complicated to get. Buying hay and other materials is harder but I’m finding the resources for that.
“Selling the beef hasn’t been too hard and that’s been a blessing.”
Batschelet sells his beef to four local restaurants and plans to hold another barbecue next year.
Top photo: Lukas Batschelet/Facebook