Breeder Feature

“You have to be willing to change. Willing to look forward. And you have to communicate.”

- DOUG JOHNSTON

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“And you have to have ‘fun’ doing it and need to give back.”

- DAVE JOHNSTON

STORY BY BONNIE COOPER MAPLEVUE Proud of Their Past, Looking to the Future

Abeautiful, solid wood boardroom table sits in the office at Maplevue Farms Inc., Listowel, ON, where large windows look on to the new free-stall and robot barn. Made from a beam in the farm’s old tie-stall barn, it is a cherished piece of brothers Doug and Dave Johnston’s history. While proud of their past, it is the Johnstons’ willingness to embrace change and look ahead that is driving the success of this family farm today.

Personable and outgoing, Doug, 54, and Dave, 52, are the fifth generation to operate this family farm that started in 1893. Their parents, Sam and Marcie Johnston, established the purebred Holstein herd and Maplevue prefix in 1957. “It was engrained in us at an early age that life is too short to milk ugly cows,” says Doug. “That is why we have always had good typed cows.” University of Guelph in 1987 and 1989, respectively. “About the time we came home from university,” recalls Doug, “our Dad said ‘Either you boys are going to run the farm, or we are getting out’.” Doug and Dave formed a partnership with their parents. In order for them to buy into the farm, their parents’ herd was dispersed in April 1988. “We starting buying cows and rebuilding the herd,” says Doug. In 1989, the brothers renovated the tie-stall barn. “Dad always changed cows. He had 32 stalls and milked 40,” recalls Dave. “Doug and I hated changing cows. When we put the piece on the barn and went to 57 stalls we never milked 58 cows. If one calved today, then somebody went dry. Or if it was Thursday, one went to OLEX (Ontario Livestock Exchange).”

In 1996, the farm transitioned into a corporation. Dave and Doug each got married in 1997. On Valentine’s Day 1998, their father Sam died, followed two years later by their mother.

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PHOTOS 1. The Johnstons built this new free-stall barn with two robots in 2018, 2. Regancrest Rbst Blossom-ET EX-91 2* was purchased as a heifer by the Johnstons and went on to be the dam of their first bull in A.I., Maplevue Brodeur, 3. An inside look at the new free-stall barn at Maplevue, 4. Maplevue Goldwyn Leggy EX-94-3E 1* is considered by Doug and Dave Johnston to be the best cow they have ever bred. PHOTOS 2 &4 BY PATTY JONES, ALL OTHERS SUBMITTED.

The Johnstons continued to make farm improvements. A new calf barn with a robotic feeder was constructed in 2013. About the same time, the Johnstons began thinking about building a new barn. As Doug relates, “Dave’s hip was bad. We were at capacity. We needed to update and have the ability to expand to keep our kids interested.” Dave continues, “We talked about waiting five years until Doug and I were ready to quit and then we’d help the kids build a barn. But then we said, ‘Why build it for the kids? Why shouldn’t we enjoy a new barn for five years?’” With the decision made, the Johnstons began visiting other farms to get ideas. “We started first by looking at what we didn’t like, not what we did like,” says Doug. “We knew fairly soon we were going to go robot. We had narrowed it down to two. When somebody mentioned that we were going to have 10 red robots within three miles of our place that kind of hit home with me. It made the robot decision easy, because if there was a problem, we could call a neighbour and ask for help.”

It turned out the best place for the new barn was exactly where their old barn stood. “It took us awhile to get our head around the fact that we had to move our cows out and take the barn down and build right here. We looked at renting a barn, but couldn’t find anything suitable. So we went to Plan B and found somebody to milk our cows,” the Johnstons explain.

On April 3, 2018, their cows moved into the Newmorning herd of Dennis and Nicole Noom, Monkton, where 500 Holsteins were being milked in a parlour and free-stall set-up. “The good part was my oldest son Sam was working there,” says Dave, who also made frequent trips to Newmorning to keep an eye on the cows. On April 6th, the Johnstons had an auction and sold their old barn, its contents, and four of five cement stave silos. Construction on the new barn began in May 2018.

The Johnstons moved into their new 115 x 254 foot free-stall barn with two Lely A5 robots on December 17, 2018. “We wanted to move in before Christmas because all our kids were home from school for two weeks. By the time they went back, we had trained cows,” says Doug. The new barn is divided into two sides, one for milk cows and the other for dry cows and springing heifers. It has 99 regular free-stalls and 12 fresh cow/special needs stalls. Cows are fed a pellet in the robot and then a PMR of corn silage, haylage, straw, high moisture corn and supplement. Four, 28 x 125 foot bunker silos have replaced the upright silos.

The Johnstons planned to use straw in their deep-bedded stalls. “That lasted about a week because we couldn’t keep the straw under the cows,” says Doug. “About day eight, I woke up in the middle of the night and went and got three buckets of compost that we take from the bull barn up the road and filled 12 stalls. (The Johnstons compost all the bull manure from what is now ST Genetics.) The cows fought over those stalls. They loved it. We haven’t used straw since. We probably have the only cows lying in bullshit in North America,” chuckles Doug.

Instead of manure scrapers, the barn utilizes two Lely Discovery Collector manure vacuum robots (Poop and Poope). Maplevue has one of the first PrevTech Innovations’ sensors in Ontario that monitors a barn’s electrical systems to prevent fires. “I would not think of having a barn without it,” says Dave. The Johnstons continue to fine-tune their operation. “I love taking new ideas and seeing if we can improve on them, save money and be more efficient,” says Doug. For example, they recently cut back the amount of robot pellets they feed by half. The result? “Our production is the same and we have a lot healthier cows,” replies Doug.

