HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-09-11, Page 20:PAGE 12A—GQDFrRICH SIGNALSTAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1975
He just Likes cows
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Goderich Twp. dairy farmer takes daily
BY JEFF SEDDON seven day weak, 12 hours a day
job.
.John De Ruyter makes his Success in the dairy industry,
living from contented cows, He according to John, is not just -
is a dairy producer from the work involved in running
Goderich Township and to the farm. A lot of help from his
- maintain a respectable income family and a friendly bank
for him and his wife and five manager allow him to snake a
children he has to devote a respectable business in
great deal of his time and agriculture. He relies on' his
energy towards keeping 72 credit rating for capital ex
dairy cattle contented. penses for machinery, milking
To keep his herd.happy, John equipment and other major
must be their chef, purchases and takes advantage
housekeeper and part-time '"of his family and hired hand to
veterinarian. Tack onto those keep the herd happy.
chores the added task of The daily 'routine on the De
handling the finances for the Ruyter farm has everyone' out
farm and you come up with °a of bed to-nd 'at the breakfast
At chore time the De Ruyter familyallpitch in to get the jobs
a done as quickly as possible. John moves behind,jhe rows of
cattle with.a sprayer to apply, .fly repellent while his wife'
Marion sweeps up the remains of a passing cow. (staff -
photo)'
FOR ALL YOUR LUMBER & BUILDING SUPPLY NEEDS
Cleanliness. is very important in quality 'Milk production.
Before each milking John's wife. Marion washes all thecow's
udders with a mi,Ciure of water and iodine to kill bacteria
that may get into the.milk. (staff,photo) -
ecce has the financing you need.
It's face it, you don't need a hank to tell
you how to plan your future. That's your..
hu§iness. And we respect
But let's say you'v'e got your plans all
sorted out. And your plans are going to need
money, come to vs. t'e'a like to help you,'\t'e're
the;Bank of Commerce.
We can custom tailor an entire credit
package specifically for your farm. The package
includes short term credit, to cover your month
to month and season to, season operations and
longer range financing of items such as machin-
ery, grain storage or additional land. ` 'to
We. can lend you the -motley you need nosy,
And the nice thing is that you can arrange '
repayment specifically to suit your cash flow,
If you wish we can also arrange low -cast
credit life insurance.
Whatever your credit needs, the person to
talk to is r local Commerce manager. So if
vou'.rc a farmer who has' future plans that
include moneys come talk to us.
CANADIAN IMPERIAL
BANK OF COMMERCE
t.ih around six o'clock. A -usually grabs a pail and mixes
►tou,i'ishing meal precedes„a trip up. some warm water and
to
the barn to relieve the cows iodine . to, wash udders. The
f their overnight production of washing cleans the cows' teats
milk and kills any bacteria that may
.l,,hn s hired hand Len Cook be transferred to the r»ilk,
,,r• one of his children, Ruth. 11, All the preparation ,Out of the
Ron, 10, Brenda, eight, *A'way, John and his hired hand
l'ari� n, se\ en or Turn, five, start at one end of the barn with
heats into the pasture to he' d two milkers each, down the row
The into the barn• of cattle. John's milking
The animals know what system is automated and a
happens when they are chased, pipeline equipped with a
to the barn in the morning and • vacuum system pulls the milk
quietly file to their stalls like from the• cow' through a pipe
•factory workers punching a running the length of the barn
time clock and heading to their and deposits it in the bulk tank.
job site. Someone, .grabs a John can 'milk six cows at the
sprayer and doses the cows. same time but finds that with
with fly repellent to make them two men working four cows
more , comfortable' • in the simultaneously, the pace is
pasture. Johns wife Marton
erl0Ugh
to keep them moving
routine
in stride..
'steadily. Once the. cows have
all been milked, the _children
run from side to side untying
tl .rn. The cows head back. aut.
into the pasture with the sane
precision as they came in.
