One of Sault Ste. Marie’s largest and perhaps most recognized farms is up for sale.
Thomson Farms Cider & Winery, the Third Line family-run business famous for its strawberry picking and fall-time activities, is currently listed for $1,999,900.
Originally purchased by Wally and Martha Thomson as a potato-growing farm in the early 1970s, Thomson Farms eventually added strawberries and opened the property for customers as a U-pick operation.
Today, the 50-acre farm grows more than 15 acres of strawberries every year, among other berries, vegetables, and crops.
The Thomsons' grandson and current owner Brad Morley grew up on the property where he learned the ins and outs of running a farm operation. He and his family live on the property and run the farm full-time.
Since purchasing the property in 2009, Morley has overseen significant expansion efforts which have included a homemade cider and winery operation, an event venue for private functions, and a jam business that several retail grocers benefit from.
With a young family, he’s finding it challenging to keep up with the growing demands of his business all on his own – particularly in the summer months when he’s working up to 80 hours every week.
For those reasons, Morley felt it was the right decision to put the family business on the market.
“It’s gotten to the point where I can’t manage it all myself,” he told SooToday. “With the growth of the business over the last few years, the workload has increased exponentially. There's so much going on and different aspects to the business, I just can't run it as effectively as needed."
“The farm and winery has so much potential, but it needs more than just myself to keep growing it."
While he does have several hard working employees at the farm throughout the year, Morley admits some jobs he’s responsible for are hard to delegate to others. Hiring someone to help with tasks, like winemaking and growing crops, has been hard to come by.
“In reality, I’m not going to find someone who can be the winemaker,” he said. “We've also had a couple people come in for managing bigger tasks, including the crops. But with today's employment situation, it's really hard to find available people on those specialties."
Whether the farm sells or not, Morley wants the community to know the business isn’t going anywhere.
“It's still business as usual,” he said. “We’re still booking events and planning crops for next year. Whether it’s us or new management, it’s still going to be running next year. There are no plans for it to go anywhere. If anything, it will be better than ever."
“If sold, it will be sold as an ongoing business because I see the potential," he added. "A good team could keep growing this business maybe even more than I could have imagined."
Since the listing went out, Morley noted that there has been expressed interest.
He has also been incredibly appreciative of the community’s support since the listing.
“The decision to put it on the market has weighed a bit more on me because of all the positive comments and feedback,” he said. “You really get a sense of how much the community appreciates it.”