The Rural Voice, 2019-07, Page 35cows, he wondered if he’d made the
wrong choice not to rebuild.
So in 2008, he decided to get back
into dairy by starting his relief
milking business. Willing to do
whatever is needed except for field
work, VandenHoven discovered he
really loved the work. As a person
who likes variety and a challenge, he
enjoyed learning how to run all the
different types of equipment. Farms
with robotic milkers still need
someone to feed and check the herd
and he enjoys the flexibility robotic
dairy barns add to his schedule.
As the business grew, he was
frustrated to have to turn down 25 to
30 calls a year. He decided to expand
his business by hiring staff who
either work as part-time employees
or independent contractors depending
on how they want to direct their tax
situation. When adding to his list of
employees, he looks for men or
women who have “that basic farming
instinct”. They need to know how to
milk and run equipment beforehand.
“It’s about attitude more than
anything,” he says. He now has 25
people on a call list to do chores or
milkings. Eight are women and
VandenHoven says he’d hire more
women in a heartbeat. “They really
do have more patience and an
intuition for working with animals.”
It’s been a learning curve for
VandenHoven as he has learned new
business structures including
payroll, Workmen’s Safety Insurance
Board reporting, and Quickbooks.
Also, he follows up with every
employer and employee to make sure
the match was a good fit.
VandenHoven charges $35 a hour
from leaving home to returning home
for all Relief Herdsperson Services
employees plus $40 cents per
kilometre mileage.
Most farmers don’t comment on
the hourly rate but they aren’t keen
on paying mileage, says
VandenHoven. “They really hate that
but Ontario is a big place,” says
VandenHoven.
May is a slower time of year for
the relief milking business as most
farmers are on the farm, managing
the spring cropping.
Having been a relief milker for
over 10 years now, VandenHoven
has had a few great and not-so-great
experiences. One of the greats was
working for a farmer on Manitoulin
Island for a week. He was able to
take his family and make it a
workcation.
On the flip side, he’s had some
stressful situations. One shared
milking led to milk from a treated
cow getting into the tank so it had to
be dumped. Another time a feed cart
tipped over and caught on fire.
“Luckily the farmer was still home
but when he grabbed the fire
extinguisher, it did not work. We
were able to get it out with water but
I wish I’d thought at the time to
throw wet feed on it because the
flames were shooting to the ceiling.”
Being responsible for multi-
million dollar facilities while the
farm owner is away can be stressful
so VandenHoven now carries
liability insurance.
His next goal is to get into
independent consulting. Since he is
inside a lot of barns, he sees how
dairy farmers in southwestern
Ontario run their operations. He
learns what works and what doesn’t
and how an idea in one barn could
work in another. He is currently
making a checklist of management
questions that can guide a consulting
session and help individual farmers
fine-tune their management practices.
“Dairy farmers are so busy doing the
day-to-day work that sometimes they
don’t take the time to sit back and
reflect on what they could be doing
better,” says VandenHoven.
Now 41, VandenHoven says there
will come a day when he doesn’t
want to get up at 5:00 a.m. to milk
cows and he’s hoping this new phase
of his business will allow him to
slow down physically as he ages.
For now, he’s building a relief
milker empire, capitalizing on his
farm boy instincts and a gap in the
labour force to make his own dreams
come true. ◊
July 2019 31
Martin VandenHoven has reached a milestone with his business, Relief
Herdsmen Services having been called to his 150th farm to provide dairy
farmers with temporary help.
JULY 21, 201977
10 JULY19, 2020
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