Women in Simmental Country
Carla Nolan Over the years of its development in Canada, the Simmental breed has benefited from the efforts of a great number of volunteers; in particular we would like to recognize the ongoing efforts of Carla Nolan. Born in Lethbridge, Alberta and raised on an irrigated farm at Picture Butte, Carla Vath married Ron Nolan in 1958. She was a teacher in Edmonton and Calgary before becoming mom to Gregory, Shauna, and Joanne. As their children were growing up, Carla was a Teacher’s Assistant, taught Sunday school and served as a Tawny Owl for her daughter’s Brownie Group. Carla and Ron are now proud grandparents to Ron (Jr.), Michael, Sophie, Aaron, Jordon, Jessica, Mitchell and Kayla.Along with her favorite past time of spending time with her grandchildren, Carla also enjoys reading, curling, travelling and playing bridge. Before their involvement in the current day Bar 5 Stock Farm, Carla and Ron purchased their farm in Markdale, Ontario in 1973. That operation initially purchased steers and fattened them for market until Ron’s cousin invited them to a Simmental Annual General Meeting in Toronto and introduced them to the Simmental Breed. As a result of that meeting, their farm became a cow/calf operation, Harkaway Simmental Ltd. When asked what attracted them to Simmental Carla replied, “We have used Simmental Cattle for our breeding program because of their fertility, mothering ability, performance, temperament and profile. We have remained a Fullblood operation but have been cross-breeding with Red and Black Angus as well.” It has been a family venture since the beginning and the whole family has been part of its growth. In the 70’s and 80’s the harvest was done by the immediate family, Ron, Carla and children. In the 90’s modern equipment was purchased to ease the haying and harvesting—“what a relief,” says Carla. Carla’s role at Bar 5 has ranged from helping with calving, breeding, sales and bookkeeping. She kept the home fires burning when Ron was away on business trips, as he also worked as a 20
consulting engineer. Their son Greg became General Manger during the years 1990-2007 and daughter Joanne became Financial Officer in 2005. The Bar 5 staff now consists of Andreas Buschbeck, Farm Manager; Linda Lupton, Office Manager; Joanne Nolan-McEnery, Financial Officer; Luke Buschbeck, Herdsman; Matthew Buschbeck, Herdsman and Jeff Peters, Property Maintenance. “The Bar 5 operation has benefited from our community by employing local people, and purchasing goods and services from the surrounding communities,” states Carla. In 1990 the Nolans purchased Bar 5 Simmental Stock Farms in Brandon, Manitoba and amalgamated Harkaway with Bar 5. They continued to operate the two farms in Markdale and Brandon until 2001, when they held the complete dispersal of Manitoba’s Bar 5 herd. In 1999 the Nolans initiated the Bar 5 SA operation in South Africa and started breeding Fleckvieh Simmental by purchasing 5 cows. “We began importing embryos from South Africa and transplanting in Canada, and since 2001, Bar 5 has maintained operations in Markdale, Ontario and Colesburg, South Africa. With this current structure our herd has grown to 300 cows, as well as a large bull battery,” explains Carla. Carla has seen many changes in the Simmental industry over the years of her involvement. “The cross breeding ability of the Simmental animals, feedlots taking advantage of these cross bred animals and the downsizing of the frame scores of the Simmental while retaining the performance of our animals, are the most prominent changes.” Over the years many memories have been gathered and Carla said that, “One of my fondest memories of having Simmental cattle is our first show at the Chatsworth Fair (Ontario). Although our family was not very knowledgeable in 1977 about showing, we won some ribbons that day.” Carla has been actively involved in various Simmental Associations and is a familiar face at events across the country and around the world.