Wagon Wheel Farm, Churchbridge SK
Wagon Wheel Farm was established in 1917 by Ewald and Alvina Kaeding, who came to the Churchbridge area from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Their son Roger and his wife Phyllis took over the farm in 1961, and in 1986 the third generation, Warren and Carla Kaeding joined the farm.
The operation moved from a mixed farm to a purebred polled Hereford farm in 1944. The herd was dispersed in 1985 and Warren and Carla transitioned to a pedigreed seed farm which it remained until the entire farm was sold in 2011.
Today the farm is over 35,000 acres, primarily commercial grain and pedigreed alfalfa seed. It is owned by Graham and Emily Sorgard and his parents from southern Alberta, all unrelated to the Kaeding family.
A comprehensive history of Wagon Wheel Farm (in PDF format, 2025) >>
Harris Family / Maple Grove Farm
The Harris farm was established by James Henry (Harry) Harris in 1888, after he came from Ontario drawn by the offer of free land in the Last Best West. He went back to Ontario to marry Elizabeth Bass in the spring of 1889, after which they immediately returned to build a log cabin. By August of that year they were permanent residents, and the farm has been in the Harris family ever since. They had 11 children, and Jim, the sixth-born, took over the farm in 1926. He built the first barns and in the 1940 renamed it Maple Grove Farm, a name prominently displayed on the roof of the barn.
From 1930 to 1970 the farm was used for crop testing and experiments by the federal agriculture department. In late 1956 the new owners of the farm were Jim's son Gordon and his wife Sheila (Linfoot). They operated it until 1990, when their oldest son Garry and his wife Lee (Kozachenko) and their four children moved into the house, which at that time was just over 100 years old.
History of the Harris / Maple Grove Farm (in PDF format, 2013) >>
Wind-driven charger erected to provide electricity to the house, 1940s.