WESTERN ONTARIO: Master breeder hasn’t bought a new cow in 10 years

WALLENSTEIN — No cow on her own, no matter how well-balanced or productive, is enough for a farm to win a Master Breeder shield. Nor is one farmer enough.

That’s how Melvin Martin feels. His farm, Clayhaven Holsteins at Wallenstein, was one of two farms in Western Ontario to take home its first shield last month. In total, seven farms in Ontario took home shields. Two in East-Central Ontario won their fourth shield.

Winning a shield means breeding generations of long-lasting, show-class animals that can pump out milk with the best of them.

Martin, a second-generation farmer, took over from his parents in 1989. The mixed farm got started in 1951, with his parents raising hogs alongside their cows. In the early 1980s they started making the switch to purebred animals as Martin got older and more involved with the farm. Now 59, the farmer has never known anything but farming: he didn’t go to high school or college. “I’m just a farmer.”

When he took over, he was milking around 40 cows. These days he milks 57 in “an old bank barn” with tie stalls and a pipeline milking system.

The breeding strategy, he said, has never really changed. It’s about as straightforward as you can get. “I’ve always bred for those big, strong, front-ended cows,” he said. “Ones that put a lot of feed away, with good feet, legs and udders.” It’s worked well enough that he hasn’t bought a cow for at least 10 years, though he has sold some.

He was never working toward a shield, per se. “Every young boy with a passion for good Holsteins dreams about it. I never once dreamed I would achieve this.”

Winning, he said, was a family affair. It probably doesn’t hurt that he has a big family. He and his wife have 10 children, four of whom are still on the farm and all of whom have helped out. Said Martin: “We know what makes a shield. It’s the cow families. Same as your family. You don’t win a shield on your own. The people before you, my wife, my children, everyone I was involved with: that’s what makes a shield.”

The other six shield winners were:
• Dualane Farms at Ingersoll
• Altona Lea Farms at Blackstock (4th shield)
• Ronbeth Holsteins at Hastings (4th shield)
• Drewholme Holsteins at Gowanstown
• Kuiperscrest Holsteins at Bloomfield
•Ferme Mirella Inc. at St.Bernardin