The Rural Voice, 1980-10, Page 11a wood stove. I had to dig under the snow for the wood."
One of Mr. Burgsma's fist priorities was remodelling the barn
to house broilers. He began with 9,600 birds, and worked out as
a carpenter to augment his income while Gerda did most of the
farm chores. The price for broilers was so low he couldn't keep
up his payments on the equipment, and the dealer threatened to
come and remove it all. When Harry asked, quite logically, what
good secondhand equipment would be to the man, the dealer
relented. He was eventually paid in full.
"The first three, four years were tough", Mr. Burgsma
recalled. The turning point came when feed companies began
lending money to farmers to install better ventilation and
equipment in existing barns, and build new modern ones. In
return, the farmer was obligated to buy all his feed from that
company.
Marketing boards were set up in the 60s, and by the time the
feed companies had been repaid, the banks and farm credit
organizations were ready to lend money to the broiler business
which, they were finally convinced, was here to stay.
The Burgsmas now raise four crops of broilers a year, 9,000
birds on each of the six floors in their barn. They built a barn for
laying hens in 1967 and now gather 800 dozen eggs each day.
Mrs. Burgsma describes her husband as ambitious and
optimistic; he says he likes a challenge. In 1975 he expanded into
pigs. "Building a finishing barn was the beginning", he joked.
He now has a 400 sow farrow -to -finish operation.
The Burgsmas have gradually acquired more acerage, first by
renting and then buying as land came on the market. and now
work 650 acres.
Mr. Burgsma has never regretted his youthful move to
Canada. "There is a link of love between Canada and Holland",
he said. "Our Royal Family stayed in Ottawa during the war, and
Holland was liberated by Canadian soldiers."
He went on to explain that in Holland in the fifties one had to
study a lot or have rich parents in order to get ahead. His father
was a farm hand, and Harry preferred to "work rather than
study a lot." He is sure that all the hard work makes one
appreciate the nice things that come later on. He also believes
that first generation immigrants "can afford to dare to do much
more, because they have so little to lose, and the drive and
enthusiasm to succeed."
Surrounded by all he had achieved in his adopted land, Harry
Burgsma affirmed that he has prospered beyond his fondest
dreams. When asked the secret of his success, he answered
quietly, "we are Christians. The Lord has given me health and
strength and a good wife by my side. 1 give Him credit for all my
blessings."
Another hard-working couple is Adrie and Corrie Bos. They
left a small rented farm in Holland six years ago, and bought a
145 acre dairy farm northwest of Blyth. "It's now the 'in' thing to
emigrate, but when you have a good farm in Holland, you should
stay", Corrie advised. She then outlined the circumstances that
prompted her and her husband to come to Canada. Their
old-fashioned landlord would allow no changes on the farm;
although Holland is noted for its modern dairy farms, the Boses
were still shipping milk in cans.
Their 30 acres were situated between three cities, Amsterdam,
Den Haag and Utrecht, and a double railway track cut through
the farm, carrying a train every 10 minutes all day long, every
day.
All feed for their herd (55 milking plus dry cows and young
heifers) had to be bought. Adrie made his huge purchase each
fall. "In Holland for every cow, we say we have seven acres in
America", Adrie smiled, "because that's where most of the feed
grain comes from." This was supplemented by one ton of
"brews" grain from a nearby brewery each day.
Land around cities in Holland, as in Canada, is prohibitively
The Servings are Involved In a large broiler enterprise and M
1970 expanded to Include a 400 sow farrow to finish operation.
expensive, bringing up to S20,000 per acre. Mr. Bos bid on a
farm in Holland in 1973, but farms only come on the market in
May and November, and there are usually at least six people
lined up, money in hand, to bid on each farm. The aspiring
young farmer who must arrange financing has almost no hope of
owning land.
The Boses received some nasty shocks when they first began
farming in Ontario. In Holland newborn calves were worth $300,
and in 1974 they discovered that their two cross -bred bull calves
weren't worth trucking to market.
"That really hits you", Adric remarked. "That first year we
were disappointed about everything we sent to the stockyard. In
Holland we got $1,500 for a cow, here $250." He agreed that
prices have improved considerably since then.
Another shock was our severe winters. Adrie revealed that_
sometimes in the midst of a snowstorm he is tempted to put the
farm up for sale, but the storm passes, and so does the urge.
"Our first year was hard, especially at Christmas", Corrie
recalled, "but Canadians, at least here in Blyth, are always
friendly and helpful. Even if they can't understand you, they still
help."
"It's easy to build here, hard in Holland," Corrie continued.
"This is the way we want to farm. We can build things up the
way we want."
And build up they have. They now own 300 acres, and milk
70 cows in an automated milking parlor that handles 10 animals
at a time. In the summer, while Adrie and an employee are
busy with field work, Corrie does all the milking herself.
AS the Boses watch the price of Ontario farmland rise higher
and higher, they worry that young people may not be able to
afford to start farming in Canada, and envision the day one or •
more of their three sons will inform his parents that he is
emigrating, perhaps to Australia or New Zealand.
However, the tide of immigration is still flowing this way.
THE RURAL VOICE/OCTOBER 1980 PG. it