The Rural Voice, 2003-09, Page 38Bucking the trend
Clinton -area farmer diversifies and
makes a dairg bg-product, bull Jerseg
calves, into a sought-after
niche product
Story and photo by Bonnie Gropp
Gary Haak turns Jersey bull calves, once an unwanted by-product of the
dairy industry into a valuable niche product.
Gary Haak is one beef producer
who has not been hurt by the
recent BSE issue.
Haak, who sells organic beef direct
says, "I have a lot of customers who
come in and comment on the beef
industry, but I don't really feel part
of it. I'm not selling a commodity,
I'm selling what people are putting
on their barbecue.
"I'm trying to find a niche, to fit in
and provide for my family. I'm glad
at this point that I have taken this
direction. If I hadn't I don't know ..."
It was actually another crisis in the
34 THE RURAL VOICE
agriculture industry that set Haak on
the path to direct beef sales. When
the crash hit the pork industry in
1998, he realized his vulnerability —
and as a result completely changed
the way he 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
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
consider 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,
corn averaged just under 120 bushels
an acre and the weeds were low. The
wheat crop was 65 bushels per acre.
The soybeans, 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
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.
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."