By Tom Collins
LAKEFIELD —Sitting around the kitchen table with farming friends is one of the best ways to guarantee on-farm success, says the father of the 2015 Peterborough farm family of the year.
That’s the advice from Randy Bullock, who — along with his wife, Tara, 14-year-old daughter Lily, 13-year-old son Aidan and nine-year-old son Liam — won the award from the Peterborough County Federation of Agriculture and the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 13.
Bullock credits 4-H for much of his success as it taught him how to take a good animal and see the faults properly. Going to shows also gives Bullock the chance to see how other farmers are doing with their animals.
But it’s around the kitchen table that the Bullocks learn the most.
“Maybe once in a while we might go sit in someone’s living room or kitchen. To me that’s a room full of experts,” he says. “You sit there, (find out) what’s working for them and what’s not working. We’ve got our own panel without a real title to it.”
Cedarvilla Holsteins at Lakefield was started by Bullock’s parents in the 1960s. Randy and Tara joined the farm as partners in 1999 and took over in 2001. They now milk 46 Holsteins and nine Jerseys.
Their herd is classified with over 70 % VG or better and the family is working toward their Master Breeder Shield, something Bullock thinks will happen within the next 15 years.
“We don’t think we’re anything special. We just carry on farming like everybody else,” says Bullock.
