The Rural Voice, 1986-06, Page 40TRYING OUT
NEW IDEAS
The Robertsons, near Tara, are constantly
branching out trying new ideas, expanding when
the market is good and retracting and changing
course when the need arises.
With the use of innovative
ideas and hard work, Bob
Robertson has established Roblea
Farms as a reputable dairying
operation.
Located near Tara, Roblea
Farms comprises 500 acres with
about 350 workable acres. Robert-
son, his wife Edith, and son Ian,
formed a corporation several years
ago. Three men are employed to
assist with the 70 -cow registered
Holstein herd and to help with
field work and general farm ac-
tivities. In addition, two high
school students are employed, one
each for Saturday and Sunday
milkings and farm work. The
Robertsons use a pipeline milking
system and have a current BCA
rating of 164 milk, 157 fat, and 165
protein. They have been dairying
since 1963, and 30 -year-old Ian is
the fourth generation of Robert-
sons to live on the 125 -acre home
farm. Ian has taken over the bulk
of the management of the farming
operation.
The dairy herd has always been
the heart of the farming operation,
but the Robertsons are constantly
branching out trying new ideas, ex-
panding when the market is good
and retracting and changing course
when the need arises.
Up until recently, Robertson
sold all of his surplus replacement
heifers as breeding stock and was
receiving good prices for them.
Some of the heifers were shipped
overseas to England, Germany,
and Italy, but the majority were
sold to Mexico and the U.S. The
by Mary -Lou
bottom has since dropped out of
the market and Robertson has cut
back on the number of heifers he
sells commercially. He could not
justify receiving $700 for a heifer
that eats 1,050 to 1,150 pounds of
feed. "That isn't the way to make
money," he says.
Embryo transfers three or four
years ago were an important part
of Robertson's dairy operation;
currently he is flushing only two
cows. One of the donor cows,
Joyce, is rated a fifth generation
"very good," sired from a bull
from Hanover Hill, Port Perry.
Robertson has had a reasonable
success rate with the embryo
transfers, receiving as many as
nine embryos from one flush, and
has had to accept a nil flush count
in the past. He estimates that a
good pedigree drop calf is worth
$1200.
Newborn calves are immediately
placed in calf hutches outside for
two to three months. Some of the
bull calves have been raised for
veal but they are currently sold
shortly after they are born. Better
quality bulls are sometimes kept
and raised. "We've sold quite a
few registered breeder bulls over
the years," he says. He is using on-
ly artificial insemination for his
herd, mainly Hanover Hill Star -
buck, as are the majority of pro-
ducers. This cuts back on the de-
mand for bulls, although a local
market does exist, and one of the
Roblea Farms bulls was sold to
Western Breeders in Alberta.
Stocker cattle have replaced
Weiser -Hamilton
heifers in one of Robertson's cattle
barns this year. This first time veri-
ture at feeding Charlois-cross cat-
tle is the end result of the low
replacement heifer prices that
Robertson has been receiving.
Another first for Robertson is
the cash cropping of fall rape this
year. He also grows 90 acres of
corn for silage and 130 acres of
small grains; 105 acres of hay are
baled each year. Robertson was
one of the first farmers in the area
to experiment with a drying agent
and hay preservative for his entire
first cut of hay crop last year.
Often referred to as a 'hay in a
day' product, the drying agent and
preservative are intended to
decrease the drying time of
legumes and allow baling at a
higher moisture content without
the risk of spoilage or burning.
Robertson's nine -foot haybine is
equipped with five sprayer nozzles
that spray the drying agent directly
onto the alfalfa or red clover as it
is cut, before entering the rollers.
A 200 -gallon sprayer tank is
mounted on the tractor. The hay
preservative is sprayed directly on-
to the hay as it is baled.
Robertson's square and round bale
balers are both equipped with the
sprayer nozzles and a 50 -gallon
sprayer tank is also tractor
mounted. He bales about 150
round bales and believes that there
is bound to be a certain percentage
of preservative loss because it can
escape through the bottom of the
round baler, but not through the
square baler.
38 THE RURAL VOICE