The Rural Voice, 1989-09, Page 26GAME
FARMING
randview Farm, owned
by Wolf von Teichman of
T Toronto, is located between
Meaford and Thombury on Georgian
Bay. The land base was originally
700 acres, the home of 5 horses and
10 beef cattle. In the spring of 1985,
manager Willy Effinger and his wife
Hilde were hired to turn the property
into "a viable operation without
investing heavily in either dairy or
egg production quota."
"After considerable research,"
says Willy Effinger, "the alternative
of game farming was chosen. We
decided, at that time, that our own best
efforts would direct the production
and marketing strategies."
The Effingers moved to Canada
from West Germany eight years ago.
Both from farm backgrounds, they
had some experience in game farming.
The idea of raising buffalo was most
appealing to the Effingers, so the
business started with a purebred
buffalo herd of 4 bulls and 26 cows,
purchased in Canada.
A buffalo is the same animal as a
Farm managers Willy and Hilde Effinger
have combined some interesting animals
with some interesting ideas. The result?
A unique success.
"bison," the main breeds being the
woods bison (a large, tall animal)
and the plains bison (a shorter, wider
animal). Grandview Farms raises
plains buffalo. "The buffalo were
brucellosis and tuberculosis -tested,"
Effinger notes. "It is a very important
health concern."
In 1986, the Effingers acquired a
herd of European fallow deer: 50
does and 5 bucks imported from the
U.S. None were available in Canada,
and while deer farming is common in
Europe, deer cannot be imported from
Europe because of strict health regu-
lations in Canada and the high cost
of transporting them. The deer were
held in quarantine in the U.S. for two
months and then tested for brucellosis,
tuberculosis, blue -tongue, and
blasmosis.
In the fall of 1986, the Effingers
expanded the operation again, this
time to include wild boar. Farming
with wild boar began in Europe, par-
ticularly in Germany, Hungary, and
Sweden. But 11 sows and 2 boars
were bought in Canada, as wild boar
by Cathy Laird
cannot be imported from anywhere
else.
The wild pigs are a hardy breed.
"The sows are most aggressive during
farrowing time," Effinger says, "but
they can generally be tamed by hand-
feeding. They stay in the bush all
winter and root. We feed them alfalfa
hay and organically grown grain at
one pound of crushed grain per pig
per day."
The scope of the farm increased
yet again in 1987 to include wild tur-
keys; pheasants and laying hens were
added in 1988. The fowl are kept to
accommodate customers between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, when
as many as 500 pheasants and 100
turkeys are sold for meat.
Today, Grandview Farm has 360
buffalo, 260 fallow deer, 160 wild
boar, and 50 head of purebred Aber-
deen Angus, plus turkeys, pheasants,
ducks, geese, and several horses. The
land base has increased to 1,200 acres.
One difficulty in raising buffalo is
fencing; 450 acres are fenced for the
game and 100 acres are fenced for the
24 THE RURAL VOICE