A Sturgeon County dairy farmer has risen from the ashes, one year after a fire almost destroyed his livelihood.
On November 17, 2017 a fire ripped through Jeff Nonay’s main barn that housed his farm’s cows, killing 140 of his cattle and leveling the entire building.
Nonay was away in Red Deer at the time, attending a conference, and came home to find his smouldering farm.
“We were left with the remains of what was an inferno. It was a particularly cold week that week so the barn was probably as full as it ever is,” said Nonay.
The barn was considered the core of the farm, with the loss of it essentially crippling his operations. The third generation dairy farmer was forced to pick up the pieces, and rebuild.
This past October Nonay started up his farm again, bringing in over 100 cows to restart along with brand new equipment.
“I think we accomplished a lot but it's been a crazy long year of staff dealing with raising animals and working in situations where you're a little crowded for space and resources,” said Nonay. “October is a remarkable achievement when you consider what we had to do to get here.”
Nonay plans to host a special dinner this Sunday to thank all those that have supported him over the past year, and to celebrate new beginnings.
“I guess I look at it as what we’ve overcome and where we're going, more than looking back. I think for everybody it will just be very healthy to put that behind us.”
With files from Nahreman Issa
