FEBRUARY 2026
Rosy Farms Leads the Way in Regenerative Agriculture
It’s easy to see why Andrew Rosychuk is bursting with berry pride as he guides visitors around his organic haskap farm in Sturgeon County. This summer, more than 4,000 people travelled from across the province to pick more than 11,500 pounds of the juicy haskap berries on his U-pick farm, Rosy Farms. Haskaps are an oblong-shaped berry originating in Japan and Russia that blend the taste of raspberries and blueberries into a tart, intense flavour.
Rosychuk, who was recently awarded Sturgeon County’s Excellence in Agriculture Award, didn’t achieve this impressive berry yield overnight. Years of patience, trial, and gradual progress shaped the abundant harvest his haskap berry fields produce today.
Eleven years ago, Rosychuk purchased 76-acres of farmland just northeast of Alcomdale. The soil there, which Rosychuk calls Alcomdale Gumbo, has high salt and compaction levels, which can be a challenge for farmers. “It’s what I could afford at the time,” he recalls, saying he was looking to pursue the haskap berry as it had been intriguing him for some time due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. “I thought I was smarter than Mother Nature,” he jokes. Rosychuk holds a Production Horticulture Diploma from Olds College of Agriculture and Technology.
This Sturgeon County producer poured his heart and soul into improving his farm, along with savings from his work as a Red Seal welder and boilermaker in Alberta’s oil patch. He was determined to enrich and restore the health of the soil on his property. In between contracts, Rosychuk made improvements to the land by planting a cover crop of alfalfa, daikon radish, fescues, and clover— this thoughtful mix helped restore vital carbon, laying the groundwork for nutrient-rich soil that supports healthy, productive crops.
“I’m working with the biology to put more back into the system instead of taking out,” he explains as several Canada geese gather nearby in a wetlands area he created just south of his orchard. These wetlands, in addition to the soil improvements, have helped the berry crop thrive. “You let the mice come in and they can dig holes for the bumblebees. The bumblebees pollinate, and then you get more seeds of what you want.” He gradually added about 37,000 haskap bushes of different varieties, expanding his orchard each year with support from his tradesman wages.
His grit and determination have paid off. Sturgeon County awarded Rosychuk the Excellence Award in recognition of his efforts in agricultural production, community support, and innovation. A founding member of the Haskap Alberta Association, he collaborates with other growers and is helping to organize Alberta’s first-ever haskap field research with the University of Saskatchewan. The three-year ‘Results Driven Agriculture Research’ backed project will test 20 producers to create baseline soil requirements.
Rosychuk loves sharing his hard-earned knowledge and is excited about Alberta’s growing horticulture opportunities. “I’m glad that I’m in Sturgeon County because it is really supportive of new enterprises.”
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