With the last of the field work completed this fall, Jesse Miedema has turned his attention to general maintenance on the sprawling dairy operation in the Baltimore area.
While working with his wife Ashley to install a new culvert in his driveway leading to his house on The Scots Line on Oct. 13, he pops over to the large milking operation down the road to look in on the installation of LED lights in the large, state-of-the-art dairy barn.
The new lights will replace the ‘energy-sucking’ larger ones currently in place, resulting in efficiencies and cost savings down the road. The new energy-efficient lighting system, he says, will pay for itself in roughly a year’s time. He’s pleased the work is getting done.
It’s all in a day’s work for Miedema, 27, who’s one of many young farmers across Canada who’s been groomed to take over the family farming operation. His introduction to dairy farming began at age 10 where he was working part-time feeding cattle.
The 800-acre farm has been in the family since 1958, with the dairy operation starting in the late 1960s. Currently, the farming torch is in the process of being handed to him and his wife to carry on the family farming tradition. All the legalities of the transfer of the farm are to be completed by early next year, he said.
Miedema says he’s currently growing crops on 1,000 acres with 200 of those rented from neighbouring properties and he’s looking for more land to rent for cash-cropping purposes.
The crops grown on the farm are enough to feed the cattle that make up the large dairy operation. The Miedema family built its massive dairy barn in 2009 and currently has 500 cows in total there, although only 180 are currently milking. The total number include dry cows (those not milking) as well as young heifers that will become part of the milking herd in the future.
Like most farmers looking to stay in the industry for the long term, Miedema is all-in with the new strategies and technologies that have become part of the new era of farming, especially as it relates to his dairy herd.
To learn more about Jesse’s journey, click the link below.