The 70-cow Maplevue herd currently averages 283-312-294 BCA and has a Somatic Cell Score under 100,000. There are 8 Excellent, 41 Very Good and 35 Good Plus cows.

“I am 100 per cent enjoying milking cows again. It has brought the joy back to dairy farming for me,” says Dave of their new barn. “Our biggest problem,” interjects Doug, “was having Dave learn to trust the computer and not his instincts anymore.” THE MAKINGS OF A GREAT HERD

The best cow they have ever bred says Dave is Maplevue Goldwyn Leggy EX-94-3E 1*. This Goldwyn made over 80,000 kg milk lifetime and was a nominee for Holstein Ontario’s 2017 “Heart of the Herd”. This family got its start when Dave bought a whole herd of cows back in 2004 just to acquire an Outside full sister to Leggy’s dam. The herd owner kept one cow back and when she calved with an unexpected heifer, Dave bought it. That calf was Leggy’s mother. There are now 12 members of this family here.

Another special cow is Regancrest Rbst Blossom-ET EX-91 2*. Dave and son Sam bought this Robust great-granddaughter of Regancrest-PR Barbie-ET for $3900 in the 2013 Taste of Ontario as an open heifer. Now 8-years-old, Blossom produced the Johnstons’ first bull in A.I., Maplevue Brodeur at Semex. Blossom has records just shy of 21,000 kg milk and ranked as high as number 22 on the GLPI Cow List. She has seven milking daughters and nearly 40 family members here.

Maplevue is also home to 40 members of the Glenridge Citation Roxy family. They trace through Du-Baires Silky Raizel-ET EX90 5*, a Gibson that Dave bought in Pennsylvania in 2005. Raizel has two daughters, Windbrook Raizilly EX-90-2E 1* and Brawler Raizibilly EX-90-3E, who complete nine generations of Excellent.

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PHOTOS 1. Dave and Christine with their family (l-r): Seth, Dave, Hannah, Kaleb, Christine, and Sam, 2. Doug and Laura with their family (l-r): Lexi, Doug, Laura, Devon, and Brooklyn. PHOTO 2 BY LAUREN EBY, PHOTO 1 SUBMITTED.

Good “type” is a priority at Maplevue. Today mating choices are narrowed to three or four bulls at any one time to enhance herd uniformity. Windbrook, Goldwyn and Doorman were key bulls here. “If there are three, good proven bulls with +14 type available we will use them. If not, we use a high type, genomic young bull. Bulls must be Immunity+® and from good cow families,” says Dave. The Johnstons pay close attention to the traits of teat length, feet and legs, and pin setting. Sexed semen is used on their heifers. “In a barn like this the better the genetics, the better the cows do,” says Dave. Doug agrees. “Cows can express their genetic potential better in a robot. The cows you don’t see are the profitable ones because they look after themselves.” WORKING AS A FAMILY The Johnstons take great pride in their family farm and attractive farmstead. Doug and wife Laura, who is a partner in her family’s Home Hardware store in Lucknow, have three children. Brooklyn, 21, a business college graduate, works at Home Hardware and a local fertilizer/seed company. Lexi, 18, a member of the 2019 Ontario Judging Team that competed at World Dairy Expo, is in her first year at the University of Guelph and wants to be a veterinarian. Devon, 15, is the farm’s “jack of all trades”. Dave and wife Christine, who is Head of Palmerston Hospital’s X-Ray and Ultrasound Department, have four children. Sam, 21, a 2019 Ridgetown College graduate, and Seth, 19, who worked for Pierre Boulet (Pierstein) in Quebec this past summer, are the “cow guys”. Kaleb, 16, is the “tractor kid”, and Hannah, 14, rounds out the family. “Our kids all grew up around the farm. With our wives both working, we basically raised the kids in the barn,” say Doug and Dave. The children are now actively involved in 4-H, the Junior All-Ontario program, sports and church.

Dave looks after the milking, genetics and books at Maplevue, while Doug is in charge of crops and feeding. The two brothers talk often, once making 33 calls in a day to each other. The Johnstons own 1000 acres of land and rent another 550 acres. They grow wheat and soybeans for seed as a value added commodity, plus corn and alfalfa.

This summer, the Johnstons bought another ongoing dairy farm 11 kms away. The 112-acre farm has a 12-year-old tie-stall barn with 64 stalls and 66 kilos of milk quota. Dave’s son Sam will manage the farm.

Dave and Doug lead busy lives. Dave was president of Holstein Ontario in 2018-19, the first Branch president from Perth County. He is an Official judge, 4-H leader, municipal councilor and hockey coach. Dave is a talented auctioneer and has been selling at OLEX for 32 years. He also prepares sales catalogues for OLEX and Brubacher Sales. Doug is on the EastGen Board, was a Gay Lea delegate for 14 years, and plays hockey and curls. Both are active in their church. The Johnstons have an “open door” policy regarding visitors. “We were always taught the importance of teaching people about the farm. We now have a barn that we think people should see,” says Doug.

What do the Johnstons credit their farm’s success to? “You have to be willing to change. Willing to look forward. And you have to communicate,” says Doug. “We have monthly or bi-weekly meetings so everyone knows what is going on.” “And you have to have ‘fun’ doing it and need to give back,” states Dave.

The Johnstons have ongoing discussions about succession planning. “If you don’t have a good relationship with your accountant, lawyer and banker you can’t be in business,” says Dave. Doug comments, “If our kids want to farm, they will have to earn their way in. We treat all our kids the same. We work as a family. Our kids have learnt from the time they were in strollers how to work. And when the chips are down, like when Dave’s house burnt and I had heart surgery five years ago, everybody pitches in. That is a farm family at its best.”

With a new barn, another farm and a sixth generation of Johnstons waiting in the wings, look for much more to come at Maplevue.