LAKEFIELD — If you didn’t see Randy Bullock for most of May, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. When you called the Lakefield family farm you got this message: "If you’re looking for Randy, he’s not answering the phone until the corn is in the ground."

Bullock, 32, who, along with his wife Tara, milks 55 cows in a split Holstein and Jersey herd, was honoured last month as East-Central Ontario’s winner of the Ontario Dairy Youth Award for 2009.

Ambitious and hard-working, Bullock ultimately hopes to breed a Master Breeder’s herd. They milk in a 3 row, 54 tie-stall barn with newly introduced tunnel ventilation that Bullock says has done a lot to improve cow comfort as well as the comfort of the people working around the cows.

He focuses on bulls that are high in milk, fat and protein and ideally have double digits for type.

There have been many changes since Bullock graduated in 1996. The family introduced a TMR blend of ensiled feeds, purchasing quota and adding stalls to the milking line.

A new heifer barn was built to improve heifer health and comfort. This was followed by a new dry cow facility three years ago. "We never stop," he says. "We find ways to get rid of our money."