The Rural Voice, 1998-10, Page 38FARM SAFETY FACTS
FROM THE
WEST WAWANOSH
MUTUAL
INSURANCE
COMPANY
1879 c ) 1998
"_Neighbouri'ielpirlg Neighbour"
529-7921
((i
Each year chainsaws cause
serious injury and death in
Ontario woodlots
SAFETY TIPS:
• Prepare the cutting site and have
an escape route.
• Use proper felling techniques.
• Make sure chain is correctly tiled
and properly tensioned.
• Know causes of and how to avoid
KICKBACK.
• Wear appropriate personal
protective equipment.
YOUR LOCAL AGENTS
Frank Foran, Lucknow 528-3824
Lyons & Mulhern Insurance Brokers Ltd.,
Goderich 524-2664
Banter, MacEwan, Feagan Insurance
Brokers Ltd.. Godench 524-8376
Kenneth B. MacLean, Paisley 368-7537
John Nixon, Brussels 887-9417
Delmar Sproul, Aubum 529-7273
Clinton 482-3434
Goderich 524-9899
Donald R. Simpson, Ripley 395.5362
Chapman Graham & Associates,
Owen Sound 376-1774
McMaster Siemon Insurance Brokers,
Mitchell 348-9150
Miller Insurance, Kincardine 396-3465
Orr Insurance Brokers Inc., Stratford 271-4340
P.A. Roy Insurance Brokers Inc., Clinton 482-9357
Georgian Bay Insurance Brokers Ltd. 371-2104
Owen Sound 1.800.950-4758
Westlake - McHugh Insurance Brokers
Zunch 236-4391
Moore Insurance Broker Ltd., Dublin 345-3512
Hemsworth Insurance Brokers, Listowel 291-3920
Kleinknecht Insurance Brokers, Linwood 698-2215
G.L. Barclay Insurance Inc., Grand Bend 238-6790
"INSURANCE FOR FARM, RESIDENTIAL,
COMMERCIAL AND AUTO"
34 THE RURAL VOICE
were lifestyle decisions, not
economic decisions, he says. "We
never put pencil to paper, we just
decided this was what we wanted to
do." And, he says, it was a good
decision for the family, giving his
children something to work at.
The first economic decision was
made in 1980 to install electricity so
a vacuum pump could be put on the
pipeline system to get more sap from
the trees. In their first year they got
as much sap from 1,000 taps as they
had the previous year from 1,800 taps
in a gravity -fed system.
"It was the one step that we made
that was the most significant
economic improvement to our
operation,"Fortune said.
Later, by thinning the bush to let
the best trees grow, they were
able to increase their
production to 4,000 taps in the same
area previously yielding 1,800 taps.
They know the bush is capable of
6,000 or so taps in the next 10 years.
In addition, he says, a thinned bush
will produce sap that's about 10 per
cent sweeter.
In 1990 they made a decision that
was both economic and lifestyle,
changing from a wood -fired to an oil-
fired evaporator to reduce the
workload. They couldn't have
continued to expand with the work
involved in a wood -fired operation,
Fortune said.
In 1991-92 they started a six -acre
maple orchard. They also just bought
another bush to increase the size of
their operation and take advantage of
efficiencies of scale, bringing them to
6,000 to 7,000 taps.
Fortune carried out an economic
study of syrup production for the
1997 Cornell University conference
on maple syrup production that
looked at economies of operations
ranging from 250 to 10,000 taps. The
study assumed there would be 50
taps per acre producing, with the help
of a vacuum system, 1.25 litres of
syrup per tap. The study assumed an
oil -fired, reverse osmosis evaporation
system. In his study he also assumed
a cost for land at $1,500 an acre for
wooded land.
The conclusion was that if an
operation has under 500 taps it's a
hobby. Over 1,000 taps it can start to
become a business and make a bit of
money but to support a family's
entire income would require 10,000
taps.
"This is a high risk business," he
said, referring to things like the ice
storm. "It is also a high investment
business."
"When you get up to 10,000 taps,
when you include land and
equipment, you're getting up around
$250,000 to $300,000. When I sat
down in 1996 to do our study, I was
horrified to find we had an
investment of well over $100,000 in
our operation and I didn't know it. It
had crept up on us over 25 years."
Costs run from $50 per tap for
small operations to $30 per tap for
Targe operations, he estimated.
But returns can be good in a
maple syrup operation. While a small
operation with 250 taps will return
only minimum wage, at 1,000 taps
the return is about $15 an hour and at
10,000 taps the earnings will be $25-
$30 an hour.
And besides the money, there arc
other benefits. "It's a good lifestyle
and it's one of the things you can do
as a family enterprise."
One of the families making maple
syrup a family business are the
Jakemans of Beachville in Oxford
County. Bruce Jakeman and his
sister-in-law Mary discussed this
successful business that ranges from
its bush operation through further
processing and exporting of their
own and others' syrup to agri-
tourism which includes tours and a
gift shop.
Bruce and his brother Bob took
over the farm that had been in the
family for four generations since
1876. He credits his grandmother
with creating the roots of the retail
business, going to farmers' markets
to sell various products from the farm
including Jakeman's maple sugar.
Today the family makes "tons" of the
sugar from their own syrup and syrup
they buy from others.
The family tradition in maple
syrup almost ended in 1969
when the sugar house burned
but they were encouraged by
neighbours to keep going and they
built a new one. At the time they still
milked cows but in 1983 they sold
the cows and turned to their maple
business for more of their income
(though they still do some cropping).
Today they have 8,600 taps but they