RED DEER – A father and daughter ranching team says it takes time to
merge two generations into one farm.
Ronda Dick and her father Eldon of Lousana, Alta., said both
generations must get comfortable with the combination of youthful
enthusiasm and caution born of experience.
Eldon said each night after a Ranching for Profit course a few years
ago, Ronda, who is now in her mid-20s, would phone home and talk for
hours about what she’d learned and how the family should be making
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changes.
Eldon said his first reaction was to laugh because she was so serious
about the changes.
“The ideas seem so far out, so in depth, it makes me wonder if all this
would really work,” he told a recent Western Canadian Grazing
Conference.
“Even though as parents we encouraged her to go, we were starting to
swallow our encouragement.”
But the more Eldon listened to Ronda, the more he thought her ideas
might work. She suggested they sell their hay and grain equipment to
free up cash and allow them to focus more on grazing their cattle.
They established a three-year plan to sell a few pieces of equipment
each year.
- They traded their grinder mixer for a silage wagon. Eldon’s grinder
mixer was his part of the transaction and Ronda paid the cash
difference.
- They traded machinery for several years’ worth of straw.
- They sold small machinery such as hay rakes, a grain auger and a
small square baler for cash.
“It has been a big change for me to sell off our equipment and yet keep
enlarging our herd,” Eldon said.
Some of Ronda’s ideas took longer for Eldon to adopt. One year she
suggested they divide a half section of grazing land into eight 40-acre
pieces to see if more animals could graze the land. It was only Ronda’s
first step to breaking in her father. The next year the paddocks were
divided into 20-acre parcels, but it has paid off.
Instead of the cattle grazing 40 acres for seven days, they graze four
to five days on 20 acres and get another month of grazing from the same
land base.
“Point well taken and proven, daughter,” Eldon said.
Ronda said she knew ever since Grade 9 that ranching was her vocation.
She took a beef major at Olds College in Olds, Alta., and attended as
many conferences and courses as possible to learn more about grazing
livestock. Father and daughter each own cattle, totalling 130 cow-calf
pairs. They also custom graze and calve cattle.
The switch to allow Ronda more control over the business has been
gradual.
In the first year they were together, Ronda took control of 25 percent
of the business plan, 50 percent the second year and 75 percent in the
third year. As of April she will be given 100 percent of the business
plan arrangements.
“As you can see, it takes time plus a little experience and knowledge
as she goes along to feel comfortable in her position, because at times
it becomes quite overwhelming,” Eldon said.
The pair also has clearly defined roles and goals.
Ronda is in charge of marketing cattle and knowing all the numbers. She
is also the grass manager. Her father is the overall manager, and is
also in charge of bookkeeping and maintenance.
Their short-term goal was to learn more about the theory and practice
of becoming grass farmers. They also planned to sell some grain and hay
equipment.
Their five-year goals are to expand their land base and to move toward
allowing Eldon and his wife Carole to retire.
Ronda said she’s often asked how crossing the generational gap works.
“Respect in your parents and what they have accomplished in the past,”
she said.
“They have come through all sorts of circumstances in the last decades
and they have made it work to the best of their abilities.”
She said she didn’t expect an automatic enthusiastic response to her
plan to move to more intensive grazing.
“It takes a year from the time I present a change till he says, ‘I
think that is the way to go.’ “
She said her parents gave her much needed encouragement to implement
her ideas and changes.
“We all like to work with encouragement and a support system behind
us. Especially like a year like this one, a lot of tough choices had to
be made that we never had to make before.”
Ronda said she’s also allowed to make mistakes.
“Being allowed to make mistakes without comment from a third party is
what makes the difference. In our ranches we can survive the bad years,
but if you don’t get along, that is what will hurt you.”
Eldon had this advice for the younger generation: “Give us time to get
our mind wrapped around your new ideas, go slowly if needed, but prove
your point and you know in time you will win.”
He had this for the older generation: “Parents, do you realize what an
honour and privilege it is to have your adult child come home to work
with you?”