'Regularity , cif the milking
procedures WeIp a great deal
to keep production up, ac-
cording to John. The same
people .doing the same jobs *at
the same time makes the
ani,pla,ls relaxed and Contented
and producing.
The animals all give varying
a mounts 0.• of milk, some
naturally are- better than
others, but John 'concerns
himself as mu ch with quality
as he does with quantity. He
feels that if his. animals each
give an average of 45 pounds of
. By; milking four cows at the same time John and his hired hand Len Cook (rear) are kept
hopping from animal to animal. John can milk six at the same time with his automatic milker
but feels that four is plenty. (staff -photo,) F„ ry , • -
a
uthorize'd by Huron -Middlesex NDP
milk over a year he will be
happy.
After shipment the milk is.
graded and tested for bacteria.
John's product, industrial milk,
can have up,.to 250,000 parts per
Milligram of bacteria and still
be, acceptable for consumption
but Jahn is proud of his law
bacteria levels. One of his
highest levels was $0,000 parts
per milligram but. he quickly
corrected that to maintain his
verage of 37,000 parts per
milligram or lower. He has had
the level down to an almost
unheard of 3.,000.
By stressing the quality of his
pt'oduc't, John feels he
guarantees his income. He
feels that if he cuts corners on
his cleanliness and • quality
ccfntrol, he risks a high bacteria
count and that spells disaster
for a dairy farmer•. His milk is
dumped arid' may he unac-
ceptable for three or four days
until he- can reduce the bac-
teria. And that means three or
four days until he can income.
A ' careful witch of ,the
animals is required to keep the
'count of bacteria down. One
defective •animal can con'
t urinate the day's milk and if
she is nctt,di5.c•o\:ergd.quick1y,
can ' mean several days lost
production for the unaffected
herd because of -lost milk.
The milking chores are
(continued on page 1.3A)
NFU urges
members
I.� dropbavis
Walter Miller, Vice President
of the National Farmers Union
has expressed disappointment
of •the attitude of Davis
government, in that it , has
rejected, out of hand, proposals
to give farmers an adequate
income.
. He said that a .telex received
from the" Hob, Wm, Davis, in
response' to a NFU five -point
change in. the Ontario cow -calf
Income Stabilization Program,
received.only one concession -
to , extend the deadline .for
registration c,►f producers from
August 3'I st to September 1'!th.
"The gut issues requested
were ignored, which reflects
arrogance, lack of sensitivity,
and disconcern for farmers on
the part of the Davis govern-
ment;" Mr. Miller objected.
Mr. Miller said, "We now
have no alternative but to take
our case to the public, and ask
all farmers in Ontaril► and
. y
those who believe farmers are
entitled to he paid for their
work, to direct their .support
away., from Wm..' Davis's
• candidates in the forthcoming
provincial election."
He said that a meeting, of
"NFU local and' district officers,•
from across Ontario, in
Toronto, August 25, gave a
unanimous directive to this
effectif government did • not
respond adequately to the
request.
Mr. Miller said, "Mr. Davis'
denial of supply rnanagement
in the. Ontario cow -calf
program will certainly take
,., care of the supply situation,
because • before long the -Many ..
producers- liquidating their
herds may create shortages."
He said the NFU is seeking a
commitment from Robert
Nixon, Liberal Leader and
Stephen Lewis, Leader -.of the
NDP.
CLAY --
Silo Unloaders
Feeders
Cleaners
Stabling
- Log Elevators
- Liquid Manure Equipment
- Hog Equipment
FARMATIC --"
• Mills
• Augers, etc.
ACORN
Cleners
Heated Waterers
ZERO
Bulk Tanks
Pipeline ,& Parlour Equipment
VV E STE EL ROSCO.Granaries
B & L Hog .Panelling
Bulk• Tank & Pipeline cleaning
Detergents, Teat Dip, etc.
•Bovadine
byne
Losan
Uddersan
Foamcheck -
Kleeneasy
't:OWRY FARM SYSTEMS
RR 1, Kincardine, Ontario
Phone 395-5286