ALEXANDRIA — If Albert Einstein is right, that "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity,"  Jacques Vachon has had a lot of opportunities since his barn burned in January last year. He also lost his 40 cows.

"I would rather tear everything down and build completely new than try to fix what was left," he explained, "but I did not have enough insurance."  

Instead, Vachon rolled up his sleeves and went to work salvaging what he could of the old barn. He gutted the interior of the barn, replacing the old walls with a bright white coreplas sheeting, and up-dating to a newer DeLaval automatic milking system which he was able to acquire second hand.  He also made extensive changes to his electrical system, determined that faulty wiring would not cause another fire for him. The fire started in the milk house, which was destroyed and had to be rebuilt.

Although Vachon was able to save $15,000 on a second hand milking system, he has a word of advice for those who face the same circumstances. "Buy all new!" he exclaimed emphatically, "I lost a lot of time because I had to wait for parts to replace what did not pass inspection." As all dairymen know, this lost time equates to loss of production with the corresponding loss of revenue.

"I was always waiting for somebody." he stated, "Wait for parts, wait for an electrician, or inspector, or DeLaval."

Vachon fully expected to be milking cows in his refurbished barn by last August, so he purchased his replacement herd during the summer at an average price of $1,800 per bred heifer. "I had heard that prices for cows were going up so I rushed to buy and I had to board them at other farms."

He finally completed enough work to start milking again on Nov. 4, almost 10 months after the fire. Ironically, Vachon’s brother Luc, is building himself a new dairy barn about seven kilometers away. But in Luc’s case, he poured the foundation in October and expects to be operational at the beginning of February, after a mere four months of construction.

Vachon would not rush to purchase animals if he were to do it all over again. "It’s going to take some time to get these cows to where I like. I am still buying cows, and I have shipped some that did not milk very well."

Although Vachon is relieved to have cows in his barn again, he still misses his original herd. "An empty barn is no good." he declared; he still misses his original herd. "It took me six years to get what I had and I don’t have the cows I had before."

Vachon bought his cows from a multitude of sources and has nothing but praise for Denis Campeau of Rainbow Farms in Glen Nevis. "The best cows I have come from him," he stated, "His heifers are producing 42 Kg/day as first calf heifers."

Vachon is continuing to have issues with some of the animals purchased. "I was told that one group of heifers was not supposed to freshen until the beginning of February, and I have been pulling calves for a week now," he said in early January.

Even with the problems Vachon has been experiencing, he still has plans to expand in the near future. "I am milking about 40 cows at the moment. I want to add onto the barn and milk about 75 in a few years." But, like many young farmers, he finds he needs to work off-farm to supplement his income. "I do custom work, and I do what I can," he said.

Yet, even with the tribulations to get his barn up and running, Vachon could count on the support of the women in his family. "I have two women in my life. My aunt has given me a big chance here," he stated, "She is like a second mother to me and without her I would not farm. I am going to buy the farm from her in the spring and she is going to live with us in the house."

Jacques’ wife does the evening milking and gives much needed support. "I wanted to quit," acknowledged Vachon, "but my wife told me not to. She said, ‘Jacques, you’ve done it your whole life. We’re going to keep going!’"