DOUGLAS, Ont. – Like livestock operations across Canada, Dick Farms is struggling to cope with rising costs, falling prices and volatile income.
“This really is harder than the BSE time,” said Scott Dick, who operates the farm with father, Robert, and two brothers-in-law.
“The volatility has made planning hard and the dollar has just been the nail in the coffin.”
It has the owners of the cattle-dependent operation looking to diversify and wondering about options.
Increasing the size of the cattle operation, even if it made economic sense, would require a larger land base to use for manure spreading. Ontario’s strict nutrient management rules dictate the minimum land base required.
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“We’re up against the environmental limits now so we can’t really expand, even if we wanted to,” said Scott.
Cash cropping seems to be the way to go and the aging farm population in Renfrew County, an hour’s drive west of Ottawa, offers an opportunity.
“I think we will be buying some land to increase our cash cropping and with a number of farmers in the area that will be retiring, I expect land will be coming onto the market,” he said. “We will be increasing our crop production.”
Robert said the ideal would be an even split between cattle and cash crop revenues.
“We have some land that is not that productive so if we could sell that, maybe for development, and buy some more productive land that would let us spread the cost a bit,” said the 62-year-old who started the farm more than 30 years ago. “Fifty-fifty would be what I would like to see but of course, it depends on prices.”
Since starting the farm in the 1970s, Robert and his family have expanded the operation into a million dollar cash-flow operation that is one of the largest in Renfrew County.
It is heavily livestock dependent, operating a 330-head cow-calf operation, a small feedlot and backgrounding operation and Ontario’s largest private bull testing station.
Dick Farms crops 750 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans in rotation that at present contributes not much more than five percent of revenues, although this year’s record prices may change that. The farm also sells pedigreed seed and Robert is president of the Ottawa Valley Seed Growers’ Association.
“Clearly, a better mix between crop and livestock is the way to go,” he said.
“But this is such a volatile period that it is hard to know what will be profitable in the future. It is an exercise in speculative mathematics and the numbers literally change every day. It is very difficult to pencil out a bottom line and the biggest impact has been the dollar, although input costs have also been a real problem.”
Until now, the bull testing station has been the farm’s most stable revenue source. This year is changing that certainty. The bull testing station can accommodate 230 animals that arrive in the autumn and spend close to four months being monitored and tested for genetic traits and other characteristics.
The owner of the bull is charged $600 to cover the costs of the tests, medications and feeding over the 112 days or so they spend at the station.
“That has been a steady and predictable source of income for us,” said Robert. “But even that is being affected this year with the cost of feed and everything else. We are going to have to consider whether we have to increase our fee and that might affect how many bulls we attract. So even that might be changing.”
But for all the changes and uncertainty, Robert has no doubt about the future of the operation.
“We will adjust to the times and make the decisions we have to to meet whatever comes up,” he said. “This farm supports four families and it provides a good life.”
He even sees himself reducing his hands-on role as his son and two sons-in-law (including one who moved from Texas this spring to join the family business) increase their role. “I can’t afford to retire but I might pull back a bit and let the younger generation step up more.”
It could also be time to consider the ownership and management structure, suggested Scott.
“As more of us get involved, we’re seeking advice now on whether we should go the incorporation route,” he said. “There are four families involved so that makes it a bit more complicated.”
