Their Soil and Their Kids and Their Future

Doug Johnston’s ears perked up when the two-way radio conversation on his harvester turned to cover crops.

“I was harvesting corn silage, and even before I was done, two of our family’s teenage sons had taken the lead in talking about the kinds of cover crops that would work best to conserve soil in that field,” he says. “Usually, it’s me who initiates cover-crop discussions, but this time they were out in front of it. That showed me how sustainability had become part of their everyday thinking and culture about farm management … it was a proud moment for me as a dad, an uncle and a farmer.”

Doug and his brother Dave are partners in Maplevue Farms, a progressive family dairy operation located about 10 kilometers from Listowel in Perth County, Ontario. The farm has a rich heritage, having been homesteaded in 1893 by family patriarch James Johnston. He emigrated from County Down, Ireland, received 100 acres from the Canadian government and developed it into a mixed farm with livestock and crops.

James’ son Sam eventually took over the farm and in 1957, Sam established a 30-cow dairy herd. He and his wife Marcie needed a name to register the herd and came up with Maplevue after finding “Mapleview,” a more predictable spelling, was already taken.

Sam believed the future would be brighter if producers shipped fluid milk to processors, instead of sending their production to local cheese factories, as was the practice at the time. And it turned out he was right. Through hard work and networking, Sam and like-minded contemporaries elsewhere in Ontario went on to create a province-wide milk marketing system and a vibrant fluid milk sector. Dairy operations would go on to become among the province’s most productive and successful farms.

Sam’s pursuit of excellence rubbed off on his sons Doug and Dave. After graduating two years apart from the University of Guelph in the late 1980s, they returned to the farmstead with their own dream of becoming partners and expanding the operation. Through the years, the farm had grown to 600 acres and nearly 60 dairy cows, but they knew it needed to develop further if it was also going to support them and, eventually, the families they envisioned on the horizon.

Methodical expansion
The Johnstons approached the expansion cooperatively and methodically. Sam, Marcie, Dave and Doug signed a four-way partnership, and slowly, additional features were added to the operation. In 1995, the partnership was rolled into a corporation when Doug and Dave bought out their parents and assumed responsibility for the entire operation, along with their spouses, Laura and Christine.

And as they hoped, their families grew. Today, the Johnston siblings are seven strong. Two of them, Sam and Seth, have finished school and are already involved full-time on the farm.

For the rest, Doug and Dave are committed to making sure there’ll be a spot for as many of them as possible should they choose to stay and make it their life’s work.

“Maplevue is a true family farm, and we want our kids to take part,” Doug says. “It’s also a business, so we’re constantly trying to find ways to make it all come together. You need a good team, and that’s what we’re putting together.”

Like the Johnstons themselves, their farm has grown, too. It now includes 1,250 acres of their own (they rent another 450 acres) on which they grow their own feed. The Johnstons have always used New Holland haying equipment and are now on their fourth New Holland combine, as well. They were originally drawn to the twin-rotor technology, then stayed brand loyal mainly because of service quality from their New Holland dealer in nearby Wallenstein.

Currently, the farm showcase is a state-of-the-art freestall dairy barn that opened in 2018 after five years of planning. It features two milking robots and two robotic manure collectors. “It took about a year for the cows to learn the robotic system,” Dave says. “Now they really like it, and they’ll line up to be milked four times a day. We can hardly keep them out.”

The new barn and automated system have also made dairying more varied and interesting at Maplevue, especially for the younger family members who enjoy computerization and robotics. Patriarchs Doug and Dave were intentional with this approach in an effort to lay the groundwork for the future and get the kids engaged in the operation as they, and it, grew.

A second farm
The strategy worked. By 2020, the kids were showing such interest in the operation that the Johnstons purchased a second dairy farm, a 64-cow tie stall operation about 11 kilometers away from the farmstead. Dave’s son Sam manages this herd and along with Seth is focused on improving genetics. “I want to get into showing our cows,” Seth says. “An operation needs a brand, and showing can help that brand develop.” Output is already strong on the two farms, averaging 12,000 kilos of milk per cow per year, putting Maplevue in the top 10% of production in the province.

And they work just as hard at soil sustainability as they do at making their dairy operation better. Cover crops are among their main focus, along with minimum till, no till, crop rotation and precision manure application. They spread very little liquid manure in the spring to reduce compaction and never leave a field bare over the winter. “At $20,000 an acre, I don’t want to see our topsoil turned into ‘snirt,’ what I call snow and dirt mixed together when soil blows around a field in the winter,” Doug says.

For their efforts, they have upped their soil organic matter by a full percentage in the past 15 years. They see a difference in the amount of moisture the soil holds and believe their crops thrive as a result.

Public outreach
But the Johnstons also believe their hard work is in jeopardy if the public grows more distanced from agriculture and fails to understand how family farms contribute to society. So, they go to great lengths to be involved in the community and take leadership roles in charitable or newsworthy events. 

They’re active on social media to stay in touch with those who are curious about what happens on dairy farms. Visitors, including politicians and the media, are always welcome.

The Johnstons invited a local radio station to broadcast from their farm on World Dairy Day and opened their doors to the country’s biggest daily newspaper for an unbridled, inside look at their successful family dairy operation.

And just before harvest, a Listowel journalist joined them for a ride on their combine on a municipal road, to report on the challenges of moving farm equipment and promoting safe roadways.