In 1820, his family immigrated to Otonabee Township in Peterborough County, Upper Canada, and took up farming.

[2] David Fife wrote to a friend in Glasgow asking for samples of good seed wheat.

His friend obtained a sample of wheat off a ship from Danzig, Prussia, (now Gdańsk, Poland) and sent it to Fife.

In any case, Fife preserved the seeds from the ears that had matured, sowed them the following year where they grew to be entirely free of rust.

Red Fife soon became the standard variety of "hard spring" wheat in North America and by the end of the 19th century was widely considered as the world's best spring wheat because of its resistance to rust, early maturing, high productivity and excellent milling and baking qualities.