The Balakshin family is being recognized for more than 100 years of family farming south of the Fraser River and their contributions to B.C.’s agriculture community.
New Siberia Farms, named after the Balakshin family’s roots east of the Ural Mountains, is receiving the Century Farm Award, honouring four generations of the family that have worked hard to provide food for people in British Columbia while also supporting the Russian migrant community.
“The story of the Balakshins highlights how a family came to B.C. and built a business through hard work, adaptation and perseverance that farmers need to succeed,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “The determination and efforts of four generations of Balakshins have resulted in British Columbians enjoying high-quality and great-tasting B.C. dairy and poultry, and symbolizes the farmers behind the products that feed our families, employ our neighbours and support our province’s food security.”
The family’s journey began when Andrew Alexander Balakshin and his wife Maria Vassilievna Balakshin (née Kharlamoff) relocated as refugees to China in 1920 in the fallout from the Russian revolution and sent one of their daughters, Natalie, to Seattle, where she attended university in 1922. That experience led the Balakshins to apply for immigration to Canada, which was granted on the condition they work as farmers.
Andrew and Maria purchased 10.12 hectares of land in Chilliwack for $772, a considerable sum at the time that left the family with a huge debt. This plot of land became New Siberia Farms in 1925, where the family began raising chickens and cows.
Their expertise in the poultry industry was invaluable, with Andrew and Maria’s third daughter, Ann, becoming Canada’s first licensed baby chick sexer in 1937. Irene, the couple’s second daughter, followed her into the same profession. The outbreak of the Second World War spurred demand for domestic agricultural products and the family debt was fully paid off by 1943.
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