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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2017


Working multiple jobs to pay the mortgage Times have changed from the days when a decent farm cost about a year’s salary


by SUSAN MCIVER CAWSTON – Cawston resident Tree


Wills is using his skills as a salesman, manager and mechanic to make his dream of owning farmland come true. “It’s tough to pay for a piece of land these days working only one job,” says Wills, the fourth generation of his family to call the Similkameen Valley home. The current high cost of land has made it difficult, if not impossible, for young people to purchase agricultural land. Wills has seen first-hand how the


differential between annual income and the price of land has multiplied. “When my father originally bought


land, he was making around $35,000 a year, about the same as the cost of the farm,” he says Today, a similar plot would cost in the neighbourhood of $1 million. “There is no way I could earn that amount in a year,” Wills says. In 2015, Wills started in sales for


Direct Organics Plus, a marketing company for a wide range of locally produced tree fruits.


Soon his duties expanded to being manager. “Our biggest customers are wholesale distributors, but we also sell directly to customers at our warehouse and to buyers’ groups,” Wills says. Direct Organics carries fruit both


on his parents’ organic orchard. A natural mechanic who can fix


anything from tractors to computers, Willis has worked as a full-time auto mechanic in Vancouver and Penticton.


He continues to earn money by doing the occasional job. “Sales is the best job for me and


my family situation now,” Wills says. “There is a real lack of young people willing to do sales. Even if you’re farming full time, you still have to sell your product,” he says. Wills started acquiring skills in sales as a small child helping his father, who owns Elam’s Organics, a marketing company for organic produce. “I can remember taking phone messages from customers when I was six,” he says. He has worked closely with his


Tree Wills with wife Katja and sons Owen, 6 months, and Patrick, 3, is working several jobs in order to purchase farmland in Cawston. SUSAN MCIVER PHOTO


for the fresh market and the processing market. Cideries from Salt Spring Island to Summerland and the Similkameen buy juice from Wills. “It’s cheaper for them to have us


press the apples – cider and sweet varieties – and send them the juice rather than pay for the transportation of whole apples,” he explains. When not at Direct Organics, Wills


helps David O’Reilly, owner of O’Reilly Organic Farm Bed and Breakfast in Oliver, manage his orchard. He advises on horticultural techniques, what to do about pests such as Spotted Wing Drosophila and arranges for workers when needed. “We’re currently planting Ambrosia


on two acres of empty land,” he says. Wills acquired his in-depth


knowledge of tree fruits growing up


father over the years. Elam’s is currently expanding into the US market, an area Wills will eventually take over. “I’d like to see my wife, Katja, become involved,” he says. At present, Katja is a full time mother caring for Patrick, 3, and Owen, six months. “In five years, I hope to be able to spend more time with my family and to be doing more farming, most likely on leased land,” Wills says. In the meantime, he is busy paying


the mortgage on his half of a 12-acre orchard he purchased with his father.


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