NEUHORST, Sask. – A farm across the field from this central Saskatchewan hamlet has played a major role in a somewhat atypical farm succession plan.
A teenage son of non-farming parents has procured his own farm almost overnight, instead of the more typical succession plan in which parents gradually transfer their operation to their middle-aged children.
Although Danny Peters is relatively new at running his own dairy, he is no stranger to milking cows.
“My family doesn’t have much dairy experience, but I have seven years experience as a hired hand on other dairies. This barn that I’m renting right now, I used to work here when the farmer had the dairy going. Now this barn was offered to me, so I took the opportunity of starting up my own dairy here.”
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Frank and Marge Bueckert, owners of the facility, quit the dairy industry two years ago, but continue to live in the yard and farm the land. They also operate a construction business. Frank Bueckert wishes Peters well.
“It’s a rare story all right, that he’s been fortunate to move into this the way he did. And we do hope that everything will work out for him.
“I think Danny’s an ambitious guy. He’s smart; he can figure things out. I can see him making it, but he’s going to have to be careful.”
Running his own dairy appeals to Peters. He joked about liking the opportunity to tell other people what to do, rather than the opposite. But at this point, he has nobody to boss around except his family.
“I’m just by myself. My parents help me a little bit when it comes to milking and stuff, but otherwise I run this whole thing by myself,” said 18-year-old Peters, who grew up a half-kilometre away.
Though Peters never expected he’d go from hired hand to dairy farmer so quickly, he has aspired to that goal for some time.
“It’s been his dream since he’s been six years old. It’s always been his hope to start on his own someday, and so we just helped it along a little more and got him started,” said Peters’ mother Martha, as she helped prepare udders for afternoon milking.
Martha was born and raised on a farm and has known her way around a milking parlour for most of her life, but her husband Dave is new to farming and is learning from his son, she said.
Although Martha and Dave helped Danny get started on the new venture with a small inheritance gift, they are proud that he has been saving money to do this.
The opportunity for Peters to go into business for himself came up a month ago when he approached the Bueckerts about renting the barn. The resulting agreement came complete with feed grown and harvested on the Bueckerts’ land.
Peters was also able to buy 30 Holstein cows from another farmer, and take over quota that the farmer was leasing. With a bank’s assistance, Peters hopes to gain ownership of the quota next year.
The 24 cows he is milking produce more than 1,000 litres of milk every two days. He’d like to expand the herd to at least 100 cows some day.
Bueckert worries about the exodus of young people from rural areas, noting it’s much harder to get into agriculture now than when he began.
Quota used to be free and Bueckert inherited his yard and farmland from his father.
“I had a place to start. I could basically go borrow $50,000 and I could start milking cows. Today, we can’t even talk about $500,000; we’re talking a million bucks before you get started nowadays. That’s a big difference.”
Despite that view, Peters remains enthused about the dairy business and may have spread his enthusiasm around.
“My friends … they would really like to get with the dairy also. I’ve sort of influenced them to start something too,” he said. “I’ve always had an interest in the dairy, since I was five. I’ve just loved it, and I don’t plan on giving it up any time soon.”
Peters has one more year of high school to finish. Though he has been milking other farmers’ cows before and after school for three years, extra help may be needed now that he’s going it alone.
“My mom said she’ll help me until end of school, and then once school is done, I’ll be here by myself, and (she’ll) start wanting wages,” Peters joked.
But his mother isn’t in it for the money.
“I want him to just make a go of it. That’s my hope for him,” she said. “I’ll be happy if he gives me a good Christmas gift.”
