Thomas Clarke: A sixth generation farmer steps forward

This is part of a series of profiles of young egg farmers. They are all young leaders taking part in Egg Farmers of Canada’s national young farmer program, an initiative designed to prepare the next generation of industry leaders.

Thomas Clarke

Woodville, Nova Scotia

Thomas Clarke never thought he’d be the one running his family’s farm. As the youngest of three, he assumed the future was already spoken for—until his siblings chose completely different careers, and the opportunity quietly shifted his way.

With his sister now a constable with the Halifax police force and his brother pursuing his second degree in engineering, Thomas found himself pulled back to the one place that had always been there.

“There isn’t much I am passionate about as much as farming,” he says.

Thomas is a sixth generation egg farmer in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, where his family has been working the land for nearly a century. The farm—Southview Farms—sits on what locals affectionately call the North Mountain, overlooking a stretch of land that has been shaped as much by weather and geography as by the people who have farmed on it.

Farming was always part of his life. As a child, he helped wherever he could, collecting eggs, riding along in feed trucks and watching the machinery and movement that kept everything running. What stuck with him the most was the sense of purpose behind it.

“I remember realizing from a young age that we were producing food for other people,” he says. “I thought it was so cool and empowering, knowing they were using these eggs every day. I was so proud of what we did.”

After high school, Thomas enrolled at Acadia University, earning a Bachelor of Science in psychology while exploring other subjects of interest such as biology and nutrition. Farming remained in the background, something he returned to when his father needed his help.

But the more time he spent away, the more he noticed what he missed, and what nothing else quite replaced.

“Part of going to school was figuring out what I liked,” he says. “And I kept coming back to this.”

Today, Thomas helps run the farm with his father, Jeff, who is also the Chair of Egg Farmers of Nova Scotia, and two employees who fill in as needed.

Over the past decade, the farm has adapted to changing opportunities in the industry. Once a diversified farm with grain, corn and a feed mill supplying feed to local chickens and mink farms, it now focuses more heavily on egg and pullet production.

Today, surrounding fields are rented out, while the core operation continues to expand. A fourth pullet barn is under construction, designed with the next phase of the farm in mind. The family is also exploring the possibility of integrating solar energy alongside existing systems.

In the past two years, the farm has transitioned to free run aviary housing system—open, multi-level spaces that allow birds to perch and interact with their environment. Thomas’s family was among the first in the area to make the switch, rethinking how space is used and how the birds move within it.

Technology plays an important role in that shift. Cameras installed throughout the barns offer a 24/7 view into bird behaviour, capturing patterns such as where birds gather, how they use their nest boxes and what happens overnight.

“You pick up on behaviours you wouldn’t see during the day. Learning their positions and habits, where they like to be and why helped us figure out how to better optimize their environment,” Thomas says.

He’s also beginning to step beyond the farm itself. Through the national young farmer program, representing Egg Farmers of Nova Scotia, Thomas is gaining a broader view of the industry—how decisions are made, how systems are shaped and how farmers across the country are navigating similar challenges.

What’s stood out most, he says, is the people he gets to meet.

“The education doesn’t just come from the learning modules but also networking with my peers. The experience has been incredibly powerful as they have the same mindset and passion levels as me,” he says.

“I’ve never been in a situation where I’m around people my age who love what they are doing and are there for the same reason. It’s amazing.”

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