Only four weeks before the Ontario Dairy Youth Business Management School, 25-year old Aaron Smith was working as a territory manager for a baking company. Then fate played into his hands. He was offered and accepted a severance package, allowing him to pursue his dream of farming. It was an easy transition to working on his family’s dairy farm near Mount Hope, Ont.
Today Aaron is responsible for all of the herd management, from breeding to vaccinations for the 65 top-producing Holsteins. It’s quite a change from his college diploma in marketing and his five years in sales. However, while working off-farm, Aaron never fully got farming out of his system and kept his hand in the cattle business by owning 28 animals with several partnerships.
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The impact of the three-day Ontario Dairy Youth Business Management School on the Smith farm has been immediate and significant.
Changes and ideas that would have taken years to implement were suddenly on the table for discussion. Aaron and his parents, Dale and Marie, have discussed succession planning. They’ve already started looking into Dairy Herd Improvement’s Scout program and Profit Profiler. The Smiths are also considering hiring a professional bookkeeper.
Some of the speakers struck a chord with Aaron personally. “I’ve tried to focus more on what I am good at and enjoy, mostly the genetic development of the herd,” Aaron says. He’s also trying to learn more from how his father runs the crop side of the business.
To be a successful farmer, you need to know your business inside and out, says Aaron. “From the cows to the crops, everything has a value and a cost.”
Smith felt the case studies really showed how the numbers related to actual business on the farm. “It was much as you’d do at home, if you had the data,” he says.
“It quickly sorted out who was paying attention and had the mindset to break down the numbers, dive into the issues and come up with real solutions.”
On that point, Aaron admits he might be a little biased. After all, his group did win the case study competition and a trip to World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. (Team members included Natalie Kellogg, Marty Hazeleger, Grant Armstrong and Tyler Hendriks.)
For Smith, it’s another opportunity to network and learn. Already, he’s wondering what ideas he will bring home.
