Farming: A family affair for Eggers
Dairy farm a labour of love
Melanie Hennessey
Published on
May 16, 2008
Being a farmer is definitely a lot different today than in decades gone by. There’s more technology, an increasing load of paperwork and non-agricultural neighbours moving in who may not like what you’re doing. The Champion is taking a closer look at the local agricultural sector and what it takes to make it as a farmer. Today’s story is the second in the series of three running in consecutive Friday editions.
* * *
One needn’t look much further than the Niagara Escarpment in Milton to find the epitome of a family farm. It’s here that the Egger family works hard every day to make Swiss Line Farm run like a well-oiled machine.
The dairy operation on Steeles Avenue sees mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and children come together to tend to a herd of 52 purebred registered Holsteins who need to be milked twice a day, seven days a week.
While it’s an enormous commitment — one that many people wouldn’t want in today’s world — it’s a labour of love for Roland Egger and his wife, Jeannine, who are in the process of taking over the reins of the farm from his parents, Walter and Trudy.
“I start milking at 5:30 a.m.,” Roland says while walking through the large turquoise barn with Jeannine and their children, eight-year-old Ryan and three-year-old Madison, in tow. “It takes me about an hour-and-a half. Then I feed all of the calves, go home and have breakfast and come back for round two. Dairy farming is very routine.”
Technology has made milking a lot easier than it used to be. Roland hooks the cows up to an automated milker, six at a time.
“If I did it (milking) by hand, I’d have to call up the old timers with the good fingers,” the 35-year-old jokes. “I’m thankful for technology.”
The milk is then filtered and put in a holding tank where it’s cooled to 2 degrees Celsius. The tank can hold up to five milkings and is emptied by the milk truck that comes every other day.
But the kids don’t want to talk about the technical side of dairy farming for long and bound off to visit the calves.
“Her name is Tiny,” Ryan says, sticking his hand through the fence to pet the small animal.
“Moo, moo,” says Madison, gesturing towards Tiny.
Ryan, who’s clearly wise beyond his years when it comes to farming, carries on to a different section of the barn where the heifers are housed.
“Heifers are cows that haven’t had their babies yet,” he explains.
The youngster boasts about all the things he does around the farm to help his dad, including driving tractors.
Around 9 a.m. it’s time for round two — cleaning the stable and feeding the herd.
Roland uses a pitchfork to push the manure into an automated stable cleaner, which carries the excrement out of the barn on what looks like a conveyer belt.
“Manure is an excellent source of fertilizer for the farm,” he notes.
The Eggers grow their own crops on 150 acres owned by the family and an additional 250 acres of rented land, all on the escarpment.
The harvest feeds the cattle, with any excess going to market. But with 2007 being particularly dry, the local family had to buy hay for the herd.
“It was a very dry year, which was very stressful for farmers,” he remarks. “If it weren’t for our money from the milk, we could’ve been in serious trouble.”
Roland starts dishing out the cows’ ‘appetizer’ — hay — and then proceeds to the mixer, which combines alfalfa, corn silage, hay, high moisture corn, minerals and salts for the herd’s main course.
He cranks open the door on the mixer and out pours 1,000 kilograms of feed — an amount the cattle collectively eat twice a day.
“Each cow also drinks about a bathtub full of water a day,” Roland notes.
Once the food is loaded into an automated feed cart, he drives it down the middle aisle of the barn, dispensing feed along the way.
Although Roland's parents are semi-retired, they’re also out in the barn working alongside their son and his family.
“It’s a complete family farm,” Roland says.
So what is it that inspired the young farmer to follow in his parents’ footsteps?
“I just wanted to be at home and work with the family. I like the family value of growing up on the farm,” he says. “I also enjoy the challenges of the dairy industry.”
While Roland truly loves what he does, he acknowledges that being a dairy farmer isn’t all fun and games.
“You have to be totally committed. I don’t think there are many other jobs that run seven days a week,” he says.
He also points out that farming isn’t just all about physical labour.
“A farmer is not someone who’s stupid. You have to know animal science, crop science and you have to be mechanically inclined,” he explains.
Dairy farming is becoming more and more rare in Halton, with Swiss Line Farm being one of about 10 region-wide — down from 40-plus a decade ago — and the only dairy farm on the escarpment.
“When my parents bought in the ‘60s, there were seven dairy farms up here,” Roland notes.
Several dairy operations have been forced to move out of the region because they want to expand their herds, but don’t have the land base to do it locally.
The Eggers' herd is smaller than most, with the average herd size being 72.
“Even if we wanted to come up to average, it probably wouldn’t go over well with the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC), the Region or the Town,” Roland says.
There’s also the challenge of having non-agricultural neighbours who don’t like the farming practices going on near their homes.
Roland feels that regulations for farming on the escarpment will eventually become more restrictive.
But for now, he said the family operation is sustainable.
“As long as the NEC stays quiet, I think it’s great to farm on the escarpment,” he says. “People always ask me, ‘How long are you going to stay here?' and I say, ‘As long as the community allows me to.’”
Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com.