Half a foot shorter than his brother John he came up short again when he graduated from Kemptville College. Brother John had already taken over the home farm. Tim went to work as herdsman for Dan Beamish who approached him one day 15 years ago when work was slowing down.

"Do you really want to farm?" Beamish challenged him, explaining the hardships that would lie ahead. Tim said he did and Beamish replied, "You take a week and then come back to me."

A week later, Tim returned and Beamish warned him again and asked if he had any children.

Beamish told him that the road he was about to choose would initially be too rough for children. There would be little time left over from work and maybe not enough money.

Young Groniger said everything was fine but he didn’t tell Beamish his wife Diane, today a nurse at the Childrens’ Hospital of Eastern Ontario, was expecting twins.

Figuring Groniger was free and loose, Beamish asked him if he wanted to take over his father-in-law’s farm lease at Carlsbad Springs in Ottawa’s Greenbelt. The farm consisted of 200 acres.

Tim’s father warned against the farm and refused to back him financially. The only thing he was about to pass to his son was an expert eye for cattle.

Tim was determined. He cleaned up the barn on the property with the help of his brother John, who was farming at Iroquois.

"I bought a second hand (milk) pipeline for $3,000 gathered up 14 cows, a mixture of purebreds and commercial cattle, bought some quota and was in business."

He didn’t stint on quality in his cows. He paid $1,500 for one of his heifers.

He was able to get on graduated entry, a program in the 1980s to encourage farmers to milk cows, where he was allowed free milk quota. He also bought some quota at a fraction of today’s cost. Some of the quota he bought in his brother’s name because he didn’t have enough cows to produce that much milk.

Many people saw a lot of good in young Groniger. An Iroquois neighbour and master breeder, Gordon Kittle, gave him the cow that became the foundation of his herd.

Nonetheless, interest rates of 18 per cent and 19 per cent almost killed the farm. "I tell people, don’t let anyone say you can’t make it. Don’t give up a dream. There’s always a light."

He obtained a loan from Scotiabank, but only after the loan officer came to bat for him, citing his family’s history of honesty.

"We knew after we survived the first year we were going to make it," says Tim. But it wasn’t until eight years ago they knew they could produce quality cattle. He received $12,000 from a Prince Edward Island buyer for a single cow.

His quality cows all go to east coast buyers where three of them were named All Atlantic Canada. Last year, he sent seven cows down east.

The motto on the farm is "Be small, be efficient." Their motto could also have been one step at a time.

"We built gradually," he says. He started with one tractor, hired a custom operators, and concentrated on buying haying equipment. Today he milks 34 purebred Holsteins in a tie stall barn, and he does all the field work with his own equipment.

A star soccer player in his teens, Tim never abandoned the competitive spirit, and he’s passed it on to his four children — two sets of twins.

Last fall, his two daughters, Jessie and Olivia, were named grand champion show persons in the junior and novice classes at the 4-H Regional Show.

Living in the shadows of the city of Ottawa has its advantages, he says. The family has all the perks of city living but are far enough away that they can enjoy country life. "Nobody bothers us out here," he says. Besides his wife is only 12 minutes from work at the hospital.