“If you ate today, thank a farmer.” This has become a familiar catchphrase in recent years to remind people of the value of local food production. With agriculture an important local industry, and as Hagersville celebrates 150 years, it is timely to highlight some of the farms that are part of the town’s heritage to learn what it takes to keep a farm going for generations.
Beechwood Holsteins
In 2022 Beechwood Holsteins, owned and operated by Murray and Janet Roulston, received the Century of Holsteins award from Holstein Canada for 100 years of continuous membership in Holstein Canada.
Following in the farmer footsteps of his grandfather, James, and father, Gordon, Murray says, “It takes perseverance, belief in yourself, energy, and an attitude to never give up…. Over the years, it just takes inner strength and a love of farming.”
Murray grew up helping on the farm and recalls going to the sale barn in Hagersville, located near the Market Square, with his dad. After graduating from Kemptville Agricultural College, he worked with his father and then took over the farm in 1993 after Gordon passed away.
As Murray continues to milk cows and grow crops, the farm size has stayed essentially the same but with different techniques used to make the operation manageable. Murray says, “I’ve always been called to be a farmer and involved locally. I’ve enjoyed that; I couldn’t think that I would have wanted to do anything different.”
Peartome Holsteins
Peartome Holsteins achieved its Century of Holsteins distinction in 2024. It is operated by Doug and Mary-Ann Peart along with their younger daughter, Heather, and her husband Peter Cox. Their older daughter, Jennifer, her husband Charlie Anderson, and their daughter, Olivia, have their own Holstein and Jersey farm in Jerseyville, Ontario.
Over four generations, the farm has been known for quality cows and milk production. Improvements have come through the expansion and remodelling of barns and innovations, including the installation of robotic milkers.
“The benefit of farming in Hagersville,” according to Heather, “is that there are fabulous businesses that support our farm and we have been dealing with them for decades.”
This includes Hewitt’s Dairy, Hagersville Auction Centre, Harwill Farms, and Heaslip Ford. Heather adds, “We have also been privileged to have Joe and Sam Walters work for us on the farm.
“In order to be a multi-generational farm you have to enjoy the work and the people you are working with,” she notes. As her young daughter grows up as the fifth generation on the farm, Heather concludes, “Danielle gets to have the same experience I did growing up: grandparents with you at the barn or across the lawn next door!”
Spring Rock Farms
Growing up at Spring Rock Farms, the connection to Hagersville is strong for Bob Phibbs. He has memories of going with his dad, Tom, to the old grain elevators and the chopping mill (he could get a bottle of pop from Bruce Whaley as a treat). As a teenager he learned the job of drawing wheat to town in the one tonne truck from his Uncle Keith. When he was 17, that job was all his.
Bob married Cheryl Smith (Bruce Whaley’s granddaughter) and they have raised three sons – Matthew, Stephen, and Graham – at the Jarvis Spring Rock location, a Century Farm that has been in the family for 140 years.
As a Limousin beef cow-calf operation, they grow hay and silage corn as well as wheat and soybeans. Bob approaches farming with an understanding that “you have to have the will to work without having a paycheque every week.”
The farm has changed and adapted as needed with newer buildings and equipment, though Bob acknowledges that the next generation is quicker to try new technology, like auto steering for tractors. With technology Bob cautions, “There’s a fine line of how much is enough. You have to know your expenses…. It all boils down to having more time.”
With help from his sons, Bob’s time is spent between the two farms, planting and harvesting crops and looking after the livestock. He says, “The best part about having cows and calves is a sense of pride in what you’ve accomplished that year.”
Feeney Farms
Located east of Hagersville, Feeney Farms is the amalgamation of two Century Farms. Owned and operated by Ed and Deb Feeney, the original farm was purchased in 1896 by Ed’s great-grandfather John Feeney. He purchased the second farm in 1912. According to Ed, one of the farms had been owned by Sir Allan MacNab, a Canadian politician who reached the position of joint Premier of the Province of Canada from 1854 to 1856.
The Feeneys grow soybeans and wheat and raised pigs until three years ago. Ed doesn’t claim to know the “secret sauce” to farming, but acknowledges that technology has reduced the work per person; he manages much of the work himself with some hired custom work.
Considering all that can change over time for any family business, the fact that both farms achieved Century Farm status is an accomplishment. Century Farm signs was a centennial project of the Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario (JFAO) in 1967. Ed appreciates that the two Feeney Farms display the signs and says, “It’s a great thing the Junior Farmers did to recognize that.”
Lythmore Hillside Farm
Lythmore Hillside is an 87-acre farm purchased in 1853 by Andrew and Margaret Dunnet. The mixed farm included a fruit orchard. Their son, William, and daughters Charlotte and Annie, ran the farm after Andrew’s death. Meanwhile, their sons Alex and James had neighbouring farms.
The farm had one of the first registered Shorthorn herds in Oneida, along with horses, pigs, hens, and prize winning registered Leicester sheep. Danish immigrant Knud Wodskou came to work on the farm in 1908 and he married William’s niece, Margaret. In the 1950s, their son, George, remodeled the stable and converted to a dairy operation, becoming a registered Holstein herd in 1960.
George Wodskou says, “Dutch elm disease changed everything. We had a number of weeping elms; if they had still been here, the land wouldn’t have been conducive to farming because you can’t grow much under a weeping elm.”
With the trees removed and the stumps burned, he was able to shape the land and put in ditches to work with the natural drainage, allowing the farm to grow much of the crops needed to sustain the dairy herd.
Soon to be 91, Wodskou and his wife, Odeyne, still live on the farm. The land is rented by a neighbouring dairy farmer and continues to support a milking herd. In recent summers, their grandson, Aaron Phibbs, has pastured beef cattle on the hill, making him the sixth generation involved in farming at Lythmore Hillside.
These are just some of the farms that are part of Hagersville’s agricultural heritage. These farmers have a love for what they do and a farming attitude that Murray Roulston describes as “next year will always be better.”
It is because of that commitment that you’ll find, across the rural routes of Hagersville and all of Haldimand, the farms and farm families continuing the tradition of feeding the community.
