The Rural Voice, 1991-07, Page 33SPECIAL REPORT:
WOMEN IN AOR1CULT iti
the annual July show at Blyth.
Mention rabbits, and Florence
smiles. David thought his mother was
crazy to take over his unprofitable
project. Now market -ready animals
from 20 New Zealand Whites are sent
to an agent in Brussels twice monthly.
"I haven't lost money yet," she says.
The calves from the 14 -head cow -
calf enterprise are born on pasture in
the spring, keeping winter chores to a
minimum. The calves are sold as
yearlings.
However, sheep are Florence's first
love, and she has definite ideas about
them.
"Sheep were designed to be fora-
gers, easy keepers. If they need a pile
of grain, they have lost their original
purpose."
Florence upgraded her flock by
buying three purebred ewes from her
father each year, and using his Suffolk
rams. In 1974, she bought his remain-
ing 14 ewes, "the best of the bunch."
She now boasts a closed flock of 130
registered Suffolk, bred for productiv-
ity rather than the show ring. She has
developed a steady market for both
breeding stock and freezer lambs.
Florence is close to her goal of a
healthy, prolific flock. This year she
got an enviable 1.9 lambs per ewe, and
raised 15 sets of triplets.
Don has always been an enthus-
iastic supporter of his wife's ventures.
He helps with heavy tasks like haying
or machinery maintenance. "And he's
a good advisor," Florence notes.
Although everything sounds
idyllic, Florence voices some con-
cerns. "The farm economy is not all
roses. It's tough hanging in. The
price of lambs is down, and the price
of everything I buy is up. Farmers
almost have to have an outside in-
come," she says.
Florence wishes the bureaucrats
who make decisions seriously affec-
ting farmers — on matters like dead
stock removal, or the Toronto stock-
yards — would leave their city offices
and come out to the country for a per-
sonal look at farming today. Nothing
is more important than handing on to
the next generation what her gener-
ation received from their fathers.0
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JULY 1991 29