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CRE Re. Wy THE PORT PERRY STAR FARM & RURAL LIFE Eggs-actly! Island farmer branching out to keep up with the markets By Stephen Leahy Willy Casteels ended up as one of the largest poultry producers in the country as a result of an article he read in a news- paper. It was the mid-1970s, and the newspa- per story reported that the Tillsonburg town council had enacted a "no smoking" ordinance for public areas. Even though the story quoted town councillors as say- ing the law would never be enforced, Cas- teels, a successful tobacco farmer from the Port Hope area, saw it as the beginning of the end for the tobacco industry. That day, he began to look at getting out of tobacco and into something else. Buyers for his operation weren't a problem, he says, but finding something that could be as profitable was. In the end, he decided that broiler chickens were the only com- modity in agriculture that would produce a consistent profit. "My dad had been in tobacco all his life and thought I was making a foolish busi- ness decision," he says now. In fact, Willy's decision raised eyebrows among all the members of his family. Lat- er, though, he convinced his brother-in- law to get into chicken. Now, he says, he has never regretted the move. Willy bought an existing broiler opera- tion on Scugog Island in 1978, as well as nearly 500 acres. In 1984 he moved into layers, and built new facilities in the same year. Today he has a very large operation, consisting of 100,000 broilers, and 30,000 layers, and 30,000 pullets a year. His acreage is cropped out and, like most poultry producers, he purchases all of his own feed. Disposal of chicken litter and manure could have been a problem for such a large producer -- and for his neigh- bors -- but Casteels has an arrangement with a larger cash-cropper who spreads the manure over a couple thousand acres in the Nestleton area. Casteels doesn't fear the upcoming glo- bal competition under GATT. He feels his operation is large enough to benefit from economies of scale, and compete with any- one. He predicts, though, there will be troubled times for some Canadian produc- ers, despite the fact that "we have a better health standard" than the U.S. "Consumers are price-driven right now and not, at this point, as quality- conscious," he says. Although he feels comfortable about the poultry industry's future, there's no grass growing under Willy's feet, as they say. Just visit Willy and Brenda Casteels' farm and right beside the house you'll find a 20-acre pasture surround by extra-high fencing, holding 85 red deer. "I didn't want to have all my eggs in one basket," jokes Casteels. While Willy calls his deer "a hobby" he does see them as a potentially profitable sideline. He along with a few others, start- ed the Great North American Co- operative last year to help market their deer. Currently there is a world-wide short- age of venison. It can fetch $40 a pound, especially from the "white table cloth res- taurant market," he says. Another market is the oriental medici- nals marketplace, where antlers, particu- larly during the "velvet" stage, are consid- ered to have a number of health- enhancing ingredients. Casteels says ant- lers cut off while in velvet will fetch $100 or more per pound. "We have shipped to South America, Ja- pan, Mexico and elsewhere." He recently bought a bull elk to increase size and speed the growth of the red deer, and plans to increase his herd size to 300 in a few years time. If the venison and the medicinal markets continue to grow, Cas- teels knows he's definitely got his eggs in one more new profit basket. 9650 (155hp) Powershift Demo unit now in stock 2.9% Interest for 42 months 40hp & up starting at $17,500.00 Call Bill Worden or Lloyd Trewin for a demo. Farm Tax info line Owners of Ontario farm property who are eligible for the 1995 Farm Tax Re- bate Program will be re- ceiving applications in the mail. The program pro- vides farmers with a re- bate on property taxes lev- ied on farm land and outbuildings. The tax rebate rate re- mains at 75 per cent. Eligi- bility criteria have been made consistent with that of the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act. To be eligi- ble for a rebate this year, farm land owners must have generated at least TREWIN FARM EQUIPMENT $7,000 in gross farm in- come from properties in 1995. BLACKSTOCK 986-4283 Al acco (asco) ALLIS The program now offers a toll-free telephone ser- vice. The number to call 1s 1-800-469-2285. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1995 - 3 LTR § 3 STEPHEN LEAHY/FARM AND RURAL LIFE Scugog Island poultry farmer willy Casteels left the tobacco industry years ago when he saw the writing on the wall in the form of impending smoking laws. 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