HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen Agriculture, 2003-03-19, Page 31On the range
Pasture-fed jersey bulls have become the newest enterprise for the farm of Gary and Yolanda
Haak of Hullett Twp.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
When the crash hit the pork
industry in 1998, Gary Haak of
Hullett Twp. realized his
vulnerability. And as a result
completely changed the way he
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farms.
Haak had worked on the family
farm all of his life, helping out as a
youngster and teen, then working in
partnership with his father in 1994.
When he and his wife Yolanda
bought his parents out in 1997, they
had a 115-sow, farrow to finish
markets jersey
cc/nsider making some changes. In
the fall of 1998 he bought 90 ewes
with the intention of getting hay and
pasture into rotation. “That was the
other thing. With the sows I was
never comfortable about having no
hay for the soil. Without that I felt
my yields had peaked.”
Around the same time, Haak was
developing an interest in organic
farming. He began to investigate,
mainly, he said, because he didn’t
think he could afford the sprays and
fertilizers for the 1999 crop.
The result was interesting. From
the 350 acres he was then working,
com averaged just under 120 bushels
an acre and the weeds were low. The
wheat crop was 65 bushels per acre.
The soy, he admits, did not fare as
well. Yields were 32 bushels and
“as far as weed control ... it was a
nightmare combining.”
Haak also began to look at other
livestock options. “Yolanda’s parents
were dairy farmers near Woodstock
and I was considering whether there
was any way I could get into dairy. I
thought starting with a few jerseys
might be the way to do it.”
As he had no quota and was not set
up for milking, he decided to buy
some retiring cows from a friend
operation.
Though he did some custom work
as well, the hogs were the primary
source of income. “We had all our
eggs in one basket,” he says. “After
the crash we felt very vulnerable.”
Rather than struggle along with the
status quo, however, Haak began to
with the intention of building a herd.
In 1999 he bought two, one of them
expecting.
With the arrival of the first calf,
Haak bought a bull calf. When they
were old enough to be weaned he
bought two more, bringing the total
to five. “I found jerseys to be
adaptable for fostering,” he says.
beef
While that point has made owning
jerseys over other dairy cattle
favourable, Haak initially chose
them for other reasons, one of them
being economics.
“When I was buying the price at
the time was $25 or $30. A Holstein
was $120.”
The jerseys’ size was another
bonus. “The reason a lot of people
don’t buy jersey bulls is because
they tend to be small. They don’t fit
into most feedlot situations.”
• “However, our experience is that
once they reach a certain age they
have enough meat on them to last
about three-quarters of a year for a
small family.”
The trait which makes jerseys the
breed of choice for cream producers
is also the reason the meat is not as
suitable when the animal is
conventionally grain fed, as it tends
to be heavily marbled. Haak has
found that by limiting the grain
intake and focusing more on a good
quality hay diet the meat is more
tender.
“Ruminant animals are designed to
eat forages, they are salad bar beef.
If you start feeding them grain it is
hard on the digestive system.”
Also, incorporating his new
interest in organics, Haak’s jersey
beef are medication and hormone
free. They are raised on pastures on
which neither synthetic fertilizers
nor pesticides have been used.
Though not certified organic,
primarily because the process
requires money and is accompanied
Continued on A-7