Vanderbyls scale back or exit the beef industry

ALEXANDRIA — The Vanderbyl brothers, all seven of them, are cutting back or getting out of the beef business. One brother is cutting back, the others are getting out.

The boys of Lochiel, near Alexandria, have seen too many tanking beef prices to want to see this latest cycle through. The high Canadian dollar that followed a more than four-year lock out from American markets, thanks to one case of BSE, was the last straw for most of them. The Vanderbyls reflect the current exodus from the beef industry, which is driving down prices as entire herds are dispersed and disillusioned producers retire or find a new career. For young farmers, however, it means that livestock and land, if you don’t mind moving farther from urban centres, can be a steal of a deal.

William and Margaret Vanderbyl immigrated to Canada in 1951 and bought a farm after working for a local farmer for two years. They raised 11 children – including the seven brothers. The four girls do not farm.

Dick Vanderbyl, who is full-time raising calves and was backgrounding more than 400 stockers over the winter, told Farmers Forum: "After they go to market at the end of the year, I’ll be out of the business too." Then he quickly added: "Well, you never know."

Rick Vanderbyl sold the last of his cattle in May. "We were losing money left and right," he said, adding that in 1993 he figured he needed $1.06 per lb. to cover costs. Since then the price of diesel tripled. Last year, he got $1.04 per lb. and this year 89 cents per lb. "And I was one of the lucky ones," he said, noting that he sold privately, while at auction he saw prices dip as low as 70 cents per lb.

Here’s where the brothers stand:

Dick: Will focus on cropping, after selling more than 400 cows at auction this coming fall.

Adrian: Plans to sell almost 50-head in September and keep working as a carpenter.

Tony: Cut back to 20 cows. He runs a trucking business and works for Dairy Herd Improvement.

Rudy: Sold his full-time feedlot and farm and will have to move by November.

Jack: A veterinarian, was in partnership with Rudy.

Henry: An A.I. technician for Eastern Breeders, sold the last of his 200 cows last fall.

Rick: Sold his 20 cows at the Ottawa Livestock Exchange on May 29.