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The Rural Voice, 1998-05, Page 31and wanting to come home, he realized there was not enough farm income to support him. With Tom off at college and younger son Michael taking part in high school activities, he could see what it was going to be like when the boys were gone and he was alone on the farm. Equipment in the old bank barn was worn out and the set-up for the tie stalls required huge amounts of time. "Everything was slave -labour in the old barn and you couldn't really change it," he says. "It was low and in the summer it was hot." Knowing the situation in the old barn, Donalda was supportive when he decided to expand. So was his mother, who was still a partner in the farm corporation. Once the decision was made to expand and build a new barn, they looked at going whole hog. Fisher had been on a bus trip to visit U.S. dairy farms with Gay Lea Foods the fall before and saw a lot of barns that gave him ideas. The family contacted several builders and finally asked Jack Schenk at Landmark Builders to draw up plans for a 150 -cow free - stall operation. The barn would be different than most because Fisher didn't want a drive-through feeding alley. "I didn't want to start two tractors. One tractor was enough." Besides, a drive- through required a wider and higher building that created extra cost. The large new barn and the increased herd size would have required an additional $1 million worth of quota on top of the cost of the barn. Not having had a mortgage for years, he says, the thought "made my knees starting hitting". He worried about the future of quota but was assured, on seeking advice from as many sources as possible, that the quota investment was safe until it would have been paid off in five years. The bank was agreeable to providing the money and things appeared ready to go ahead. But then his bank manager arrived one night, concerned that if something went wrong, if illness got into the herd, for instance, the Fishers had the possibility of losing everything they owned. "I didn't sleep well that night," Fisher recalls. He called Schenk and i J.DTRAIL.INCER • J. MFG. 1056 HWY. #6 N. FLAMBOROUGH,ONT. PHONE 905-689-7100 AVAILABLE IN TANDEM & TRI -AXLE, DECKOVER & WITH FENDERS DEALER INQUIRIES WELCOME /ANDMARK BUILDERS LID. Design Builders AGRICULTURAL COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL "Design & Engineering Excellence for your project" DESIGN ✓ PRA@49@L B. niDWIlag ✓ L a@f 114 DIAN@G' 3 ✓ DUD®CA4 PMPC, ✓ Pn@DUI@ITOn WMOVO@M ✓ M.D. axM@Na4a400M ENGINEER ✓ PG30DM@4 G @MIM )2 ✓ Pf2@PLIAIN NDUOTIM EDC ✓ WMG P@O 6 g4G MPG)130d BUILD ✓ QMGpa4 q ©oaO4aD@400a ✓ EXP 211gM( MGIVCAOM3 ✓ =MAD TRAD1M f1 © HANOVER SALS 364-3609 FAX (519) 364-3637 WWW.LANDMARK.ON.CA MAY 1998 27