OCA knows that producers and consumers alike want to hear about the operations of Ontario beef farmers, what they do on-farm to stay profitable, and what innovations they use.
In this producer profile, Matt Bowman shared details of his family's cow/calf operation near Temiskaming, ON, with the Editor of Ontario Beef magazine.

Ontario Beef: Tell us a little bit about your farm, Matt.

Matt Bowman: We are located in the little clay belt about 10 miles north of New Liskeard. We are the fourth generation to farm at this location. We currently have 110 Charolais-cross cows that we breed back to Charolais.  We have always used a performance-tested bull with high weaning weights and post-weaning gains. We calve out our cows starting in mid-March and hope to have them all done before the cropping season starts.  We have an open-fronted pole barn for storing hay and then calve the cows in as we feed out the hay. We wean the calves in mid-September as we normally run short of pasture by then and this allows us to control the feed a bit better for the calves as well.  We normally sell the calves in late October or early November.
We crop about 650 acres of mainly wheat, canola, barley, and oats ; we also operate a small seed cleaning plant.
 

OB: Has anything changed in the last 5 years?

MB: Well, during the last little while we’ve slightly increased our cow numbers.  We have switched our vaccination program to a live vaccine for the cows - that was what the buyers seemed to be looking for and it was the criteria of the club sale that we joined.  On the crop side, we still grow primarily spring grains however acreage has switched to more spring wheat; there is not much of a market for barley anymore. 

OB: Where do you market your cattle? 

MB: In the last couple of years we have been sending our calves to the “Central Calf Club” sale at Keady.  This is one in the owner lot sale series of club sales at Keady.  All of the cattle in this sale must meet specific criteria which includes a full vaccination program.   

OB: And there’s a price advantage to that? 

MB: Oh yes. We feel that there has definitely been a price advantage by marketing in a sale with a whole sale barn full of calves that have all been processed the same way.  Buyers seem to be happy with this arrangement.

OB: Where do you see yourselves – your operation - in 5 years? 

MB: The cow herd will continue to expand at a pace that is affordable.  Perhaps our most limiting factor at this time is available pasture land.  Much expansion of the cow herd will be attainable with better pasture management. The hay and pasture land as well as the availability of manure dovetails nicely with the cropping enterprise. Without some hired help there is enough work to keep us busy right now.

OB: Where do you see the Ontario beef industry in 5 or 10 years?   

MB: I think the Ontario beef industry will be alive and well in the future.  I am convinced that cow herds will get larger – providing benefits from economies of scale and better offerings for the feedlot operators.   If the cow calf producer is going to enter an arrangement with the feedlots for some kind of value chain then the producer has to have enough calves to make it worthwhile for the feedlot.  I can see that more alliances will develop throughout the supply chain and product will flow one way and information will flow the other. 

OB: Does anything need to change for that to happen? 

MB: The cow/calf producer needs the carcass information to make informed decisions on the breeding decisions for the cows.  We must continue to be competitive for the consumer and thus must ensure that the product we produce meets the needs of the end user.

More questions you’d like to ask Matthew and Elaine Bowman? They can be reached at bowmanme@ntl.sympatico.ca