make close to 90,000 kilograms of milk at the completion of her sixth lactation. On top of all this, Dahlia is also the farm’s first Excellent cow! She went Excellent in September 2016, followed by five more on the farm since then. The farm’s most recent classification yielded 2 ME, 3 EX, 39 VG, 49 GP, 7 G.
years ago he and Amy moved up to Shelburne to run a dairy farm. At the time, his brother Kyle was interested in taking over the home operation and the young couple saw the move as an opportunity to spread their wings and manage a farm of their own. They were there for just under two years when circumstances changed and they had the opportunity to return south to Selkirk. “All of a sudden home didn’t look so bad!” Art says. Art’s brother Kyle moved to Saskatchewan to work in the oil fields and Art’s parents were ready to start slowing down. And so began the process of succession planning at De Boer Acres Holsteins.
Art believes that good management is key to getting the most from his herd. “We’re slowly seeing our management decisions pay off,” he says, citing changes to their calf-raising program as their biggest area of return. Calves are fed three to four liters of colostrum within the first four hours of their lives before being moved to a clean hutch. After that, they receive seven liters of acidified milk replacer Initially, things were complicated. Ben and Anieta had 12 children for an eight-week stretch. Once weaned, they’re transitioned into to consider and wanted to be as fair as possible to everyone. After group pens and fed high-quality hay and two meetings with an advisor, and frustration heifer grower until they reach eight months over an increasingly complex situation, Anieta of age. They receive high forage mineral and woke up one morning with a fresh outlook. “I a supplement until they reach breeding age. started to think about how my parents were Heifers are bred at 12 to 13 months of age and dairy farmers and how Ben’s family farmed and calve in at 22 to 23 months. The two-year-olds how it was when we took over. I just thought to are coming in younger and are milking well, myself, ‘This is way too complicated!’” though Art is the first to admit that longevity Essentially they had a son and son-in-law is still something they need to work on. “We interested in farming and knew they wanted to do the best we can,” he says. make things work for each of them. At first, Art reads a lot, works closely with his vet at Art and Kevin were going to share the business the Dunnville Vet Clinic and nutritionist from as partners, but that wasn’t as easy as they had Grand Valley Fortifiers. He also spends all initially envisioned and relationships quickly the time he can talking to other farmers to became strained. They ultimately decided to discover ways to improve his own operation. create two separate businesses and work closely The current free-stall barn his dad and grandpa together, instead. It ended up being the right built in 1991 is a prime example of that and decision. “We discuss things,” says Art. “He has seen countless upgrades over the years. A does his things, I do mine. We have three or four few years ago the family replaced part of the meetings a year to go over the major stuff and go barn roof with a clear plastic ridge cap to flood back and forth the rest of the time.” the barn with natural light, which has made a Anieta is pleased the family is still all on speaking huge difference. In 2007, they ramped up cow comfort by replacing terms but admits it took years of time and effort to get to this spot. dividers and installing waterbeds in the stalls. This, Art says, has “I quickly came to realize that fair is not equal and equal is not fair. been the game-changer. “We hardly have any swollen hocks and the And there’s an extra challenge when you have a big family. If we cows like lying down now.” In 2010, the De Boers upgraded their wanted to be equal we would have had to sell the farm and divide up parlour by replacing the stalls with a vertical lift front, allowing their the profits. Of course we didn’t want to do that.” large cows more space to maneuver. Last year they added onto the fresh cow pen to improve air quality and give the fresh cows more Now they’re all shareholders with Ben and Anieta being silent room to eat and lay down, resulting in a much improved transition partners. The setup works great for all involved and still allows period for fresh cows. Though a new barn for the milking cows is them to play a role in the operation. “I want to be there, I want to be always on the back of their minds, the De Boers have spent the past involved,” he says. “I like to be busy and to have a purpose.” Anieta 33 years learning to ‘work with what they’ve got’ and have no plans still helps with milking and Ben is out early each morning feeding cows and cleaning stalls. Farming, one could say, is in their blood. to build anytime soon. A new heifer barn, however, is a different story. “The heifer barn is long overdue,” says Art of the facility being planned for the spring of 2019. Right now heifers are housed either in an array of sheds at the main farm or in an old bank barn at Art’s place. They are bred there and moved to the main farm three weeks before calving. The new barn will be built at Art and Amy’s and feature room for 130-140 animals, consisting of far-off dry cows and heifers from six months until calving.
“Dividing up 100 cows between three boys just wasn’t going to work,” Art says, looking back on the delicate process of planning for the future. “We needed to have a mediator.” The De Boers are quick to credit their accountant, Vern Doupe from Allied Associated for helping them execute the plan they arrived on their own at and acting as a sounding board for all of their ideas.
“Thankfully, with a lot of prayers, wisdom and patience, we were able to come up with an idea that clicked for everybody,” Art says. Art isn’t taking the new barn for granted and knows it’s been a long “Good management and hard work have helped us get to where we time coming. He came home and began farming with his dad straight are, but ultimately we thank God for allowing us to be able to farm out of college and appreciates the work of those before him, as well each day.” as the sizable investment that goes into such an undertaking. Five www.ontario.holstein.ca
The
Link Fall 2018 23