The Rural Voice, 1986-06, Page 16DWR
DRAINAGI
Farm & Municipal Drainage Systems
Clay & Plastic Tile Installations
All workmanship guaranteed
liOta•
R.R. 4, Stratford 519-271-4777
See you at the Pork Congress
Electric Motors
For Sale
At the Pork Congress
June 17, 18, 19
We will see you there.
GOT A
SICK MOTOR?
FARM FACTORY HOME
Factory Sales & Service
• BALDOR • DOERR
• GENERAL ELECTRIC
• CENTURY • FRANKLIN
• LEESON
FARM DUTY MOTORS
• Repairs To All Makes
• Competitive Prices
• 24 Hour Emergency Service
Gullitons
Quality and Service
At A Good Price
For Over 50 Years
473 Douro St. Stratford
271-1981
14 THE RURAL VOICE
ALMOST "PARADISE"
Gordon and John Player, have set goals for "Playerdise" farm
h� I'hOlis Coulter
Gordon and John Player
John and Gord Player go to the
field with confidence, having
spent $9,000 putting a new motor
in their tractor last fall, and having
done all their winter maintenance.
Still, they have an unexpected set-
back. The motor blows. Sure, it's
under warranty, but it will take
three weeks to repair — but corn
planting time is now. The brothers
price new tractors, but the cost
doesn't fit into their cash flow.
They decide to rent a tractor while
theirs is being repaired. Since the
Player brothers started farming in
1979, they have faced a number of
such setbacks but each time, they
stick together and work it out.
John and Gordon Player grew
up in Gadshill, a hamlet north of
Stratford, and after high school
they both followed trades, Gord as
a bricklayer, John as a butcher,
that would help them achieve a
life-long goal to farm. In 1979,
23 -year-old Gord and his wife
Cathy purchased a farm on Coun-
ty Road 15 near Gadshill. Shortly
afterwards, 22 -year-old John and
Vicki Player also purchased a farm
not far away. At that time all four
were working elsewhere and their
incomes helped finance the farm.
Both families took their entire liv-
ing expenses from the women's
pay cheques, while John and Gord
poured their income into the
farms.
Their start was slow, but their
determination was strong. In 1980,
Gord's farm had no house, hydro,
or granaries. He had a small
number of feeder pigs and com-
muted from a rented house in town
to the farm. The crops were poor
and there were no tile drains. They
had to tile the land; it was expen-
sive, but they had no choice if they
were to obtain acceptable crop
yields.
By 1981, Gord recognized he
had to increase his volume to make
a living. He quit his job to dedicate
all his time to the farm. He built an
office, feed room, added space for
more feeder pigs, and bought a
mill because he was convinced that
it would be cheaper to mill his feed
than to buy it. The barn was ready
for the pigs.
The bank called his loan.
"We were starting out. We were
not good managers by any stretch
of the imagination," John says.
Other farmers with more ex-
perience were losing their farms;
why would the bank want to give
the Players another chance?
"We were faced with a dilemma.
We had an empty barn, bushels of
debts, no decent cash flow, and no
records," John recalls. They were
turned down by a number of other
banks. But they didn't give up.
"We had no intention of going
broke or quitting the farm," John
asserts.
Finally, they found financing.
The agriculture manager at the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Com-
merce in Stratford at that time
"stuck his neck out for us. We
could deal with him. He listened to
our ideas and saw some merit in