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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFarming '89, 1989-03-22, Page 25Sunrise Dairy - one of a kind After 26 years the Baileys battle on as last of the local dairies BY BONNIE GROPP It was 26 years ago in February when Renus and Pat Bailey took over the operation of the Sunrise Dairy in Wingham and since that time the couple has seen many changes in the dairy industry. The dairy’s roots can be traced back to 1922, when Jack McEwen began selling unpasteurized milk from his farm. The price was five cents a pint and eight cents a quart. The herd was sold to Albert Foxton and in 1934 he moved the business into its present location on Josephine Street. The pasteuriza­ tion process was introduced shortly after and Foxton's Dairy was the first to use it. It was also during this time the restaurant was open­ ed in front of the building with the specialty being homemade ice cream. Customers were treated to whole bricks of ice cream when they ordered banana splits. The dairy was sold to Harvey Clark of Cargill in 1961, who sold the equipment and closed the building. The building was neglec­ ted so when the Baileys took over the business six months later there were major repairs needed. Mrs. Bailey remembers that it was pretty dismal; the water pipes had frozen and the place was a mess. It took several weeks for the restaurant to begin operations again so most of the milk was delivered from Cousin’s Creamery in Brussels. Finally in May the new equipment was purchased and the Baileys started bringing in their own milk. Since that time they have expanded and modernized the plant five times. They have gone Milk used to sell for 5C a pint from glass bottles that used to sell for five cents a pint and ten cents a quart, to three quart jugs that were $1.99. They were one of the first to put in a bagging machine and now have a completely com­ puterized system. The only manual labour that is required is in the refrigeration room where the milk cartons are piled and stored until the end of each day. Mrs. Bailey said that they have always advanc­ ed in a way that is financially feasible for their operation. Eugene Grubbe. who is 76 vears of age, still drives the dairy’s bulk truck, picking up the milk from 11 area farmers. Gardiner Transport, Gay-Lea and Perth Transport also deliver unpasteurized milk to Sun­ rise Dairy. When one of the trucks arrives at the loading area the milk goes into a large holding tank, passes through a pipeline to the clarifier which removes any farm sediment and all but two per cent of the cream, then into a holding tank. From there the milk is quickly heated to 178 degrees, then is just as quickly cooled. This is the pasteurization process and the whole procedure takes 17 seconds producing at a capacity of 10,000 pounds per hour. After being pasteurized the milk is homogenized. The excess cream is sold to Teeswater Creamery to be made into butter. When the correct amount of cream has been removed the milk is then bagged or carton­ ed. In addition to the three types of milk the Baileys also produce whipping cream, half and half, chocolate milk and pasteurized goat’s milk, which they were approached by Spring Fresh to do. Howard Hewitt of Hagersville is the only other dairy in Ontario licenced to pasteurize goat’s milk. Five air compressors keep the storage room cold. They are check­ ed constantly so that Sunrise is sure that the milk they deliver is perfect. The milk is never touched from the time it arrives in the bulk truck until it is packaged for delivery to retail stores in the area. All of Sunrise Dairy’s equipment is regu­ lation stainless steel and the only additives in the milk they produce are Vitamins A and D which is also regulated by the government. Pat points out that they didn’t get any of the milk that had hormones in it, what they have is “pure, whole­ some milk’’. Plant conditions and milk sam­ ples are regularly checked by the Government. There is a complete inspection done of the premises and the equipment once a year. Milk samples are sent to the University of Guelph’s testing lab twice a month, while raw samples from the farms are taken there every other day. The Ministry of Health comes in approximately every two weeks and does building inspections every three weeks. Mrs. Bailey blames the Ontario Government for the inability of so many small dairies to survive. There was once a time when most small towns had at least one dairy but they have gradually disappear­ ed over the years. Mrs. Bailey says that in the past the Provincial Government sent in employees who were like ‘little dictators’ having little concern for the small dairy operations. She claims their con­ cept was to get rid of the small processing firms so they wouldn’t have to deal with them in addition Patrick Bailey has good reason to know about the goodness of milk: his father is plant manager of Sunrise Dairy in Wingham, one of the last small dairies around doing its own milk processing. to the large plants. She states that the Government has now in its present position become more com­ pelled than in the past to help the smaller dairy businesses with their available facilities, like Guelph, and promote them to make them more viable. The trend does appear to have changed according to Mrs. Small dairies keep industry competitive Bailey and she attributes it to the fact that the Government has realized that they need to keep a few smaller dairy operations around to keep things competitive. The reason Sunrise Dairy man­ aged to stay afloat when others couldn’t is because they didn’t wait when they saw a need for change, explains Mrs. Bailey. “If some­ thing new came along we just jumped right in,’’ she said. Also dealing with local people has helped to keep the costs down. They feel fortunate to be in Huron County as the transportation is closer keeping costs lower. Mrs. Bailey suggests the product is better quality and fresher having come from the farm to the dairy to the store. “The big guys would argue that, I suppose’’ she says smiling. “Ontario Milk is quality no matter where you get it. It’s the ultimate food and it really doesn’t matter who produces it." Mrs. Bailey has tremendous respect for the Milk Marketing Board who have guaranteed that the dairies like Sunrise will be paid the same as the larger ones like Beatrice or Neilsons. If this hadn’t happened the larger corporations would have had it all. “I am pleased with the Milk Marketing Board from a dairy producer’s point of view,’’ she said. Perhaps another reason for the durability of Sunrise Dairy is the fact that Pat and Renus Bailey do not back down. The Honourable 'Pat Boiley is no shrinking violet' Jack Riddell, Minister of Agricul­ ture for Ontario said that “Pat is no shrinking violet.’’ In response Mrs. Bailey states that neither she nor her husband are afraid to speak their mind and if somebody is Continued on page B2