The Kroeker family farm has roots in the community dating back well over a century. Abraham Kroeker and his bride Helena (Wiens) came to southern Manitoba as immigrants in 1876. It was on their homestead, where the town of Winkler is now located, that their son Abram was born in 1892. Abram was a teacher for several years until joining his brother as a partner of a general store. At the age of 36, Abram Kroeker and his wife Elizabeth (Nickel) decided that they wanted to raise their growing family on a farm. He sold his share in the business and moved to a farm six miles southeast of Winkler. The farm consisted of 280 acres of cultivated land and 80 acres of pasture and poplar bush. They named their new enterprise Poplar Grove Farm, and according to its letterhead at the time, specialized in Yorkshire pigs and Latham raspberries.
Abram Kroeker faced many challenges throughout his farming career. The 1930′s brought the Great Depression with plummeting farm prices,drought, thistles, wind and grasshoppers. In the face of this adversity Abram introduced corn to the Prairies which led to growing and contracting seed corn, the construction of the first corn‑drying kiln in Canada in 1936, and the formation of the A.A. Kroeker & Sons partnership. The business grew rapidly. Following a severe August frost which destroyed the corn crop in 1942, potatoes became a new and enduring emphasis for the Kroekers. The farming operation was incorporated in 1955 with A.A. Kroeker and his nine children as shareholders.
Kroeker Farms, as it is known today, is one of Canada’s leading potato producers and Manitoba’s largest grower of organic potatoes. It is widely known and respected for its progressive approach to tillage, land stewardship, innovation and quality.