Winnipeg
By Sofia Frolova
Posted August 27, 2026 5:32 pm.
The roof of a building in rural Manitoba has over 500 solar panels, making it the biggest solar project in the province.
De Jong Dairy Farm just outside of Winnipeg is paving the way in sustainable farming, taking another step to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
“To be emission-free. And this is our goal from the dairy farms of Canada in the future. But it has to include all the farms. We are not going to wait for them. We are going to be proactive. We want to be leaders in this,” said Peter De Jong, the owner of De Jong Dairy Farm.
De Jong moved to Canada from the Netherlands at the break of the century, bringing European farming traditions to Manitoba.
The farm just outside of La Broquerie started with 55 cows, but fast forward to 2026 and the farmers are milking over 900 cows.
The farm is paving the way in sustainable farming, now installing over 500 solar panels to power the new calf nursery.
“We visited the family back home, and we saw that over the past 25 years they went from 0 to 90 per cent solar panels on the roofs. And we were wondering why they never do it here in Canada,” said De Jong.
The project was installed by Evolve Energy, and it became fully operational in 18 months. The owners are expecting to see the investment paying back in the next six years, with the system saving $30,000 a year in hydro bills for the farm.
“We are going to be offsetting as much as 24 gas heat homes in the area, which really makes a huge impact. Most energy will be offset here on the farm. And it represents about 14 per cent of their total energy,” said Lorena Mitchell, the lead energy designer for Evolve Energy.
Previously, the farm upgraded lighting and ventilation systems to enhance its energy efficiency, but the owners are looking forward to new projects including the use of electric vehicles.
“We are looking forward to a next solar project as we continue this way as well. But you can never know where technology is going in the future. There are many ways in which you can harness the energy on the farm,” said De Jong.
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