Farm Family of the Year

The Cardinal family, All Good Organics, of Lino Lakes has been named Anoka County’s “2022 Farm Family of the Year” by the University of Minnesota.

The Cardinal farm in Anoka County has been in the family since 1866. The original family owners of the farm came to the United States from Canada. Butch Cardinal now runs the family farm with his sons, Hunter and Logan, who are the sixth generation of the family to farm the land. The farm became certified organic in 2010 and continues to go through the requirements of certification for the health and wellbeing of the farm’s customers and land.

The family plants 38 acres of the 68-acre farm and they produce a variety of fruits and vegetables, including 40 fruit trees. The produce is sold through more than 100 memberships in the farm’s CSA. The Cardinals operate an on-farm store that’s open year-round selling a wide variety of locally produced honey, eggs, meats, and fresh produce during the summer and quality canned, frozen, dried and dehydrated produce during the off-season.

Butch is the owner/operator of the farm. Hunter works on the farm full time. Logan works on the farm part-time and whenever he is needed. The Cardinals are members of the Minnesota Grown Program and they’ve been part of the University of Minnesota potato trials the last couple of growing seasons. The Cardinals often hire university students who need credits for on-farm work.

The Cardinals are members of the Centerville Farmers Market and the White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market. 

A complete list of the 2022 Farm Families of the Year will be available at mnfarmfamilies.CFAMS.umn.edu.       

Along with Farmfest, University units sponsoring the recognition event include University of Minnesota Extension, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, and the College of Veterinary Medicine.