Four generations

Mayor Peter Mertens, right, on behalf of the County of Prince Edward recognized the Baitley family for their contribution to the community for the past 100 years. (L-R): John, Kathy, Curtis Baitley and Melissa Baldwin.

Baitleys celebrate 100 years of farming on Danforth Road

George Baitley was a busy man. In December 1914 he bought 100 acres on Danforth Road in Hillier. He grew nearly 40 acres of raspberries. Almost as many acres in pumpkin. His wife, Lillian, made a lot of jam and preserves.

George also milked 14 cows—a good-sized dairy operation in the first part of the last century. He also provided custom farming services—he had invested in the equipment and technology and he put it to work.

George was also the local auctioneer— bringing buyers and sellers together. Everybody knew George Baitley was a busy man.

Together with Lillian, he had three children— Olive, Jeanne and Donald. The family weathered good times and bad. As the vegetable, fruit and custom business grew, George had to make a choice. He was being pulled in too many directions. He sold the dairy herd and bought beef cattle.

A century later, the fourth generation Baitleys are operating the largest beef business in PrinceEdwardCounty—managing a cowcalf operation of 70 head and a feedlot of about 200 animals. George’s hundred acres has grown to more than 450, and the family manages another 1,350 planted with corn, soybeans, wheat and hay.

His descendants have stayed busy.

When the worst of the depression was behind them, George put the farm’s future in Donald’s hands.

Donald had just finished grade eight when George told him that if he was interested in farming, he had best get started. With that, the second generation of Baitley was running the farm.

Donald and his wife, Helen, had two boys— Robert and John. Donald raised his boys to be hardworking and competitive. In 1963, he coached the Wellington hockey team to the Ontario Juvenile Championship. It was the first all-Ontario championship for the village and the County. The team was comprised of players including Garry Lavender, Dennis Dick and Robert Baitley. When the Wellington arena burned to the ground, the Baitley family pitched in to rebuild it in time for the next season. In the ’70s, while still in high school, John built and expanded a prosperous pea combining business—continuing his grandfather’s custom farming tradition. John worked side by side with his dad for two decades.

Slowly but surely, they built a strong beef business— weathering fickle commodity markets and a decadelong slump in prices.

John married Kathy in 1981 and had two kids of their own, Melissa and Curtis. Both children are grown now and have young families themselves. Melissa and Curtis remain part of the farm business.

Prices have improved in recent years, and the Baitleys have moved to insulate their business somewhat from the ups and downs of commodity prices. They have done the hard work required to become a certified corn fed beef producer. This requires specialized training and herd management procedures. John is an active promoter of value-added Ontario beef and is a member of the board of directors of Ontario Corn Fed Beef.

On Saturday, the Baitley family gathered with friends and neighbours to celebrate 100 years on their farm. The legacy of a century of farming is increasingly rare. Yet the future for the Baitley farm has never been brighter than it is today.

George would have been pleased.