The Rural Voice, 1979-09, Page 14arrangement, have almost 1,000 beef cattle, mostly Charolais-
crossed and Herefords. They also keep 50 cows of their own.
Unlike the Crows, Ivan Mielhausen has joined the move to
growing his own corn - this summer he put in about 40 acres of
the crop. The secret to growing the crop in the peninsula he
believes, is good tile drainage.
While not all of the peninsula Is this rough, the landscape Is typical of
that found on many northern farms.
The Mielhausens grow barley, 300 to 4043 acres of hay as well
as corn. Like other stock operations on the peninsula they buy
their cattle in the fall, fatten them for a year, and sell them in the
fall sales in Wiarton. The Mielhausens also purchase mainly
Western cattle, although at one time they used to buy from
Quebec. The cattle are brought to their farm from the West by
trailer, which means the cattle are on the move for about 48
hours.
Like many of his neighbours, Ivan Mielhausen leaves his cows
out in the winter in the cedar bush, and they adapt well to the
winter conditions.
Since Ivan Mielhausen combines the job of reeve of Eastnor
Township with his beef operation, he seemed a natural candidate
for the question of how tourism and agriculture mixed in the
north of Bruce county.
Ivan Mlelhausen stands In the midst of some of the Western cattle he
raises on the 1200 acres of land he farms Just outside the small town of
Ferndale In the Bruce Pennlneula.
Mr. Mielhausen believes the two activities complement each
other - and he points out that tourists pay more than half the
taxes in his particular township. He doesn't find the tourists
affect his own operation and admits, "I'm glad to have them to
help pay the taxes." The reeve said rougher land can still be
severed from a farm to be sold for recreational or residential
uses, but not if it's prime agricultural land.
Ivan Mielhausen started farming in the area about 30 years
ago. and if there's one thing that amazes him today, it's the
i itemise in the penninsula's land values. He once bought a 100
PG. 12 THE RURAL VOICEISEPTEMBEA 1979
acre farm for $5,000 and today, a similar farm, with good
buildings, is worth $100,000. The cattleman, who has nought a
number of farms over the years, said since you have to buy
machinery to run 100 acres, you might as well run 500 acres.
Mr. Mielhausen foresees a problem for younger farmers in the
area who can't get a hold of land, since many retiring farmers are
selling out to their neighbours who are already established
farmers. Farming, however, is still the major occupation of the
fulltime residents of his township.
Although the current low beef prices hardly delight him - "Oh,
they'll probably break us," he said facetiously - his farming
operation has survived other low cycles. But the rising cost of
land and machinery does concern him, and like many other
farmers in the area, he's found expansion has become the name
of the game in the last few years.
DOUG HAYES
One farmer who is well aware of the problems of acquiring
land on the penninsula is Doug Hayes, a young cattleman who
farms north of Ferndale, on Con. 5, Lindsay Township.
Admitting it's been "rough to compete" with established
farmers who are buying up the land, Doug Hayes now has over
900 acres in his operation, including 450 acres which he leases
from the ARDA program. Right now, he's fattening about 500
cattle, includingCharolais and Herefords, with the largest share
of the calves bought last fall.
Doug Hayes is growing about 45 acres of corn for sileage this
year, and said with about 2600 heat units available on the land,
"you can grow as good a crop as they can further south,"
providing you use early hybrids. Like Ivan Mielhausen, he
believes you have to tile corn -growing acreage. This year Doug
Hayes tile drained 25 acres and eventually he hopes to get all the
cropland on his farms drained.
The cattleman, who graduated from the Centralia College of
Agricultural Technology, also grows a good deal of hay, and said
with land now so expensive, farmers must go to more than one
crop of hay per year. With alfalfa, Hayes said he can generally
get two cuttings and with his trefoil crops, there's generally one
cutting and the after grass can be used for fall pasture.
When Doug Hayes finished CCAT, he started farming on his
family farm. Although he said there are still a number of
200 -acre farms around, north of Wiarton, he said likely 15 to 20
farmers own half the land. With a 200 -acre operation "you
almost have to work out" so Doug combined farming with
carpentry jobs for three yearslUnfortunately, most of his work
was in the summer months, which just doesn't fit in with trying
to farm.
Doug Hayes said at one time the cheaper farms in the area
could be purchased for pasture.
However, now tourists are buying these farms instead of
cottages, which takes the land out of production and raises the
price of other peninsula farms. As Doug Hayes points out, "the
land is limited up here - the peninsula is only so wide."
Also, according to the cattleman, there is very little rented
farmland available in the area, unlike Huron County for
example.
Until last fall, Doug Hayes also had 40 cows, but now he's
completely into fattening Western calves. He said the current
low beef prices will hurt anyone who bought cattle in the spring,
but fall calves should be alright. Still, he thinks the situation is
better the way it is now, than when prices were higher.
Like many beet farmers in the county, Doug Hayes is part of
the University of Guelph beef study. Cattlemen keep a daily log
of the animals they needle, of disease control and of cattle they
lose. The bodies of any cattle which die in the duration of the
study are sent to the University of Guelph for autopsies.