The Rural Voice, 1987-11, Page 26The fall round -up at the Grey-Dufferin ARDA pasture farm.
ROUND-UP!E
0 ctober was round -up time
at community pasture farms
around Ontario as hundreds
of cattle were sorted and returned
home. At the annual event at the
Grey-Dufferin ARDA (Agricultural
Rehabilitation Development Admini-
stration) pasture farm in Grey County,
more than 400 cattle were successfully
brought in.
Rounding up the cattle is not a
big chore, though separating them for
their owners requires organization and
co-operation. But with the exception
of an occasional misplaced cattlebeast,
the procedure is orderly and accurate.
Each farmer is required to tag his
cattle and the pasture farm also places
an eartag when the cattle are brought
by Mary -Lou Weiser -Hamilton
to the farm in mid-May. "Occasion-
ally," says Dale Pallister, chairman of
the farm in Proton Township, "they
lose both tags and we sometimes get
them mixed up, but we always get
them straightened out."
In May, 670 head of cattle are
brought to the farm. Of these, 210 are
kept only until August, when the pas-
ture begins to thin out. The remaining
460 are pastured until October. All
local breeds are represented, so there
is the usual teasing and joking among
farmers as to which breed is better.
A farmer is allowed to pasture a
maximum 50 short keeps while only
20 cattle are allowed for the full five-
month term. The 700 -acre farm has
nearly 500 acres of improved pasture.
Ainsy Jack, pasture manager at
the Grey-Dufferin ARDA site.
24 THE RURAL VOICE