The Rural Voice, 1996-07, Page 27The Crawfords divide the large
flock into two 250 -ewe flocks for
pasturing. It means there isn't as
much trouble with moving the flocks
and getting lambs mixed up with the
wrong mother, John says. The flocks
are moved to a new paddock about
every four days.
acture is the big crop on the
p
farm. The Crawfords buy all
their hay except for one six -
acre parcel. With so many
animals it means buying 500
five -foot -by -four -foot bales a
year. It was a dilemma whether
to grow pasture or hay, Gillian
says, but when they penciled it
out, it made more sense to buy
hay and grow pasture. It saves
his time and the investment in
hay -making equipment, John
says.
To stock the farm he chose
North Country Cheviots
crossed with Dorset. He had
worked with North Country
Cheviots in Scotland and the
Dorset has good size, is quite
prolific and adds the ability to
breed out of season. Finding
500 breeding ewes in a
province of small producers
was also a challenge. They
began with 150 ewes, then
picked up 200 from a larger
Eastern Ontario breeder with
1800 breeding ewes. Most of
the rest were picked up in
small lots all over Ontario.
"I've seen an awful lot of
Ontario just going to see
sheep," John says. Gillian adds
they've worn out several road
maps locating farms. Now
they're able to provide their own
replacement stock and the search is
over.
Learning the differences in
farming in Ontario compared to
Scotland was another hurdle. "The
first winter was an education," John
chuckles. In Scotland, though much
farther north than southern Ontario,
the maritime climate made them
think minus 10° Celsius was cold and
there was no snow so the sheep
stayed out all year. Their first Ontario
winter was one of the coldest on
record with many days in the minus
30° range.
John laughs as he recalls he
bought a scraper blade for his tractor
planning to use it to clean snow off
their long lane. A neighbour gently
suggested a snow blower would be
more appropriate. When he took the
advice John ended up using the
snowblower every day that winter.
Having to provide indoor winter
protection for the shccp was another
change. The home barn holds 300
ewes so he had to rent two other
barns to find enough space for the
producers target. "For me it doesn't
work out on paper," he says.
The bulk of their Iambs arc
marketed through the markets at
Brussels and Cookstown. They sell
some to regular customers and would
like to do more direct marketing but
they need to have lamb year-round
for that.
Another arca where John has
adapted his thinking is in the
entertainment/educational
venture of their Saturday
sheep demonstrations.
There's a farm in Scotland
that provides a show, says
Gillian, but they had just
laughed at it, thinking it
was a silly idea. While they
wcrc visiting New Zealand
(they lived on a sheep
station for two months),
they saw the original
entertainment farm on
which the Scottish farm
had been modeled. Still,
they weren't impressed.
But after they set up in
Huron County with their
paddocks at the front of the
farm, they began noticing
people stop at the side of
the road to watch the Iambs
gambol across beautiful
green grass.
When pe,oplc saw John at
work with his border collie
Mcg, herding the shccp,
they always stopped to
watch.
The topper was when a
group of shccp farmers
from the Ottawa arra were
touring the farm. John sent
Meg out to bring in the shccp. The
fanners wcrc fascinating and the
Crawfords thought if shccp farmers,
who kncw the business, could he so
entertained, there might he
something to the idea of a sheep
demonstration farm.
0 ut they went on the road again
rounding up representatives
of 14 different breeds,
everything from the rare four -horned
Jacob shccp to Tunis, Scottish
Blackfacc, Polypays and Romncys.
They also picked up another
attraction, their pair of shaggy
Highland cows with their spectacular
horns.
The project was helped by the fact
Two sheep listen
patiently (above)
as Gillian
describes the
qualities of
different sheep
breeds. At right,
John
demonstrates the
art of shearing
sheep to a
curious group of
school children.
Even in the first
year, the
demonstrations
drew surprisingly
well.
entire flock. Some time in the future
more barn space will have to be
created at home, he says.
They've had to adjust their
attitudes toward marketing in Ontario
as well. Currently they have one
main lambing season and John had
once felt he'd never get involved in
breeding out of season. As he has
come to understand the different
Ontario ethnic markets at Easter and
Christmas, however, he's begun to
realize the need for off-season
breeding. "lt's a money thing." Next
year he will stagger the breeding,
aiming for three crops in two years.
He's also not aiming for a 200 per
cent lambing rate that many smaller
JULY 1996 23