SOURIS — Matt Fehr enters a farm pen while carrying a measuring tape. He corners a newborn calf, wraps the calf with tape around its belly, and takes a look at the measurement.
“He’s about 80 pounds,” says Fehr.
The farmer stands and watches his calf walk away, as it slips and staggers and pushes on, learning to walk on the go. The calf reunites with its mother, and eventually plops down in a corner of the pen, facing the sunrise.
Calving season has begun, so it’s off to work for Fehr, who is trying to achieve a lifelong dream.
The 30-year-old farmer is expecting the birth of roughly 20 calves in the weeks ahead, each which will help him realize this dream. He wants to continue building his grandfather’s cattle farm, growing the herd and finding full-time income during that transition.
He earns a living today in construction, but every year makes an effort to close that gap.
“My biggest thing is, I want to keep my family farm a family farm,” he tells the Sun while seated on a straw bale. “I don’t want to let go of that dream.”
Fehr bought his first cow nine years ago. Since then, he has been inching closer to a making it a full-time vocation by adding cattle to his herd every opportunity he gets. The farmer has grown his herd to 20 heads, and soon expects to make a “big decision” on whether to absorb his grandfather’s herd of another 20 cattle. He is currently envisioning a herd of 125 cattle somewhere on the horizon.
“Growing is the goal,” he said. “Whether or not it will happen is another story.”
Kyra Fehr, who is married to Matt and runs the farm with him, recently gave birth to their six-month-old daughter. She told the Sun she is fully on board with growing the herd, and wants to keep the lifestyle alive for their daughter to experience.
Having grown up in Brandon, Kyra said she was introduced to farming by her husband, when he brought her to the family property. All her family farmed, but she hadn’t lived the lifestyle. With Matt nudging her into it, and slowly warming up to the idea herself, she eventually decided that it was not so bad.
Years later, Kyra now spends the morning shovelling straw into a sled and heaving it into the barn. Walking around the pen, she points to cows one at a time and recites a dozen names, including “Tippy” and “Panda.” She recalls her first cow, given to her by Matt, named “Luna.”
Kyra said she enjoys being outside and likes working with animals. When asked about the challenges of working on a farm, Kyra said she has never had to shovel dung before. Matt pointed out that it is also difficult to deal with their livestock’s death or having to part with them.
“The hardest part is the uncontrollable things, like when you lose a calf or you have to sell a cow,” said Matt.
The married couple breeds cattle on the farm and stewards the animals until the age of roughly nine months. They sell them at the time, and the cycle repeats. They sold 18 calves last year, with prices in the ballpark of $2,500 each.
Moving forward, it’s all about keeping the farm running.
Coming from Souris 4-H — a club, where Matt learned agricultural skills as a teenager — he continues to believe that agriculture teaches responsibility. He is now president of the club in Souris, and recently helped teenagers bring cows from pasture to their home. Accompanying him on the trip that day were two boys — aged 14 and 15 years — out of Souris, and about the same age Matt was when he first entered the club.
Looking forward, Matt said he wants to keep the tradition of running family farms alive. His grandfather, who started farming the property in the ’70s, and who lives in a home on the land today, is looking to step away from the business and pass on his 20 cows.
Matt points to a sign on the property, reading “Sandy Grove,” and says his grandfather built it. He and his wife told the Sun that the goal is to live off the land and pass that lifestyle onto their child.
“We want our daughter to grow up on a farm,” said Kyra. “There’s a lot of life lessons to show her.”
