The fourth generation on his farm, Gill carries on a tradition started in 1921 by his great-grandfather, master breeder Sydney J. Gill. It’s a tradition not only of farming and breeding Holsteins, but of a commitment to industry involvement.

He farms with his wife, Elizabeth, and his parents, Charles and Beverley, on the property known as Rose Ridge Farms. The 300-acre self-sufficient farm is located on McKenney Road between Welland and Niagara Falls.

The Gill’s two children — Michael, 17, and Amanda, 16 — are active participants in the day-to-day running of the farm when they are not in school. They are the fifth generation in the multi-generational family farm.

Whether they will continue in their parents’ footsteps is another story.

“My great grandfather Harm came from England in 1912 and settled in Chippawa,” said Gill, while leafing through a family album at the kitchen table.

“He bought this spot where we are sitting now in 1921 and my grandfather took over in 1941,” he added.

Gill’s father, who is 67, continues to work alongside of him every day.

“My son, Michael, helps out with field work and is there when I need him, helping with the milking on the weekends,” said Gill. His daughter does, too, but she wants to be a teacher and “would like to work with handicapped people,” he added. “She would much rather have horses here than cows,” he said.

“Michael is a cautious kid and last year was the first summer he actually looked for work off the farm because working at your dad’s farm doesn’t go far on a resume,” said Gill.

Michael participated in the co-op program with the City of Welland.

“Both kids have been very active in 4-H.”

Elizabeth has been a 4-H leader for four years now and has been a member of the Crowland Women’s Institute for a decade. She and her daughter sit on the board of directors of the Port Colborne Saddle Club.

Faced with the fact that neither of his children may continue the family farm, he doesn’t fault them for their choices.

These days, Rose Ridge Farms has to deal with a number of challenges, such as the price of beef.

“The price is terrible. We make the majority of our money from the milking operating, but we also sell calves, all the bulls, for veal or beef and the older cows, once they are retired from milking,” he explained.

“The problem is there is just too much beef here in Canada,” he added.

He recently sold calves at the livestock auction which were getting prices of $45 per calf rather than the usual $100 to $200.

“By the time you pay the costs to get the calf there and other fees, my cheque is about $15,” he explained.

Gill, who has also been a 4-H member and leader, Holstein club director and counsellor, has served on the local milk produce committees for 16 years, 11 as secretary. He is very involved in the industry in one way or another.

He is currently serving his 20th year representing producers to CanWest Dairy Herd Improvement, a producer-owned and operated organization that tracks milk production.

He has served just as many years as a representative to WOBI/Gencor, an artificial insemination organization also owned by the producers, which houses the bulls used to maintain high quality herds.

Herd genetics is a passion for Gill and a responsibility he took on at Rose Ridge in 1980, even before completing his education which included a three-year diploma in financial management from the business administration program at Niagara College.

Gill says he feels very strongly that government financial assistance programs are a waste of farmers’ time and taxpayer dollars.

“What would be more meaningful to the industry is government legislation and border protection to allow Canadian farmers to provide food for Canada at Canadian standards for a Canadian price. I call it price sovereignty,” he said. “There are too many factors preventing many economic sectors in Canada from being competitive on the world market. Labour cost, workplace safety, taxation, input costs, our standard of living, environmental standards and climatic challenges to list a few. Canadians must support Canadians,” he said.