The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 22A TIMELY SWITCH
For Murray and Doris Clark sheep
give them more time for their
community work than dairy did
Story and photos by Keith Roulston
ight years ago Murray and Doris Clark made the
then -unusual decision to get out of dairy and into
sheep. Now, about the only time they wonder if they
made the right choice is when they see how much the quota
for their 30 -cow herd would be worth today.
Currently their sheep operation supports the family and
they're looking at expansion, putting up a fabric -covered
shelter -style barn to house their growing Clock. They've
also reaped the benefits of not being tied down to milking
times, allowing Murray time to be president of the Bruce
County Federation of Agriculture and to coach soccer
while Doris is a 4-H sheep club leader, vice-president of
the Kincardine Agricultural Society and volunteers at the
local school.
Those benefits were among the attractions when they
decided to make the switch. Partly the decision came from
the lack of flexibility in the regulations of the then Ontario
Milk Marketing Board. As a small family operation, the
Clarks liked the idea of going to seasonal milk production
but there wasn't much support for a direction that was
different than the normal operation, Murray says. For a
couple milking twice a day, seven days a week with little
help you get worn down, he says.
There was also, of course, the problem of financing the
continuing growth in dairy where herds are constantly
expanding. "For the last number of years it's always been
invest or get out," Murray says.
As well as cows and quota, improvements would have
been necessary to their older barn if they were to stay in
dairy farming.
"We've had to have invested a lot to keep dairying for
the next 20 years or get out of it completely," says Doris.
"Or we could make do and get by with sheep."
For the Clark family — Doris, Murray, Erin and Graydon
— sheep put bread on the table. Below, some of their
300 ewes with their lambs head for the bam.
18 THE RURAL VOICE