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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2017


DAIRY automation nfrom page 23 Cedar Valley’s barns use a


“We have tunnel


ventilation so most cows prefer to stay in the barn during the day,” Martin says. “They go out to pasture at night and come back in the morning.”


No choice Unlike the Yoders, Cedar


Valley Farms didn’t have a choice about building a new barn. June 2015 saw fire destroy Cedar Valley’s original facility, just two years after the Vanderwals extensively remodeled an older farm to create the organic dairy. The calamity prompted the


A curious cow looks on as three generations of the Vanderwal family pose in front of their new DeLaval rotary parlour at Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford during the BC Dairy Farm Self-Tour, January 25. In the picture are, left to right, Dave, Tony and Darren Vanderwal. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO


Vanderwals to rebuild with steel, says Tony Vanderwal. Cedar Valley’s cows now occupy three steel-frame barns. Tony’s son, Dave, who operates the farm with his brother Rich and son Darren, notes that steel construction is not only similar in cost to wood but easier to build. It also offers greater longevity.


Irrigation & Manure Open House


BE MORE EFFICIENT ON THE FARM! Enhance your irrigation/manure skills and techniques.


programmable flush system to manage manure while an insulated roof, Faromar chimneys and Artex Storm and Breeze fans keep the barns cool in summer. The barns also feature the first-of- its-kind Artex BioFlex freestall system with sand-bedded stalls. The Vanderwals chose a


rotary parlour with auto dip and flush milking claws to minimize labour, noting it can be operated by just one person. Unlike most rotary parlours


where cows stand in parallel, the Blom-deck is designed for cows to stand at an angle, thereby overlapping each other.


Unlike Golden Gate, cows


at Cedar Valley do not have year-round access to pasture. “Organic standards require


cows to be on pasture for a minimum of 120 days a year and we provide that,” Dave explains.


Tour planner bids adieu


ABBOTSFORD– The tour of


duty is over for the man behind the BC Dairy Farm Self- Tour for the past quarter century. John Luymes retired from the BC Ministry of Agriculture at the end of February after close to 27 years as the ministry’s farm structures engineer. While his job was much


broader, Luymes is best known as the co-ordinator of the dairy tour which draws about 1,000 visitors to Fraser Valley dairy farms annually. As the chief organizer,


Hear from the experts on irrigation/manure techniques. Check out the new products from Cadman Power Equipment and more!


Luymes was responsible for not only arranging all the sites and preparing the tour guide but ensuring there was signage and a supply of plastic boots at each farm. Ted van der Gulik, who was a classmate of Luymes at university and later hired him when van der Gulik headed the BCMA engineering department, calls Luymes ideally suited to the job. “John grew up on a Delta


dairy farm and could sit down at a farmer’s kitchen table and discuss what was going on in the barn,” he says. “I cannot emphasize just


The Quality Hotel & Conference Centre April 4, 2017 9am - 4pm


Speakers Lloyd Spanke - Cornel Pump (Portland OR) Zeek Hembree - Komet Irrigation (Georgia USA) Ansgar Jansen - Vogelsang (Germany) John Van Lierop - SunovaWorx (Ontario)


Lunch provided RSVP to Jim Peters jimp@pacificdairy.net or call (604) 852-9020


how much of an impact he has had,” adds BCMA dairy and hog specialist Tom Droppo. “It is very fitting to let the whole industry know just who was the ‘brains and muscle’ behind the dairy farm tours. “We often get many visitors


from the Prairies and a growing number of enquiries from dairy producers in the US, some as far away as Ohio, who are planning to attend.”


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