A commercial Saskatoon berry farm in the Wessex area near Carstairs, Alberta, has received approval from the Mountain View County Municipal Planning Commission to set up a bunkhouse for four farm workers. The decision supports the local farming operation by giving it dedicated on-site housing for year-round help.
The bunkhouse is an 860-square foot mobile home built in 1994 and valued at $100,000. It will go on a 40.23-acre parcel in the Agricultural District, southwest of Township Road 304 and west of Range Road 20. The workers it houses will tend to about 18,000 Saskatoon berry bushes, doing everything from pruning and weed control to irrigation, cutting the harvest, and keeping equipment in shape through snowy months.
Farm operators put in the permit application after their first full season running the berry farm showed them they needed more hands to stay on top of the workload. With planting, summer harvest, and winter upkeep all demanding steady labour, having workers live right on the farm was seen as a must.
Commission approval included conditions. The mobile home needs a structural engineer’s certification that it is safe to live in, and it can only be used to house people working the farm operations on that property. The permit was handled by the county’s Municipal Planning Commission, the body that makes calls on development applications in the rural parts of Mountain View County.
Carstairs has long roots in farming, and the area continues to see operators invest in specialized crops like Saskatoon berries. The timing of the approval lines up with the berry farm scaling up after its first season, with the new bunkhouse set to help the farm keep going strong through the busy year ahead.
