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farm country living fourth section farm country living metroland community newspaper wednesday ap 9 1986 this family farm alive and well cooperation makes things work by erkki pohjolainen spending the first two hours of every day feeding and milking cows may not be the kind of life some people prefer but grant and marion wells and family would have it no other way theyre farmers every morning sundays in cluded grant with sons ken 26 and kevin 23 rise at g oclock to milk more than 30 cows in a herd of 75 purebred holsteins this is only the beginning of a typical day besides the dairy operation grant and sons fatten 250 pigs for market and work two farms that produce enough feed for all the cattle seated in his living room grant explains how hes accustomed to the work involved my father bought this farm in 1930 ive lived here all my life it was back in 1955 that grant and marion atkinson were mar ried they took over the operation of the home farm when his pa rents moved to stouffville with his sons now old enough to manage the property the young- looking 55yearold is planning to take things easier the boys will soon take over its either be semi- retired or be weeded out he says with a smile before the boys were big enough marion helped out at the barn feeding the cattle and doing other chores but now ken and kevin do all that grant says with three men working the farm one can have a day off with little inconvenience to the others he adds the boys spend some of their days off participating in plowing matches they want to maintain another family traditiongrantis a canadian tractor plow cham pion several have approached them wanting to buy the farm but i shy away from real estate agents grant explains in a soft- spoken voice their property he points out is perhaps in greater demand than some other local farms because of a neighboring gravel pit they cant open a new pit ken inter jects but they can expand the exisiting one but so far theyve shown no in terest in selling three years ago they upgraded the dairy operation by installing a delaval milking pipeline a hold ing tank and four milking units this grant says makes the work much easier their dairy quotas are 344 litres daily of number 1 and 85337 litres annually of msq the number 1 is used as table milk while msq goes to make cheese and other dairy products grant is quick to add that both quotas are met with milk from the same cows their milk has long been recog nized for its top quality last year grant received a gold seal certificate only 10 of yorks 124 dairy farms were so honored weve always had 20 to 30 pigs on the farm grant says but the boys wanted more kevin bought a nearby barn and built enough pens for about 100 they also installed automatic- feeders and established a dry- manure management system kevin says hes in the barn for only an hour most days leaving time for other jobs the family rents a 100acre farm adjacent to their own 150 acres and grow all of the feed needed for the herd they harvest corn hay and mixed grain that they send to the coop to be milled the farms operating cost was about 75000 last year grant notes ken explains the costs would have been much higher if they hadnt done most of their own equipment maintenance we maintain the machines and do our own welding ken says but mechanical repairs are done at the shop with the whole operation in mind let us now return to the typical daythat began with milk ing and feeding at 6 am after breakfast grant ken and kevin clean out three barns do repairs and other jobs follow ing dinner theres more to be done in the winter they cut wood in the bush in the summer theres haying harvesting and other field work the cows are milked and fed again at 5 pm followed by supper often theres still two to three hours work before going to bed if youre planting you cant just stop and leave it for the next day grant concludes milk production to is the key to this successful family farm teamwork and a firm belief in the benefits of the family farm have made for a rewarding and satisfying life say grant and marion wells of sprucefair rr 4 stouffville despite the many prob lems associated with farming today they would choose to live no other way sjoerd wittevecn gold seal quality wonderful life by marion- wells farm wives come in all shapes and sizes they are slender slim and petite they are plump large and jovial some farm wives are fearless and brave tackling angry sows and raging bulls some are timid quiet much better at helping with ewe lambs newborn calves and old mother cows some farm wives are social butterflies involved in a hundred community events and activities some arc content to remain at home caretakers of the family the house and the barn some farm wives arc authorities on animal breeding statistics and genetic backgrounds some cant tell the difference between a heifer a springer or a cow some farm wives spend considerable time trying to keep an attractive outward appearance under highly smelly and dirty con ditions some like to spend their time developing a better inward appearance in caring for others more than themselves some farm wives arc horticulturalists with prime landscaped farms beautiful flowerbeds and gardens full of every kind of vegetable some no matter how hard they try grow more weeds than flowers some farm wives are authorities on commodity options and the market some never know why milk and chicken quotas arc neces sary or why feed costs are so high some farm wives despair over farm records expenditures and cash flow while others are excellent bookkeepers and enjoy the challenge of operating a personal business or the home computer system some farm wives are concerned amateur veterinarians in terested powderpuff mechanics and good at squeezing a grease gun some arc more often seen at the farm implement dealership than at the local beauty parlor some farm wives arc outstanding homemakers seamstresses bakers and crafters some perform minimal household duties but rather devote their time to community projects church work volunteer services or an offthcfarm job some farm wives can do all these things and more while our city sisters may label us as serfs and slaves deep down in her heart each farm wife knows she is unique and special the way god made her to be father and sons share work load on family farnv several york region dairy far mers were recently honored through the presentation of gold seal and general certificates the presentations were made at the york regional milk com mittee meeting certificates were received by the following gold seal oliver busby king city bruce snider maple grant wells stouffville glen hulse schombcrg mervyn wideman union ville byron and james lockie sutton west and fieldhouse farms woodbridgc general allan crossley king city david paisley stouff ville augustinian fathers king city robert beynon maple gerald livingston woodbridge canada packers maple lloyd bolender stouffville green val ley farms kleinburg harold hulse schomberg murray reesor markham grant leonard schomberg barry lit tle markham blake and james coulter bolton dandyland farm schombcrg flowerview farm mount albert brown bros unionville carolmac farm woodbridge david ward- law woodbridge and robern farm schomberg k grant wells centre with sons kevin left and ken right oper ate sprucefair a lovely farm on the bloomington road in whitch- urchstouffvillc through teamwork and good planning they produce excellent crops and milk quality thats rated with the highest in york region erkki pohjolainen t