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x familys past not its future life on the farm is changing tradition ho ioncjer dictated whether a 1 af m gets passed on in a family farmer glen brown isnt quite sure where hell be in 10 years but hell lay odds it wont be on the markham land his family has farmed for the last 60 years hes not even sure hell still be farming but if he manages to stay in the agriculture business it will likely be a long way from the town of markham the brown brothers own 150 acres at elgin mills east of mccowan and have farmed that land for 60 years glen 51 and fred 58 work another 200 acres on smaller plots they rent in and around markham they own anoth er 1 50 acres in uxbridge an hour- and45minutedrive by tractor but times have changed since their parents frank and 11a bought the home farm in 1937 and worked it with their seven children when they died the farm was left equally to their kids but five of the seven have different careers and are leading different lives fred and 1 own the business explains glen the rest of the fam ily has shares in the land but the land is worth so much its been years since we could afford to buy them out so when were done the land will have to be sold a farming education at one time glens son ken and freds son russell worked the land with their fathers they each took a twoyear associate diploma in agri culture at the university of guelph and came home with the education and theory to back up what was sup posed to be their lifes work but it didnt last i worked for five years with my dad recalls ken 27 i grew up on the farm ive been there since day one but 1 really felt 1 was just jttsrsesi yellow 1996 purple- 1986 blue- 1966 twftkfcws mm oeo iodo isoeo this chart shows the dramatic decrease in livestock numbers on markham farms from 1966 to 1996 the 1966 survey was for the township of markham including the village of stouffviile and small hamlets the neighbours were always there and the land never failed back before there was a traffic light in markham hagerman cor ners and millikcn were places on their own within living memory they each had their own post office a tworoom school house and a genera store irj fptp it iooks likepco- wj x v pic were poor but they werent poor in jlx j tsj what mattered most ken prentice sirilk5fk remembers m wmi in one sense we had the least of rur but in many respects we had tgsss mmdm mi m i i hbwa8ki- steefex m i the best of things said prentice whose grandfather was millikens postmaster some of those best things were the fresh air exercise and neigh bours who helped each other v know we never had much money we were never hungry though recalls john galloway who ranthe gen- study area hagerman corners eral store later the appliance store at hagerman a hamlet centred on 1 4th ave and kennedy rd v jean deverill lived nearby in an 1 853 farmhouse built by one of the ham lets founders nicholas hagerman and remembers when galloways first got ice cream fthink the first ice cream tfiey had was cherry cu at thistime of year markham fair time farmers went to their neigh boursfields to help bring in the grain the threshing went on fordays you couldnt do it all omyour own deverill and friends from the area recall it was the custom the retired teacher said that the farms owner built the stacl himself after thedusty straw shot out of the threshing machine oh i can see it coming yet women made ehbm meals atl the devenilsvaround grandfather the table isnow in the basement of her new home in stouf fville where deverill and husband bill moved in 1989 herif combines became pari of farming former hagerman residents agree something was lost farmers didnt get to know their neighbours as well v ttftef ftai era farming became a lonely life said elsori miles a former arkhamcpuncillbr whose family farmed near mccowan rd and steeles ave hagerman people tended to marry other hagerman people putting in time there was-nomter- action wath other people 1 just felt stuck- the hard part was telling his dad 1 just came right out and said it said id decided to do something else said ken he was okay he just said i should do what i had to do so he did hes apprenticing to be an electrician hes worked for a scarborough company for more than two years now hes bought a house in uxbridge with his new wife unionvilles trisha welch meanwhile around the same time russell was offered a tim hortons franchise and like ken decided to take a chance j and that changed things for their fathers livestock sold the browns 800 hogs were sold in 1 996 being the most work for the least profit they were the logical ones to go first glen said the 250 acres of rented land the browns worked for more than 10 years south of major mackenzie at mccowan was sold in january to mattamy homes it has been cleared waiting for builders to arrive and as of oct 3 the markham fair weekend their dairy herd will be history as well both brothers are over 50 now and they are tired of the constraints of dairy farming the cows have to be milked every day twice a day seven days a week although fred and glen trade off weekends