BEACHBURG — Standing next to a two-year-old free-stall dairy barn, hundreds of onlookers wait for auctioneer Preston Cull to speak. Taking a folded note from Delmer Lavallee, Cull opens it and reads to himself. The entire crowd is silent. Standing on the back of his auction truck, Cull looks down at the swarm standing in the mudded field.

"Sorry folks, the farm won’t be selling today," Cull said. The crowd slowly parts and Lavallee walks quietly away.

Delmer Lavallee and his son Jeff put their entire Beachburg dairy farm, excluding an estimated $2.9 million in milk quota, on the auction block last month. The brick house, the barns and the 290 acres of land were all part of the package. The bid of $525,000 made that day did not match Lavallee’s reserve bid, which he declined to reveal.

After 40 years in the farming business, east of Pembroke, the father and son duo have had enough. Delmer said they are tired of governmental regulations and inactive farm organizations that do little to help the farmers.

"The government is laughing at farmers right now and it’s time for a change," Delmer said "But we don’t have a farm organization that stands up for us against the government. Until they do, nothing will change."

Delmer added that those making the regulations are too far removed from the farming industry to understand farmers’ needs.

"These rules and regulations are being made in Toronto and not in the rural area," he said. "They have no idea what’s going on here on the farms."

Delmer moved off the farm 10 years ago. His son Jeff and his own family now live there. Though Delmer is retired, he will build houses. Jeff bought a convenience store in Beachburg and has already opened the business.

At their auction last month, they sold most of their of their 100 Holsteins, trailers and wagons, grain bins, a bulk tank and even a motorhome.