The Rural Voice, 1980-04, Page 14Cheaper replacements help
Daunts make money
innovation to Pat Daunt, of R.R.2.
Gorrie, another Perth County Beef Farmer, .
means applying knowledge and experience
to things as they are, "facing up to the
reality of the situation, applying your
knowledge to that situation."
He was born in Ireland where his parents
were beef farmers and he has worked all
his life with beef cattle so he's got a certain
insight, " a certain understanding of
them."
"That's fairly i mportant," he said.
Although he started off with purebred
shorthorns and did rather well with them,
when A.I. came along he had to face up to
the reality of that situation when he found
the bulls weren't selling. He decided to
take an alternative route and went into
feeding cattle, not the usual higher priced
beef cattle, but cattle which hadn't been
de -horned or bulls which hadn't been
castrated or weren't selling because of
their color or conformation. to these cattle,
he saw a source of cheaper replacements.
Although he can't do anything about the
color of the cattle, he can do something
about the horns.
Mr. Daunt sells his cattle to the Ontario
Stockyards in Toronto.
For about 20 years, he's been putting in
this type of cattle and says, "Not only do
we think it's great. Our bank manager
thinks it's great."
Mr. Daunt makes no bones about why he
chose this route over a more traditional
beef operation.
MAKE MONEY
"We're in business to make money. Now
our object is to earn a living out of the
cattle business. The reality of the situation
is that these cattle make us more money."
He buys his cattle anywhere from
Western Ontario to Quebec. Lately, he
said, he's been doing quite well at the
Kitchener Stockyards.
Mr. Daunt studies the markets. "We're
in close touch with the markets all the timd.
Every day we pick up all the information
we can on the radio. You've got to train
yourself to face the situation, be aware of
PG. 12 THE RURAL VOICE/APRIL 1980
market trends all the time," he said.
He sells his cattle in small truckload lots
of about seven steers. At a recent Ontario
Stockyards sale, seven steers brought him
$7,000. By dealing with the Ontario
Stockyards, Mr. Daunt believes he has a
fair degree of security in payments. He
believes in marketing in small lots,
because that way if anything is lost, it's
only a small lot.
WITHOUT RISK
"We're trying to play the thing without
any risk," he said.
"Along the road you come into the
question of financing. We buy smaller
cattle. Our price is down. We've grown
into the thing," he said adding that each
year he can reinvest his profits into more
stock.
Between Mr. Daunt and his son Joe they
have about 650 acres and run around 350
cattle. There is a farm in Joe's name. Jae
just graduated from an agriculture
economics course at the University of
Guelph. In talking about having onefarm
in his son's name. Mr. Daunt refers to this
as looking to the future.
"I give him financial security. He gives
me physical security. That's a trade-off
that works to both our advantages."
Joe is just one of five children who, as
they came through high school, helped out
on the farm by feeding the cattle in the
evening.
Mr. Daunt says he enjoys farming --it's a
way of life for him, but if it didn't provide
him with financial security, he wouldn't be
doing it.
"We're trying to do things within our
means. We're not too keen on long term
financing, except maybe on the purchase of
land."
Mr. Daunt, who is a Perth County
director of the Ontario Cattlemen's
Association, has other interests outside his
own cattle operation. He was one of a
number of people who took part in a study
to classify Ontario Foodland areas in a
booklet prepared for Ontario Hydro. He
also participated in another booklet which
dealt with the impact of generator settings
in which he helped to identify agricultural
areas as well as ecological factors and
recreation factors.
He is a member of the Christian
Farmers' Federation and son Joe is a
provincial delegate for the Junior Farmers.
Mr. Daunt spends time off the farm
partly due to social concern and because he
believes that being out with people is good
for personal development, and that
"you're always learning about practical
ideas to bring back to your own
operation."
PORTER COMMISSION
As a representative for the Ontario
Cattlemen's Association, Mr. Daunt was
also active in the Porter Commission study
on hydro which was done last year.
On their farm operation, the Daunts
produce all their own feed, just buying
minerals and a little bit of concentrate.
They also use only the absolute minimum
of machinery, but what they do have, they
treat well. In fact, they have one 80 h.p.
tractor that they've had for 26 years and
it's still running.
Explaining how they can make money in
their type of operation. Mr. Daunt said at
one period last year 259 cattle from April 1
to December 31 were bought at $403.59 a
piece and sold for $924.78 per animal.
At his own facilities. he has four barns to
introduce the cattle into.
"The set-up is very, very basic. We
never spent much money on them (the
barns). The cattle-are_comfortable— that's
the important tn►ng.
"We look atter our cattle. There aren't
too many things that come ahead of them."
The Daunts buy their cattle when prices
are reasonable and they're usually on the
market for cattle with the exception of the
months of April, May and June.
"It's something I enjoy. I like being with
cattle," Mr. D.,unt says.