ST. PAUL, Alta. – Like a schoolteacher taking attendance, each week Edith Fontaine takes a roll call of every one of the more than 750 animals on her farm.
With a colored highlighter pen, Fontaine takes a good look at each animal and then crosses out its ear tag number on a photo copied sheet of paper.
“I like to know if everyone is OK,” said Fontaine, who estimated it takes about a day and a half each week to check her four cattle herds.
It’s not a quick glance either. Fontaine looks at each animal closely to check for foot rot or if they have been hurt.
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“I make sure I see every face and they can see me. If they’re missing we take the time to find them.”
Looking after the cattle is her job on Fontaine Farms, which she runs with her brothers.
“I worry about the cattle,” said Fontaine, whose grandfather settled in the area in 1908.
Her brothers Romeo and Clem are in charge of the crops, maintenance and bookkeeping.
“It’s kind of unique,” she said, back at the house for a quick lunch after spending the morning setting up corrals for next week’s weaning.
“We have our own little department to worry about.”
Like any partnership, the siblings pitch in wherever the help is needed during calving and seeding or when tough decisions need to be made.
They made the decision together to sell their steer calves in mid-September and not wait until the end of the year as they normally would. Prices for the spring calves were respectable and cull cow markets were uncertain.
“The decision was right for the time,” Fontaine said.
Each fall the cows are pregnancy checked, the calves are weighed and their weights recorded in Fontaine’s detailed record books dating back to 1967.
Each cow has its own sheet detailing its history, calves, weaning weights and calving dates.
It’s that detailed information that allows Fontaine to sell 60 bulls and 100 heifers a year to buyers across Canada. About 75 percent of them are repeat customers who often ask Fontaine to pick out the animals and ship them sight unseen.
Since 1952, the Fontaines have raised Black Angus cattle. In 1969 they introduced their first Simmental cattle and have since raised a combination of purebred and commercial Simmental, and Red and Black Angus and crossbred cattle.
Before the animals leave the farm, each bull is halter broken and trained to get into a stock trailer. Replacement heifers kept on the farm are also halter broken.
“When they’re quiet like that they’re easier to handle,” said Fontaine, whose cattle come running across the field at the sight of her and her white farm truck in hopes of getting a scratch or a bit of grain.
Temperament is one of the qualities Fontaine looks for when selecting new bulls for the herd. She doesn’t want to be looking over her shoulder for a crabby cow during calving season.
“We don’t need to be doing any stunts.”
The search for the ideal bull takes about two years to research bloodlines, check out shows and the animals’ offspring and talk to other cattle producers.
Fontaine also artificially inseminates about 50 cows a year as a way of introducing new blood lines into the herd and to be able to offer new genetics to her repeat customers.
While Fontaine is a self-confessed home body, she has volunteered at a local crisis line, been an adviser to the Western Forage Beef Group in Lacombe, Alta., and a 4-H leader and was an active member in a local cattle group.
It’s those activities and her conversations with buyers that have kept Fontaine learning and interested in agriculture.
“I’m exposed to a lot of good ideas. When people come to buy we don’t just look at bulls and cows. We have excellent discussions.”
