The Trail to a Championship
Canadian author David Irvine recently published a book entitled,
"Simple Living in a Complex World." During the 1990's, government
agencies encouraged producers to diversify in order to sustain a family farming
operation. We have witnessed entrepreneurs launching into businesses they have
had no experience in, only to find themselves worse off than they were before
the buzzword of the 90's, "diversify", was popularized.
A family that has enjoyed a high degree of success doing what they knew how
to do, and utilizing the land and management resources they had developed, are
the Gerrards of Southey, Sask.
Gordon and Coreen Gerrard and their son Sandy operate a mixed farm, growing
traditional grain and specialty crops, complemented by a commercial cattle enterprise.
Gordon's grandparents settled on the home quarter 12 miles north of Southey
in 1903, direct from Scotland. Alexander (Sandy) Gerrard and his wife raised
three sons. Gordon's father Henry carried on farming with his father in a very
traditional and careful manner. Gordon said, "My father was very frugal."
The original herd was based on the Shorthorn breed, which was the most dominant
breed throughout Canada at that time, and it remained a Shorthorn herd until
the early 1970's.
In the early 1970's the first Hereford bull was introduced to the herd when
it was purchased at the Regina Bull Sale. Today, Herefords form the cornerstone
of the breeding program for their replacement females. Several other breeds,
with generally accepted dominance in maternal traits, have been introduced over
the years including Simmental, Red Angus, and Black Angus, however Gordon said,
"I want to keep all of my cows, at least 50 per cent, Hereford."