Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Seaforth farm operation enhances grains and seeds with omega 3s

Thursday, October 3, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

A Seaforth-area farm is using federal government funding to help it produce grains and seeds fortified with essential fatty acids DHA and EPA.

The farm, Everspring Farms Ltd., received a repayable, interest-free loan of more than $155,000 earlier this week. The money is going to pay for new equipment to produce DHA/EPA omega 3 enhanced flour and sprouted seed products that have been ingrained with the essential fatty acids. The farm worked with Sharp Ingrained Functional Foods to develop the technology to fortify grains and seeds under the brand name, Smartgrain, the federal government’s Oct. 2 press release says.

“The technology is the first process to commercialize ingrained omega 3 DHA/EPA grain products in North America,” the release says. Dale Donaldson, president of Everspring Farms, says their process takes the omega 3 DHA/EPA oil and “actually has it taken into the seed through the process of germination.”

Donaldson says they integrate the nutrient into the seed after harvest “much like a plant would be absorbing it if it was growing, only we do it in a controlled environment.”

Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb announced the funding at the farm Oct. 2 on behalf of federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Everspring has already installed the new equipment it needs for making its products and is in production now, Donaldson says. The equipment improvements are helping the company increase production capacity and sales support, create new jobs and meet growing market demands.

“It’s a new product introduced to the marketplace so there’s a lot of scientific information and knowledge that needs to be marketed and communicated,” he notes. Currently, Everspring is producing DHA/EPA enhanced flax and chia seeds.

“We found both those seeds were really good candidates for the process compared to some other seeds, such as wheat and barley where we are not there yet,” he explains. Fortifying wheat and barley seeds isn’t quite as easily done as flax and chia seeds because they react differently to the process.

The enhanced seed products Everspring manufactures are drawing a lot of interest as an “industrial ingredient ” for the bakery industry and it’s being used in some private-label products as a smoothie or cereal mixture or a blending mix to be incorporated with other seeds. “It would be used to fortify a baked item,” such as bagels, buns and breads, Donaldson notes.

The government funding comes from the previous Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agricultural Innovation $50 million program, part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. The program ended March 31 and a new innovation-funding program began April 1 under Growing Forward 2, the national agricultural policy framework. It’s called AgriInnovation. BF

Current Issue

June/July 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility

Friday, June 27, 2025

Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online

Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost

Friday, June 27, 2025

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online

Health Canada sets rules for drone spraying

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Health Canada has approved the use of drones, also called Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), for pesticide application under the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA). Drones are considered aircraft by Transport Canada, but Health Canada treats them differently due to their unique... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top