The Rural Voice, 1993-09, Page 18another site with good enough land,
but the Johnston site has other
qualities which make it attractive."
Hc's referring to the excellent road
access to the site and its placement
beside an Ontario Hydro station,
making thc process of bringing
electrical power to the match that
much easier. As well, he knew
there was enough land between
the Johnstons and their willing
neighbours to provide ample
room for parking and Tented
City.
The Johnstons have amassed
their acreage over more than a
hundred years beginning in 1857
when Arthur Johnston, a great
uncle of thc present owners, was
granted 5() acres by the crown.
By 1939, whcn Earl Johnston
took over the farm from his
father, the farm had grown to 250
acres. He was into mixed
farming, with a focus on bccf.
"Hc liked a little of everything,"
recalls Nellie who first joined the
Johnston clan as a housemaid in
the 1930s. She worked for Earl's
mother for three years when she
decided she may as well stay,
and married Earl.
Alongside her husband, Nellie
fed the beef cows and milked the
Shorthorn cows until progress
intervened. When a pipeline was
installed in the barn requiring more
button pushing than teat pulling,
Nellie bowed out of the milking,
reluctant to learn the new system.
She kept busy with other farm and
household chores, along with raising
four children — Jean, Jim, Evelyn and
Campbell.
In thc early 1960s, Earl purchased
150 more acres in preparation for his
son's entrance into the business.
the sons became more streamlined
with Jim taking over the beef
operation, Campbell concentrated on
the dairy herd of grade Holsteins and
both were involved in the cash crop
end of things. But the heavy
workload involved in dairy
Earl Johnston was Mayor at 1976 Bruce Match.
Older son Jim studied agriculture at
Guelph University and joined the
business in 1977, seven years after
Campbell purchased 100 acres from
his great-aunt to bring the acreage
tally to its present 500 acre size. As
farming combined with the
uncertainty of the supply
management system in the
dairy industry induced
Campbell to sell his 35 -head
milking herd earlier this year
and join the cow -calf
operation with his brother.
Together, they hope to double
their current Simmental herd
of 50 cattle. Campbell is also
considering establishing a
stocker sideline at his farm.
Cash crop makes up a good
portion of the brothers'
workload. Yearly, they plant
an average of 140 acres of
soybeans, another 140 of
corn, 30 acres of wheat and
40 to 50 acres of barley. But
their numbers have been
adjusted this year to
accommodate the plowing
match. Since IPM organizers
require the match site to be a
seeded field, more than the
usual amount of the Johnston
acreage is seeded this year.
Less open land also altered the
brothers' soybean -barley ratio.
Normally, soybeans would dominate
the land, but this year the brothers
planted twice as much barley,
reducing the soybean acreage.
The alteration means
their rotation will be out
of whack for two years.
This year's over-
abundance of hay will
result in next year's
plenitude of crops, as this
year's grass fields are
plowed down. Jim said
the plan is to harvest the
barley as barlage to make
up the reduction in
haylage until they can get
back into rotation.
14 BRUCE COUNTY I.P.M. EDITION
Jim and Campbell
Johnston have other
things to do besides
hosting IPMs. They run
a beef operation on the
site of the Match.