The Rural Voice, 1987-06, Page 19T
Reduction Program, which offers a
grant to reduce interest on farm debt to
eight per cent. They've used FOCAP
— the Farm Operating Capital Assis-
tance Program, which brings interest
on operating loans back to eight per
cent — under their corporation, and,
having considered it in detail, plan to
take out a Commodity -Based Loan
(CBL) from the FCC (a six per cent
rate, they note, is hard to beat, espec-
ially compared to a mortgage at 14 per
cent, and the CBL does have a ceiling
on interest).
"Know your banker," in the Van
Raays' business, is as cardinal a rule as
"Know thyself."
But there are other, differently
focused practices that the Van Raays
cite as contributing to their success
in establishing themselves and nour-
ishing their business. For the past
year and a half, they have used the
computerized Pigtales record-keeping
system supplied by K. G. Johnson of
Seaforth. It replaced a manual system
which was handicapped by the invest-
ment of time required if the Van Raays
were to include sow histories in their
records. The Pigtales system has an
added advantage: information leaves
the farm by courier every week, rain
or shine, and comes back complete by
Friday, detailing, among other things,
number shipped, reason for leaving,
time to breed, and weaning age.
The Van Raays quote Jeremy
Smith, their liaison at K. G. Johnson:
"There are people who raise hogs, and
there are people who keep pigs. You
don't want to be the ones who keep
pigs." Martin notes that while they
may one day install a computerized
system of their own, they are pleased
with the Pigtales service and the advice
that goes with it. Jeremy Smith is
another valuable source of informa-
tion, a commodity the Van Raays
don't weigh lightly.
The Van Raays also buy all their
gilts to avoid the intensive work of
tagging and selecting. At one time,
Martin says, "We had a bright idea we
could pull our own gilts back. It
didn't work."
"We don't pretend we can do every-
thing," he adds.
The gilts are FI Camborough, a
breed imported from England a few
years ago. Based in Alberta, the Cam -
borough organization has multiplier
herds in Ontario, and also supplies
crossbreds under its Canabrid logo.
The Van Raays have been using a
York x Durox boar (Canabrid) and
recently bought a purebred Cambor-
ough boar. Helping with the pigs
they have a full-time employee, their
herdsman, Peter Mathonia, a 21 -year-
old whiz kid in the bam who came
highly recommended by word of
mouth. "You never get away without
a herdsman," Martin says, "We're not
that crazy." The Van Raays also hire
help for spring and fall cropping.
Once on a herd health program
with visits from the veterinarian once
a month, the Van Raays say that in
the end they didn't see the benefits of
the program. The bams are clean, adds
Teresa, and, quite simply, no-one gets
in. Some time ago they had problems
with bloody scours, but it's been "qui-
et since," Martin says. The farrow to
finish operation includes five farrow-
ing rooms, four nurseries, a grower
room (35 to 100 pounds), and three
finishing barns. High moisture corn
is fed in the finishing barns, along
with a soybean pre -mix. Martin also
prefers to make his own feed for the
piglets, having priced out complete
feeds not long ago when worried about
mycotoxins in his corn.
Most of the 400 acres of corn, 100
of soys, and remainder of white beans
and barley (300 acres are rented this
year, 200 of them from Case and
Annie Van Raay) will be sold, but
some of the corn is fed through the
hogs and some is dried at the mill and
hauled back home to be mixed and
ground. Each year the Van Raays add
to their equipment line, although they
have no combine, and credit Earl
Becker, a neighbour, for his work and
help with the combining on the farm
over the past 15 years. Not having a
combine, notes Martin, is one of the
reasons they can get away with run-
ning so much land.
Help from different quarters is what
the Van Raays stress as their greatest
asset — some hard-hitting advice from
a KenPal salesman prompted signifi-
cant changes, numerous phone calls to
the local OMAF office have clarified
the details of assistance programs, and
farmers met through the Pioneer busi-
ness have introduced a variety of ideas.
And, taking the initiative, the Van
Raays deliberately seek out successful
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JUNE 1987 19