they are still very much tied down to the herd the decision to sell the 43 milkers and 100 calves wasnt easy but again it was a practicality they could no longer ignore it will be a shock to us he admits but we will still have some cattle we will breed and sell as milk ers as well as the cash crops corn soybeans wheat and hay vi- in one breath he- says-it- might be nice having less to do in the next hes worried about what hell do to keep busy if the two boys stayed we may have bought 400 or 500 acres some where like woodville and built a new dairy barn glen said but they didnt want that and thats fine i always told them if they dont want to farm to say so you cant do some thing all your life you dont really want to do and while the uxbridge farm was bought by the brothers as an invest ment which they intend to sell for their retirement income the sale of the markham land wont be without heartache it wont be hard to sell the uxbridge farm it was for our retire ment it has no sentimental value glen said the worst of it will be the home farm this land its been our home all my life all my chil drens lives its our business how we make a living selling it wont be easy 1 dont blame people for gob bling up the land they are the same people who are gobbling up the milk i produce he said and the value of my land is high because of the people coming here moving in next door houses all around progress is no ones fault glen said philosophically and theres nothing i can do to stop it its fool ish to think we can stay here and farm forever and 1 dont think id like to stay with houses surrounding me on all sides it may not be for another 10 or 15 years but the next generation of browns will be leading a very dif ferent life than they are today and even they are uncertain whether thats a good thing or a bad thing all they know is progress is progress kathleen griffin life ibr jean deverill german corners dances no liquor was involved we w llp ws had a whale of a time said deverill ff snow lay deep on the roads in winter it was not a problerri fpr farmers who all k had a team of horses arid ia sleigh but fjh made a chilling walk to school for chil dren you could step over the wires i former resident georgeimiller said of the telephone poles in 1959 an international plowing match was held on the massey-fergu- son farm recalls bruce couperthwaite born into another hagerman farm farh- ijy many locals still- remember clark young deverills uncle and a champion plowman who became a consultant for massey after he sold the company his farm in 1950 the company kept his 20- acre woodlbt intact at birchmpunt rd and 1 4th ave as a councillor miles who skated on the youngs pond as a child pushed to name the woods after the farmer today not much remains of hagerman settled in 1794 the cemeteries are still there so is the mennonite church although its old congregation has moved away the school on 14th is now the school a posh restaurant the quiet village of milliken became milliken millsj despite prentices fathers objections that there was never a mill at milliken more has been lost than just farm- land argues prentice whose father arid grandfather also sold farm equip ment at steeles and old kennedy rd a sense of community has been lost too nowan investment firrh manager in stouffviile he bffefs advice to resi dents who would reclaim some of the benefits of old milliken knpw your v elson miles neighbourhood and your neighbours dontjust let itde rmikeadler ilmllmi- fj rj lfl wmm l dont bfamethepeo- pie for gobbling up the land theyre the same ones gobbling up the milkl produce glen brown 1 milked cows until i was 72 i grew up on a farm nobody needed to tell me how to milk a cow ruth can- when youre staring mil lions of dollars in the face money that will be your chil drens and grandchildrens what do you do you can sit here until there are hous es all around you but is it much fun to farm in a sub division to take tractors on the road with all the traffic is frustrating and dangerous no one wants to wait for you those are the things that force you out don miller the rural aspect of life here in markham is gone as fai as im concerned were part of toronto arthur schickedanz ten years ago a deer in my backyard was a com mon occurrence now it is only an illusion from 2 university project by trisha welch the 407 is probably going to be the last nail in the cof fin bob reesor you dont do this kind of development without con- sequ s price to be paid ken prentice on milliken mills of couise class 1 land is also the best for develop ment in terms of sewers pipes and roads its much cheaper to build on the best land than it is to fix drainage problems and blast rock that costs developers a lot more money ray valaitis rural planner ministry of agriculture food and rural affairs when its gone its gone never to be retrieved in our province theres no bank of agricultural land sitting waiting for us when werun out l schut resources and planning branch ministry of agricul ture food and rural affairs 0e cant close our eyes to it v jim baird markham director of planning r p 11 x p n vi r a n t to