Milt and Tash Olfert leave the dairy business and start two new ventures: one in the air and the other in the brewery
Two years ago, Milt and Tash Olfert decided to sell their dairy cows and quota and leave the dairy business.
The southern Manitoba couple ran a dairy until their two children were in their 20s and could decide whether they wanted a farming career.
“We could tell when they were in high school the interest wasn’t there, but we wanted to make sure they were well into their 20s before we made the decision to sell,” said Olfert, who grew up on the dairy farm between Winkler and Morden.
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His parents, Herman and Freda, milked cows and sold cream before selling milk. In 1974, they built a state-of-the-art pipeline system when Freda refused to carry buckets of milk any longer. In 1999, the family built a larger free-stall barn with a modern parlour system to accommodate an expansion to 90 cows from 32.
“Once it looked like the kids were old enough to make their own decisions of what they wanted to do in life, and dairy farming wasn’t in their future, we had to make a decision at that point — do we make a career change?” said Olfert, who shipped the last milk from his farm two years ago.
He started to work for his father right out of high school. His older brothers didn’t want to farm and he felt an obligation to stay.
“I don’t regret that. It was great, but I didn’t want that obligation for my kids. We gave them the freedom to choose what they wanted to do.”
He doesn’t regret selling the cattle but does miss working with his part-time employees, many of whom were neighbours and town kids who had an interest in agriculture.
On the positive side, Olfert said he has seen more sunrises because he is no longer in the barn milking cows every morning.
“After I retired, I slept for a month and a half. I couldn’t get myself out of bed. I was a little worried. I was so exhausted.”
The family had no firm plans once the cattle were sold. They had enough land to continue grain farming, but loss of some rented land later prompted Olfert to explore the idea of establishing an agriculture drone business.
He and his brother now have the exclusive rights to sell XAG Pro 100 agriculture drones across the Prairies.
Drones are used for seeding crops, blowing water off orchards, taking photos of livestock and measuring land area. This spring, Olfert seeded some canola and alfalfa with his drone as a test plot. The canola is now coming up nicely, he said.
One of the biggest changes was turning his old milking parlour into a microbrewery. He considered growing hydroponic vegetables in the barn, but after an introduction to a local brew master, Mark Von Reisen, Blumstein Brewing was formed.
The pair hope to have their first beer available for tasting this summer. The brewing equipment is on the elevated area where cows once stood to be milked. The pit is now the wash area.
“I had the facility, he had the expertise,” said Olfert of his new partner.
The switch from dairy to drones and beer has been a career change but is still within the agriculture world.
“It is exhilarating. It gives me a new life. I felt I was in a rut. Now I am out of that rut. I am more of a people person and dairy farming maybe wasn’t the right place for me to go. I am still a farmer, but no longer a dairy farmer.”
Two years after leaving dairy, Olfert said he wishes his family had started the work of farm transition years ago. His father didn’t do a full transition until seven years ago, well into retirement.
“We did it too late. Farmers don’t like to let go. We need to plan ahead, we need to have a plan on how to exit and what it is going to look like.
“When I look ahead, maybe one day my daughter or son will help with drones and the brewery. Maybe they will come join me. If this creates an opportunity for them in the future, that is good. If it doesn’t, that is good too. We will have fun along the way doing it.”
