STE. ROSE DU LAC, Man. – The De Vries families see a good future in
dairy farming, and they’re putting their money where their mouths are.
On the north side of Highway 5 Gerald De Vries is expanding his dairy
barn capacity from 50 to 90 cows.
On the south side of the highway his older brother Leonard is expanding
his dairy operation from 35 to 60 cows.
“We’ve got high hopes for the future,” said Leonard, whose son mainly
operates the farm.
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“I started milking by hand 40 years ago, I’ve milked all my life and
without milking I don’t think I’d be where I am today. Milk has been
good.”
On Gerald’s farm, construction is well under way. On this blustery July
morning men were on top of the wooden frame for the barn extension,
finishing the skeleton of the
de Vries’ dream.
They had just installed a brand new, shiny steel milk tank and were
looking forward to the future.
Gerald’s son, Jeff, has come home to farm. He’s 22, spent a year on a
Danish dairy farm, and thinks this farm will give him a good future.
“I like dairy farming and I have a good opportunity here,” he said.
“Not many people have the chance to take over a dairy farm.”
Expanding isn’t cheap. Not only are the De Vries families having to pay
for barn expansions, new milk tanks and automated manure and feeding
systems, but they have to buy extra quota for each extra litre of milk
they will be producing.
That costs about $14,000 for each extra cow in the barn. No one knows
whether the supply management system will last forever, but the De
Vries think it will certainly last long enough for their new operations
to get up and running.
“You don’t know how it’s going to go, but the way it looks now it’ll be
OK,” said Leonard.
Gerald and Jeff are more positive about the future of dairy than they
are about grain farming. Right now they are converting some of their
grain land to hay land and pasture, and they say they may eventually
get rid of most of their land base and buy feed. That would allow them
to focus entirely on dairy farming, and also allow them to have better
lives.
“I’m at the age where I’d like to get out and see something, and he’s
got to go out and see something and not be as foolish as his dad and
work all the time,” said Gerald.
